Unai Melgosa, head coach of Ukraine's youth football team, has commented on captain Volodymyr Brazhko's red card in the closing moments of their match against Finland, which rules him out of the decisive clash with the Netherlands.
"The referee decided to give a second yellow card. But we also need to understand how to defend without committing fouls. Yellow cards - I won't talk about refereeing, but we must understand: fouls are one thing when it comes to aggression, and another when we don't look as good as we'd like," explained Melgosa.
The Spanish coach revealed he wasn't watching when the incident occurred that led to Brazhko's dismissal. He immediately checked on his captain's emotional state as he left the field.
"I asked him what happened because I was actually looking away at that moment when he committed the foul. I always try to react when a player leaves the field: when he's aggressive, I need to calm him down. That's all I asked him," Melgosa added.
Interestingly, the Ukraine youth team now faces a significant challenge against the Dutch without their captain. The disciplinary issue comes at the worst possible time for the team.
The upcoming match against the Netherlands is scheduled for Wednesday, June 18, in Prešov, with kickoff set for 19:00. Can Ukraine overcome the absence of their leader against one of Europe's strongest youth sides?
