Main coach of Ukraine's youth team (for players born in 2010 or younger) Volodymyr Samborskyi shared his plans for the upcoming camp.

Ukraine's U-16 national youth team has arrived in Turkey, where they are scheduled to play three friendly matches and also have the opportunity to conduct a National Training Zone (NTZ), which is very important for a team at this formation stage.

Volodymyr Samborskyi, head coach of the blue-and-yellow team, shared their plans on the official website of the Ukrainian Football Federation.

— Mister Volodymyr, what are your expectations ahead of this training and match camp?

— It's simple. At this stage of preparation, there are many new players, so we work on getting to know them all at once. Generally, with players born in 2010, we have slightly lagged behind in terms of scouting. Last year, there was only one camp, but by 2026, we plan to gather four times. Therefore, it's necessary to cover as many players as possible and build a squad for the first qualifying round of the European Championship.

There is now an opportunity to see performers who are playing abroad. There will be nine such players immediately.    

— Why is there no representative from Barcelona, Artem Riba?

— The club didn't release him — just like goalkeeper David Kryvtsya from Real and Zahar Hetmanov from Feyenoord. Also, David Vizavetz from Juventus only recently recovered from an injury and we wanted to call him for the first camp of this team.   

— At this stage of preparation within the international tournament, there are planned matches against Czech and Turkish under-16s. Is a third opponent already known?

— There was supposed to be one, but Turkey informed us that their fourth team won't participate in the tournament. The games will take place with three teams. But since we have already planned to be in Turkey until January 31st, we asked the hosts to organize another friendly match for us. So, we are waiting for a response.  

— Are you familiar with Czechia and Turkey?

— Yes, but these are unofficial matches. All squads change. Yes, we will take into account the games of our opponents, but we have our own tasks. All players called for this camp are leaders in their teams. Therefore, we will closely monitor the boys and give them our instructions as usual during such work. 

— Finally, I would like to ask about the working meeting of coaches of Ukraine's national teams and the Ukrainian Football Federation...

— First of all, it is pleasant that the leadership of the Ukrainian Football Federation wants to change things and seeks help to improve our football. This applies not only to youth and national teams but also to our young players. We won't have a strong first team if we don't pay proper attention to youth teams. The leadership supports our initiatives and agrees with us on many issues. Recruitment camps will continue. We already want to do this even for those born in 2012. Therefore, I only have positive impressions from this meeting.

Ukraine's U-16 youth team squad

GK: Ihor Galdyn (Valencia, Spain), Mykhaylo Mykula (Braga, Portugal), Artem Skakun (Hertha, Germany).

DF: Maksym Misura («Shakhtar» Donetsk), Timur Ugrik, Kostiantyn Kyslyanka (both — «Ruh» Lviv), Mykhaylo Abramovich («Gorytsia», Croatia), Bohdan Begmetiuk («Milan», Italy), Yaroslav Kybukevych («OFKIP-Polissya» Kyiv), Kyrylo Savchenko («Haiduk», Croatia).

DM: Ilya Birladanu («Shakhtar» Donetsk), Ilya Ostrovsky, Denis Gordyeyev (both — «Ruh» Lviv), Bohdan Podhorodnyi, Myroslav Donik (both — LNZ Chernaki), Artem Kovbasuk («Kishvarda», Hungary), Danylo Malikov («Fortuna», Germany), Bohdan Rudenko («Shlonsk», Poland).

FW: Artem Fedushko, Oleh Dyurinets, Ilya Bodak (all — «Ruh» Lviv), Yevhen Shevchenko (LNZ Chernaki).

Schedule of Ukraine's U-16 national youth team matches

26.01. Ukraine (U-16) — Czechia (U-16). 11:00

28.01. Turkey (U-16) — Ukraine (U-16). 14:00 

31.01. Ukraine (U-16) — opponent to be confirmed.