The 2021/22 season will almost certainly be one of the most difficult seasons for Phoenix in the team's history. The probability of AFU collecting a strong U16 Championship is small, most likely, the focus will be on the U17 age category, which for Phoenix means performing in two age categories at once, in one of which the players of the opposition will be 2-3 years older.
To prepare for next year's matches, the team's coaching staff decided to spend the remaining two months before the holidays on matches with teams with players born earlier than 2006/07. As the Kharkiv Summer Futsal Championship does not provide such experience, it was decided to take part in the Chernomorsk Cup U16, which will take place in Chernomorsk on June 27-30, as well as to test the team in the short (6 matches) JIA Futsal Cup among adult teams.
The boys looked forward to their debut in adult futsal. It was not just about the willingness to match strength with amateurs. Many of Phoenix' 'veterans' have known JIA tournaments since their early childhood, when the boys cheered for their parents, before taking on futsal themselves. Exactly for that reason the teams participating in the current cup are all quite familiar.
The structure of the Cup in terms of tournament struggle is quite sparing. From two groups of 4 teams all get through to the quarterfinals. The 4 teams beaten in the quarterfinals will compete for their set of cups, while the winners will compete for the main prizes of the tournament. The tournament prize in this case is the last thing that interests Serhii Hrytsenko and Yurii Vashchenko. The priority is to let the boys get stronger in the ‘male’ struggle.
It was the team's struggle and dedication that looked great. The excitement that must have pressed on the boys was not visible from the outside looking in. The 'violets' controlled the ball well and contemplated quite well, too. Konkov and Bezruk had great moments to score, and where it was not possible to get close to the goal, Shevchenko and Khodatskyi managed medium range shots amazingly well.
Kharkiv-Sport focused on quick counterattacks, two of which were successful in the first half. To the credit of the violets, though, Phoenix managed to restore balance by the halftime break. The first four-player squad, who adapted to the game faster primarily due to the big Shevchenko and Khodatsky and Konkov, Soldatenko and Dolhulia, who looked impressive that day, scored twice. Dolhulia's magnificent pass from his goal led to the first goal scored, which cut off the entire team of the opponent and brought Konkov one-on-one with Yuri Kotlyar. Ivan kicked the ball past the keeper of the opposition with a brilliant seeing-eye goal.
Khodatskyi deserves the credit for the second goal, having grasped Yuri Kotlyar's inaccurate throw-in. Danylo reached the Kharkiv-Sport penalty area with the ball, where the defenders managed to kick it out straight to Maksym Dolhulia's feet. Dolhulia took an accurate corner kick.
Between the two goals, there was a promising free-kick, where the left-footed Zamula played on, his shot being blocked by the defenders, though. Additionally, a great long range shot by Khodatskyi ended up hitting the goal post.
In its tactics Kharkiv-Sport succeeded in long range kicks landing close to our penalty area, where the tall players of the 'whites' would win the scramble and shoot at the goal dangerously. Eldar Bratchuk, who spent his first half in the goal confidently, came to the rescue more than once, and when he turned out powerless, the goalpost came to the rescue.
In the second half Phoenix got carried away with positional play. The team still had good control of the ball in the center of the field, the aggravation did not happen, as a rule, except for a few 'solo' attempts to get through to the goal past several defenders.
Admittedly, the violets had some looming dynamism in the first half, whereas the defensive play in the second half of the match failed. The ball went to Lazeba's goal three times before Phoenix moved on to play with the fifth fielder, first - Khodatskyi and then - Bodnar. In both cases, the team looked good, trying to sharpen the game with longitudinal passes towards the goal, which we saw little of, say, in the recent League Cup in Belozirya. The boys were not destined to win back, though. On the contrary, the ball once again went into the net of our goal.
Despite the unpleasant score, the debut match could hardly be called unsuccessful. There was nothing the team conceded to the rivals in, having even surpassed the opposition in the number of shots on goal. The mood, the motivation and the intransigence in the fight were captivating. Some of the set pieces and the play with the fifth fielder had gone down well. Phoenix would have done with a little more courage in building attacks and a better discipline in defense. Those two aspects the coaches will certainly try to improve during the training sessions preceding the match of the second round against AFC Nature-3, the silver medalist of the JIA Championship Media League.