The head coach of Dynamo’s U19 team Ihor Kostyuk shared his thoughts on the Matchday 13 fixture of the National League U19 in which the Kyiv side beat Kolos Kovalivka away (1:0):
– We earned three points today. It was a difficult match – the pitch was very specific. Familiar for the opponent, unfamiliar for us. We created many chances, especially in the first half, but in the final phase something was always missing. We blame it on the quality of the surface because someone was a bit late, someone struck inaccurately. This played a key role in the fact that we didn’t score our goals and the tension lasted until the end. But we took three points and that’s what matters.
– Nazar Ivaskiv had to leave the pitch in the first half due to an injury. Do you have any information on his condition?
– We’ll run diagnostics and then we’ll understand. It might be a bruise or maybe some kind of injury. Right now we don’t know.
– Players who spent last week with the Ukrainian youth and U21 national teams have returned to your squad. How much does their return strengthen the team?
– Of course, they returned in a good mood. Redushko and Hubenko won all three of their Euro 2026 (U19) qualifying matches. Yes, they didn’t score today but they contributed to the win. That only boosts confidence. The practice and experience they gain in the national team cannot be compared to anything else. These are completely different emotions. They represent their country. They did well, we congratulated them. And overall they played well today and made their contribution.
– In previous two seasons Dynamo didn’t manage to beat Kolos. Is today’s win special for you?
– We see that all teams show their best version of themselves against us. They want to take points from us, show themselves, prove they are not worse than Dynamo players. So in every match they try to present their best side. We understood the game would be like this today. Especially since it’s their home pitch which they are used to. It was a bit harder for us to adapt. But we won – and that’s the main thing.
– At the end of the match Vladyslav Zakharchenko received two yellow cards. How did you react to that moment?
– I asked the referee why he gave the second yellow card. He said that Zakharchenko disagreed with the referee’s decision. But there was no disagreement. The referee asked why the foul occurred. Zakharchenko simply said that the stoppage time had already ended and asked how much longer we would play. I don’t see any disagreement with the referee’s decision here. We will talk to Vladyslav because you can’t argue with referees and pick up such unfortunate cards.
– On Wednesday Dynamo will play the first match against Hibernian in the UEFA Youth League. What are your expectations?
– There are no easy opponents in the Youth League, all are champions of their countries. Hibernian is no exception. They’re a very dynamic team, very fast, well-organized. They beat 2 Korriku. We are preparing for them – it will be a tough match. On Sunday we’re already traveling. We’ll have recovery sessions. It’s snowing in Poland now so we hope the pitch quality will be more or less good so that we can show quality football.
