Rybalka harbours semi-final regret

His goal took Ukraine into the UEFA European Under-19 Championship semi-finals, yet Serhiy Rybalka's joy is tinged with regret as he looks forward to Thursday's meeting with Serbia in Mariupol.

'Amazing emotions'
The FC Dynamo Kyiv midfielder scored the only goal with five minutes of the Matchday 3 victory against Switzerland remaining to assure the tournament hosts of second place in Group A, but in celebrating the moment he picked up his second caution of the finals and will therefore sit out the semi-final through suspension. "I don't remember much about the goal, just amazing emotions," Rybalka told uefa.com. "I'm so sorry that I took off my shirt and got booked and I'll miss the semi-final. I really regret that now. It's a real pity for me to miss the game; I couldn't sleep for half the night thinking about it because I really wanted to play."

'Heart and soul'
The 19-year-old is nevertheless willing his side to overcome Group B winners Serbia and reach Sunday's final, adding: "We're preparing for the semi-final now and we're fully focused on that already. We understand this is a great chance, and one we might not get again. I was incredibly happy when I scored – it was in the last few minutes of the game and it was great to share those feelings with my whole team. We have been working hard and have had to wait a long time for this. It's very, very hard to miss the game, but I'll go with my team to Mariupol. I'll be with them heart and soul and screaming for them."

Lucky omen
After three games at the RSC Olympiyskiy Stadium, Ukraine will take on Serbia 150km away at the Illychivets Stadium yet Rybalka expects the same vocal backing as the hosts enjoyed in Donetsk. "The fans have a very big role to play," he explained. "It would have been better for us to play in Donetsk, of course, but we've played two friendly games in Mariupol and won them both. The stadium in Donetsk has been lucky for us and we hope the stadium in Mariupol will be as well. Of course we will have the same support there as we've had in Donetsk, because we're playing as Ukraine and are representing the whole country."

Minimum requirement
His semi-final suspension aside, Rybalka has thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to play in a major finals on home soil, adding: "The tournament is a first for me, and it has been great – I don't have the words to describe it. I'm very happy; I've dreamed about this. Of course, we deserve to be in the semi-finals. The first two games against Slovenia and England were hard; they were both good teams. It was a difficult start for us. We had a lot of chances in both games but couldn't take them. If we score an early goal against Serbia, I expect us to get more, although we also need a little luck. We've done the minimum by getting to the semi-finals. We really want to get to the final and we'll do our best to make that happen."