Football news

Yuriy Moroz, head coach of the Ukraine U-17 national team, commented on the0-1 defeat to Serbia in the opening match of the 2024 European Championships.

"In the second half, we had the advantage, but failed to realise the chances we had. But we still have two more matches, we will prepare, all is not lost.

The quick Serbian goal didn't break our tactics, but it confused us a bit. In the first half, the guys lost the fight a little bit, and this missed goal was exactly why. We were pressed against our own goal, and the opponent took a shot and scored.

As you can see, there was some bad luck. Stepanov moved well, had many chances, but everything went close to the goal. Substitutions strengthened our game. Redushko and Soroka came on, and we started to play structurally in the middle of the pitch, with possession of the ball. But this is football - whoever scores wins.

Our strategy for the tournament? This defeat will not change much. We have to go out and win every game.

Today we had a conversation with Andriy Shevchenko before the match. He met with us and wished us success. I would also like to thank the Ukrainian fans for their support," said Yuriy Moroz.

Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta commented on the results of the Premier League season. It will be recalled that the Gunners finished in second place.

- "I am incredibly proud of the community. First of all, I congratulate Manchester City on their championship title. They have done a great job since last December. We tried our best to reach the goal. You can see how badly we wanted it, we tried very hard. Unfortunately, it was not enough.

Success can be measured not only in comparison with other teams - we need to understand what we are doing. We have broken all club records, except for wins. This is the most competitive league in history, and we have to get better. Now we need to find ways to get better.

When I came to Arsenal, my dream was to bring everyone together and take this club to a truly new level. Now we are on the way to that. I am sad because I really wanted to win the title because it is very important for the fans. However, we have to succeed," said Mikel Arteta.

Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp, who played his last match at the helm of the Merseyside side, spoke about the main principles of his team's work.

"Some people say that I have not spent enough money on transfers. However, this is the way of Liverpool. We don't spend a lot of money. The clubs that win are those with enough money and great coaches. We didn't have the best team and the best coach, but at certain times we played the best football... And I love it," Jürgen Klopp said in an interview with Fabrizio Romano.

Today, on 20 May, the U-17 national team of Ukraine played its first match at the European Championship.

Euro 2024 (U-17). Group A

Serbia (U-17 ) - Ukraine (U-17 ) - 1: 0 (1: 0)
Goal: Makevic (2)

Ukraine (U-17): Makarenko, Sheleketa, Tretiak, Digtyar, Strelchuk, Lucin (Redushko, 46), Dragan (Soroka, 46), Olichenko (Vakulyuk, 64), Bogdanov (Popov, 77), Stepanov, Bondar (Denisov, 64).

The Balkans took the lead in the 2nd minute - Makevic hit a powerful shot from outside the penalty area into the top right corner. The Serbs continued to have the initiative, and in one of the episodes, Cvetkovic miraculously did not score from a few metres.

In the 31st minute, the Ukrainians responded with an inaccurate shot by Tretyak after a corner. Later, Stepanov scored a great shot from a corner, but the goalkeeper parried it. Soon Makarenko had to make a save after a dangerous shot by Vasylovych. Shortly before the break, Olichenko made a great throw from deep to Stepanov, but he failed to hit the far corner. We should also note Makarenko's save after Kostov's free-kick.

Immediately after the break, Redushko headed home Strelchuk's cross, but Jovanovic saved his team. Subsequently, the same Redushko tested the keeper from long range, and later - with a header from a good position. Then Stepanov caught the opponents in a mistake, but also lost his duel with the goalkeeper.

In the 74th minute, the Serbs scored a dangerous attempt by Djordjevic - the ball flew near the post. At the end of the match, Popov, Redushko, Stepanov had dangerous shots for the blue and yellows, but our guys failed to at least equalise.

So Yuriy Moroz's team started with a 0-1 defeat against the Serbs. The Ukrainians will play their next game against the Czech Republic on 23 May.

"Lorient became the second team to leave the French Ligue 1 at the end of the 2023/24 season.

In the match of the 34th round of the French Ligue 1, Lorient completely destroyed Clermont with a score of 5-0, but this did not allow Regis Le Brie's men to retain their registration in the top flight. "Metz, which took 16th place, was ahead of Lorient in terms of additional indicators.

Thus, at the end of the current season, Clermont and Metz left the French Ligue 1.

