The Ukrainian youth team (football players born in 2008 or later) under Vladimir Samborsky completed their training camp in Sweden.

The Ukrainian U-18 youth team returned from Sweden, where they participated in an international tournament hosted by the country as well as teams from Norway and Denmark. The blue-and-yellow team was led by Vladimir Samborsky, who answered questions from the official website of the UAFA upon his return to Ukraine.

— Mr. Vladimir, you were with the Ukrainian U-18 team at an international tournament where reputable European teams participated. How did everything go?

— The competition was organized on a good level. The opponents were of high quality, especially Sweden and Denmark. I also want to mention Norway. Perhaps based on the result someone might say otherwise, but in terms of play, it's a strong team, just maybe they didn't get lucky somewhere.

For us, the main goal was to gain international experience, and we also wanted to see potential candidates for the team. I can say that I am satisfied with how the players approached their tasks. We could have performed better, but again, no one set a goal of winning the tournament; our coaching staff had its own objectives. I don't want to make grand statements, but there is great potential in this squad.

— The Ukrainian team confidently won against Norway and Sweden, but then suffered a heavy defeat against Denmark. Is this related to rotation of the lineup?

— Here I would call it a combination of factors. We did not prepare specifically for the games, we worked in our planned training regime — that was primary. Additionally, we gave all players an opportunity to show themselves so we could see them in action. Yes, we studied the opponents, but again, the focus was on our play and executing certain tasks during friendly matches.

However, I can confidently say that there is room for improvement in terms of preparing young football players. Our opponents differed in terms of combativeness, athleticism, decision-making speed; they showed what you might call adult-level football. From this perspective, we are a bit behind. But if the boys, even playing in Ukraine, demand more from themselves, many things can change for the better.

Matches of the Ukrainian U-18 team at the tournament in Sweden

04.09.2025

Ukraine — Norway — 6:1

06.09.2025

Sweden — Ukraine — 0:2

09.09.2025

Ukraine — Denmark — 0:3

Final standings