U21 Euros scouting report, part 1: Ukraine’s maestro, Brighton keeper target and a Real Betis gem

Welcome to part one of The Athletic’s Under-21 European Championship scouting articles, where we’ll keep track of interesting players and compelling performances during this summer’s tournament in Georgia and Romania.

First, an important caveat. The aim here isn’t to re-celebrate famous players. Instead, and without trying to be contrary, there will be a bias towards those who aren’t already stars and who didn’t feature in the Ones To Watch lists published before the competition began (Here’s ours).

We’ll do an update after each round of games, so it’s likely the names will become more familiar as the series develops. But — initially at least — we’re looking for players either from the smaller nations, or those operating in the shadows of higher-profile team-mates.

Table of Contents

Oleksiy Kashchuk

Forward, Ukraine/Shakhtar Donetsk; age 22

A maverick. Oleksiy Kashschuk plays for Shakhtar Donetsk in his home country, but has spent the last year on loan at Sabah in Azerbaijan.

He has form in these youth tournaments. He was part of the Ukraine team that won the Under-20 World Cup four years ago and was his country’s best player in their 2-0 opening-night win over Croatia on Wednesday. He scored one goal, assisted the other, and played with a socks-down, left-footed swagger that made him easy to pick out from the crowd.

His goal: outrageous. Kashschuk has a stuttering, dribbling style which must make him horrible to defend against. He takes lots of little touches of the ball. It’s always moving, always changing direction, and that makes opponents wary of tackling him or dangling any legs in his direction. Remember how Georgi Kinkladze used to run with the ball back in the 1990s? He’s a bit like that — as if every touch is an expression of nervous tension.

The Croatia game’s opening goal wasn’t un-Kinkladze-like, either. Kashchuk received a pass 30 yards from goal, rolled his marker beautifully, then beat three more players before cutting a shot in off the post. To make the second, he squared up his man on the edge of the penalty box before wedging a peach of a cross onto Danylo Sikan’s forehead.

It was a maestro’s performance. Whether it was truly indicative is another matter — who knows, frankly — but Kashchuk was (and will continue to be) fun to watch.

Anzor Mekvabishvili

Central midfield, Georgia/Dinamo Tbilisi; 22

Co-hosts Georgia produced the shock of the first round of group games, beating heavily-favoured Portugal 2-0 in Tbilisi. The Georgians didn’t create very much, but scored from the first two shots on target then defended stoutly for the rest of the match.

It was a resolute team performance which didn’t reveal any young stars — there isn’t another Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in this squad — but did owe plenty to a defiant organisation and attitude. Anzor Mekvabishvili best typified that in an accomplished performance in the No 8 role. He was productive enough with the ball, but really stood out for the mood he brought to the game.

Everybody knows that player from five-a-side: always busy, always yapping, sniping at the ball. Mekvabishvili was extremely combative in midfield. He’s not the most imposing, but he’s certainly physical, and in the first half alone made three or four ball-and-all challenges that rattled some Portuguese bones and set the tone. That lay behind the Georgian win.

The only time Portugal seemed comfortable in possession, even with their talented spine and their oceans of technique, was when they had the ball in safe positions. Conversely, whenever they tried to penetrate the space in front of the Georgia penalty area or pass through the middle of the pitch, they faced an aggressive busyness that time and again halted their rhythm and saw them lose the ball. More often than not, Mekvabishvili — warrior footballer that he looks to be — was causing that disruption.

Bart Verbruggen

Goalkeeper, Netherlands/Anderlecht; 20

Belgium had the better of their opening 0-0 draw with the Netherlands on Wednesday and would have won had it not been for Verbruggen. He broke into the Anderlecht first team last season after the World Cup, was certainly among their players of the year, and — on this evidence — it’s hardly surprising that he’s already being followed by a host of Premier League clubs, with Brighton looking the most likely to sign him.

He produced two memorable saves against the Belgians. The first was to deny Lois Openda, who raced in on goal only to be repelled by a strong right hand. There was nothing wrong with Openda’s shot; it was well-struck and well-positioned – high to the goalkeeper’s right – but Verbruggen covered the angles, then stuck out a big paw to parry. He uses that long-barrier, cricket-style technique that’s become more popular with taller goalkeepers and it’s highly effective. Particularly so given that he’s 6ft 4in (193cm) and uses that height so well.

