Head coach of our team Nataliya Ignatovich shared her impressions about the competition in Finland, where her wards finished third:

— The tournament in Finland turned out to be very informative. We had a chance to see which game characteristics need improvement and what we lack in terms of physical preparation. Unfortunately, it has to be noted that the gap is noticeable.

— Our girls started with a confident victory over Estonia (3:0), but then suffered losses against Finland (1:7) and Slovakia (0:2). Could they have performed better?

— Everything was due to the game. In the first match, for about 15 minutes it went into reconnaissance mode, we had to get used to the artificial turf. Then we played confidently and can only blame ourselves for not scoring more.

Before the match against Estonia, we had a chance to watch other participants' games, and they made a very good impression, especially the Finns. I cannot say that they were superior to Ukrainians in terms of physique, but everything was much faster, and most importantly, the ball listened to them. Observing their technique, attacking playmaking, it even seemed unbelievable that we were talking about 15-year-old girls.

After conceding a third goal, my wards no longer believed they could come back. This showed in their concentration and the hosts took advantage of this to secure a victory. As for the final match against Slovakia, they won thanks to better physical conditioning. This allowed them to effectively play defensively, dominate in aerial duels.

— After the tournament ended, what did you ask your wards to focus on during their club-level training?

— We need to do everything much faster. Also, we lacked stamina for the entire match. Perhaps this is because at UEFA Development Tournament we played two halves of 45 minutes each, while in Ukraine matches in this age group are limited to 70 minutes. And most importantly — ball control. Because when there are even problems with stopping the ball, all work goes awry. This was especially noticeable in the match against Finland, who skillfully played defense, and we instead of well-thought-out combinations near opponents' possessions scored goals into our own net.