The Belarusian U16 national football team has secured second place at the UEFA Development Tournament in Stara Pazova, Serbia, BelTA has learned.
In the decisive encounter, Dzmitry Chaley’s team lost 1-3 to their Serbian counterparts, who eventually won the tournament. Zakhar Sihnevich was on target for Belarus, slotting home a penalty deep into the second half. Earlier, the Belarusian side had claimed two wins. They opened the campaign with a confident 2-0 win over DR Congo, thanks to goals by Yaraslau Hubashyn and Kiryl Salianik. The second match against Switzerland ended in a 2-2 draw after regular time (Kiryl Kavaliou and Kiryl Salianik scored for Belarus), with Belarus winning 5-4 in the penalty shootout.
On 23 April, a UEFA girls’ development tournament kicks off at the football pitch complex of the Belarusian Football Federation in Minsk. Two Belarusian national teams (U15 and U16) will take part, alongside teams from Bulgaria and Russia. The competition will run through 28 April.
These international youth tournaments under the auspices of UEFA have been taking place since 2012 as part of the HatTrick program. Belarus first hosted a similar competition in 2013. Currently, boys’ and girls’ teams from all 55 national football associations belonging to the Union of European Football Associations take part in these tournaments.