Manchester City head coach Josep Guardiola tearfully answered a question about Jurgen Klopp's departure from Liverpool.

"I will miss him very much. Jurgen was an important person in my life. He took me to a new level as a coach. We have incredible respect for each other. I have a feeling that he will be back. Thank you for his words, but he understands that he has a huge support from the club. I could not have achieved this on my own. I'm humble enough to understand that," said Josep Guardiola at the post-match press conference with tears in his eyes.

We would like to add that Jürgen Klopp was in charge of Liverpool from October 2015 to May 2024. During this time, he managed to win the Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup, the English Championship, the FA Cup, two English League Cups and the FIFA Club World Cup.

Vorskla Vice President Oleh Lysak spoke about how the referees' decisions affected the team's results.

- There were mistakes made by the referees that directly affected Vorskla's results. Of course, everything is in our hands, and believe me, we speak harshly and directly with the players and the staff. However, what can I say to the players when a penalty is given in the 85th minute or 90+15 minutes? This also has an impact. It also affected the final of the Ukrainian Cup.

We could have easily closed this championship in the last round with a 2-2 scoreline. However, it happened as it did. This affected the psychological state of the team going to the Cup final. We are stating the facts. There is a committee of referees. I still don't understand what is happening, how it can be possible that we pay for the VAR system, we do everything to help the referees work, but there are things happening that I don't want to comment on.

All the decisions are written. They admit mistakes. So there are two factors. Either it was deliberately done, or we are not fit for the positions we hold. I hope that there will be an adequate response from the UAF leadership, because I don't understand how this can happen. 90 per cent of the clubs I spoke to are also dissatisfied. We understand that all professional football in Ukraine is based solely on clubs. We will wait and see how this story develops further.

It all has an impact. How can we objectively assess the team, players, and coaching staff in such circumstances? I am stating the facts that the referees' committee itself describes," Lysak told UPL TV.

Ukraine defender Maksym Taloverov commented on the end of the club season with LASK Austria.

"A hard and interesting season is behind us. For the second year in a row, LASK is in the Europa League, which was one of our goals, which we achieved and deserved. Now all my thoughts are devoted to the national team training camp, which starts in a few days. I am very excited about it," Taloverov wrote on Instagram.

Chornomorets Odesa midfielder Artur Avagimian commented on the news that he had already signed a contract with Lviv-based Karpaty.

- "I don't know. This is the first time I've heard about it," the 27-year-old midfielder toldUkrainian Football.

The Lithuanian Football Federation has officially announced that UEFA has imposed disciplinary sanctions on it.

The Lithuanian women were scheduled to play against Belarus in the 2025 UEFA Women's European Championship qualifiers on 31 May and 4 June . The Lithuanians refused to take the same pitch as the team of a state sponsor of terrorism. UEFA informed the LFF that in both matches the Lithuanians would be awarded technical defeats with a score of 0:3, and the federation would be fined 5,000 euros.

"Sanctions and monetary fines are not the main thing, it was important to reiterate the LFF's position on the war and aggressors," said LFF President Edgaras Stankevičius. At the same time, the Lithuanians continue to have a realistic claim to second place in the group and the opportunity to advance to the next stage.

Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag does not believe that the Red Devils' non-participation in the Champions League next season will negatively affect their ability to acquire new players.

"Of course, there is a desire to play at the highest level, but if you want to be part of a project like Manchester United, I am sure that Manchester United is an attractive club for every player," ten Hag was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.

Having won a ticket to the UPL, Lviv's Karpaty plan to work actively not only in the football selection area. It is likely that there will be reshuffles in the club's management.

According to Sport.UA, after the end of the first league season, the Lviv club may announce the transfer of well-known football officials to work for Karpaty. We are talking about the general director of Dnipro-1 Andriy Rusol, who will take a similar position at the Lviv club.

The former sporting director of Oleksandriya Oleksandr Markov, who left the Oleksandriya club after the scandal involving the participation of unannounced Ivan Kalyuzhny in the game against Shakhtar, is also applying for the position of sporting director of Karpaty.

According to reports, a new head of the selection service is also due to join Karpaty. The Lviv club wants to entrust this area to Artem Zasyadvovko, who was brought up as a footballer at Dynamo Kyiv, then worked at Sevastopol, Munich 1860, the analytical company Wyscout and Kolos Kovaliv.