This was reported by the press office of AFU. The wards of Oleksandr Kosenko will start their group stage in Euro-2026 in Kaunas. On Thursday, January 22, they will play against Armenia, and on Sunday, January 25, they will compete with the host country - Lithuania. After the second round, they are expected to move to Riga for a match against Czechia.

Meanwhile, Danil Abakshin and Vladislav Perevyev shared their impressions from the training match against Slovenia.

«I think it was a good game because we won playing with zero goals. Unfortunately, many opportunities were not realized. Plus, our goalkeeper Oleksandr Sukhov performed very well.»

«We can always play better, but a clean win is great. The score 2:0 roughly corresponds to what was happening on the field. They had moments and counterattacks - we did too. Although we had slightly more.

How did I score? The ball fell well... When we scored our second goal, we were in numerical inferiority, which is always very difficult. But the Slovenians took risks, and we punished them for that. When they played five against four, they had no serious chances, so I think we performed well defensively.»

«This was a general rehearsal before Euro-2026, you could say. We played as a team, one by one, as always. Everything is good, so let's head to European supremacy in a good mood,» said Danil Abakshin.

«I scored when we managed to intercept on their wide pass. I saw that the opponent was giving up on my right side, and then it was easy. Overall, this is a working goal - I took possession and ran with it.»

«A tough opponent. They don't let you play and force a lot of struggle. So it wasn't easy. We created enough opportunities in the first half - at least three good ones. If we had scored quickly, the game might have turned out differently. But it became a match to the goal - whoever scores first has an advantage until the end of the meeting. That's how it worked out.»

«Overall, we are satisfied with our performance in this match. I am very happy that we won. It is very important as it adds positive emotions. So we are preparing for Euro-2026 matches,» added Vladislav Perevyev.