In the Euro Beach Soccer League 2025 Superfinal, held in Viareggio, Italy, Ukraine's men's national beach soccer team secured fourth place. After defeating Switzerland (5:4), losing to Spain (4:5), and a tough draw with Denmark (6:6, penalty shootout - 6:5) during the group stage, the Ukrainians finished second in Group B. This qualified our boys for the semifinals of the tournament, where they lost to Italy (1:4). In the match for third place, Ukraine refused to play against Belarus, categorically rejecting any support from an aggressor's side and securing fourth place at the tournament.

The head coach of the national team, Mykola Kostenko, shared his impressions about the team's performance in Viareggio.

"It was clear that we were fighting for medals in the Euro Beach Soccer League. However, our team refused to play for third place, and there could be no compromise here. This decision wasn't just ours but also a national one. It's wrong when a country that is an aggressor's ally participates in competitions under its own flag and with its anthem. Given all this, it was clear we couldn't play against such a team.

While the maximum goal of our team was to fight for first place, I believe finishing among the top four teams in Europe, ahead of Portugal, Switzerland, and France, is an honorable result. Overall, the coaching staff is satisfied with the team's performance. Despite all the nuances starting from a very difficult journey to Italy and preparation challenges that were both objective and subjective, we managed the tournament quite well.

Unfortunately, due to these nuances in the semifinal match against Italy, we lacked functional readiness. The Italians outperformed us in terms of speed and better physical condition. This applies to other matches as well—against Spain and Denmark. Towards the end, a bit of lack of concentration and functionality caught up with us.

Despite all this, I believe the match against Spain brought much positivity. Losing during the game 0-3, we managed to turn the situation around and lead 4-3. It was felt that the opponents found it hard to change anything, while our boys gained confidence in their actions. Although they scored two goals from good opportunities and won—5:4—the coaching staff is very satisfied with this match.

The same can be said about the match against Switzerland. The end was not easy, but throughout the game we hardly gave them any chances. We were leading 5-2 and had several good opportunities. Despite a penalty in our goal and an unnecessary goal from midfield, the boys demonstrated character and achieved a positive result.

Against Denmark, with a score of 6-4, there was no general relaxation, but individual moments of player distraction occurred. As a result, within 25 seconds we conceded two goals. In my opinion, this is related to preparation again. If you prepare systematically and fundamentally in all aspects of the game, such moments are much fewer.

In our team lineup debuted Denis Yarmak. He made a good impression even in Kiev. At the Ukrainian championship, Denis was one of the leaders of his team (NC Beachsoccer—note), and in the national team he stood out with high speed and good physical condition. He is well-armed technically and tactically. The coaching staff is very pleased with him. If he continues to work in this spirit, he will have a bright future. The main thing is not to stop and continue developing.

It's worth noting the great interest in Euro Beach Soccer from fans. Of course, Italians strongly supported their team, which also played its role in our confrontation in the semifinals. Long queues formed for the final match. The stadium was packed, and Italy's national team responded to their supporters with a good game and tournament victory. Their goalkeeper, Leandro Casapeiri, performed exceptionally well, conceding the least goals overall and excelling at the last line of defense. He also helped his Italian team in our match.

Once again, I emphasize that to compete with such national teams on equal terms, proper preparation is needed. But there's potential in our team, so we won't give up hope. Anton Ross, Denis Yarmak, Andriy Pashko... Some rejuvenation of our lineup is taking place. I also want to highlight Sergiy Maksymchuk, who may not have played as brightly but was very pragmatic and responsible. He scored against Italy in the semifinals.

As always, our goalkeepers—Oleksandr Poslavskyi and Andriy Nerushev—performed at a high level. Andriy had a minor injury he sustained during the Ukrainian championship. But thanks to his professionalism and fighting qualities, he greatly helped the team. I want to highlight this because it was very difficult for Andriy to play.

An important role for us was played by support from our women's national team. Of course, we also encouraged them during the tournament. We were always on the stands during matches, coming with flags and cheering.

Regarding the near future, almost all players of the national team will soon participate in the final matches of the Kiev Cup. Then we will summarize this challenging year and plan our activities for next season,"—said Mykola Kostenko.