MINSK, 21 October (BelTA) – Head coach of the Belarusian women's national football team Yuri Maleyev has named the roster for a training camp ahead of the UEFA Women's EURO 2021 qualifying match against Northern Ireland, BelTA has learned.
The squad for the forthcoming training camp includes 24 athletes:
goaltenders: Natalya Voskobovich, Yekaterina Kovalchuk (both FC Minsk), Yekaterina Miklashevich (FC Lokomotiv, Moscow, Russia), Mariya Svidunovich (FC Dinamo BGUFK Minsk);
defenders: Yulia Slesarchik, Anastasia Novikova, Viktoriya Kazakevich, Valeriya Karachun (all FC Dinamo BGUFK Minsk), Anna Kozyupa, Kseniya Kubichnaya, Anna Sas (all FC Minsk);
midfielders: Anastasiya Linnik, Anastasiya Shuppo, Anastasiya Shlapakova, Anna Pilipenko, Vita Nikolayenko (all FC Dinamo BGUFK Minsk), Anastasiya Kharlanova, Anastasiya Pobegailo (both FC Minsk), Valeriya Bogdan (FC Zorka BDU Minsk), Tatyana Krasnova (FC Ryazan VDV, Russia);
forwarders: Karina Olkhovik, Darya Stezhko (both FC Dinamo BGUFK Minsk), Yekaterina Dudko (FC Neman Grodno), Anastasiya-Grazyna Shcherbachenya (RJK Marjamaa, Estonia).
The Belarusian team was to play Norway on 21 October. However, the match has been postponed to 2021 due to the epidemiological situation. On 27 October Belarus will face Northern Ireland at Dinamo Stadium.
For the Belarusian team this will be the fifth match in qualifying Group C. Belarus defeated Faroe Islands – 6-0 (at home) and 2-0 (away), and lost to Norway 1-7 and Wales 0-1. The Group C standings are as follows: Norway – 15 points (five matches played), Wales – 8 (5), Belarus – 6 (4), Northern Ireland – 5 (5), Faroe Islands – 0 (5).
Yuri Maleyev's team is to play two away matches in 2020: one against Northern Ireland slated for 27 November and another against Wales on 1 December.
The nine group winners and the three best runners-up qualify directly for the final tournament, while the remaining six runners-up advance to the play-offs. The six teams are drawn into three ties to play home-and-away two-legged matches to determine the last three qualified teams.
The final was initially scheduled for summer 2021 but has been rescheduled to 2022 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The postponed UEFA Women's EURO 2021 will be played in England from 6 July to 31 July 2022. Belarus has never reached the final before.