The second save showed that reach, but also his agility: Belgium substitute Michel-Ange Balikwisha nearly won the game by cutting inside and rainbowing a shot towards the far corner. Verbruggen shuffled his feet smartly and got enough of a touch to push the ball over and away. A brilliant, brilliant bit of goalkeeping.

One more note: his passing from feet was accomplished, too. While not a surprise, given who he’s wanted by, he flared the ball out to the touchline and up the pitch a couple of times in a way that recalled Ederson or Alisson.

Rodri Sanchez

Right midfield, Spain/Real Betis; 23

Youth tournaments are a famously forgiving environment. The U21 Euros in particular has a history of rewarding slight and skilful players with a prominence that they never go on to enjoy in senior football.

That’s the context, then, for saying that Real Betis’ Sanchez — known as Rodri, which could prove tricky if he moves to Manchester City — was absolutely excellent against co-hosts Romania in Bucharest on Wednesday. Starting from the right side of a 4-2-3-1, he played beautifully and in great harmony with the players inside, behind and ahead of him.

His technique makes him very watchable, but the timing of his passes — both into the box and to Arnau Martinez, his overlapping full-back on the right — made him impactful. Whether this holds true in La Liga seasons to come or not, his sense for when to drive infield and when to cut passes into dangerous areas seems well-refined. At no point did any Romanian player look comfortable dealing with him. Even when they doubled up on his side, they looked exposed.

His best moment of the game should have created the opening goal, when he darted down the right channel, knifed into the box and found Abel Ruiz with a perfect square ball. Ruiz squandered it horribly however, and that move will now likely be remembered for the miss of the tournament rather than anything in the build-up to the chance.

Nevertheless, Sanchez’s passing, probing performance was a real highlight of the opening day.

Spain look nicely balanced and extremely dangerous; it says much that, in such company, he is entrusted to provide the thrust.

Artem Bondarenko

Central midfield, Ukraine/Shakhtar Donetsk; 22

Another Ukrainian left-footer. Bondarenko captained Ukraine against Croatia and played at the base of their midfield in a 4-2-3-1.

Much of his performance was about rhythm: he took the ball from his defenders and he moved it further up into midfield or out wide. He found some nice angles along the way, too.

His most interesting moment was probably around the half-hour, when a Croatian free kick was parried away and he took possession deep in the far corner of his defensive third. Rather than chip the ball forward or play long, he accelerated down the line, beat a player, then drove a diagonal through ball almost into the path of Kashchuk, who would have been in on goal.

Bondarenko spent much of the rest of the game orchestrating rather than trying to forcefully influence play like that. A few of his passes went astray and, truthfully, there were occasions when opponents stepped away from him a bit too easily, but he still looked like an accomplished player on a dry and difficult pitch.

Left-winger, Switzerland/Basel; 22

After falling behind against Norway yesterday, Switzerland were the better side from the moment they equalised 10 minutes before half-time. That goal was scored by Dan Ndoye after a quick break and good finish, but he’s on this list because of his all-round contribution.

Norway’s main threat was coming from their right, via Manchester City’s Oscar Bobb and Johan Hove of Groningen. Bobb in particular is a menace. He’s a squat, skilful player who can’t be left isolated against a full-back and mustn’t be allowed time on his left foot. Ndoye did a fine job in guarding against both these threats and provided his back line with a degree of protection that meant that Bobb never really became much of an influence.

Ndoye also still managed to be dynamic on the counter-attack and have a few second-half chances of his own. He rather hacked at those, unfortunately, but that didn’t detract too much from a very selfless and mature performance.

Fabian Rieder

Forward/attacking midfield, Switzerland/Young Boys; 21

What a lovely footballer.

One observation about this tournament is that you can always tell who has played a lot of senior football and who hasn’t. Fabian Rieder has. He’s just finished his third full season with Young Boys (he’s just shy of 100 league appearances) and also has four full Swiss caps this season, having made their World Cup squad.

It showed against Norway yesterday in the way he read and used space. Rieder played as the deep-lying forward in a 4-4-2, with a No 9 ahead of him and two wingers often running beyond. He was the centrepiece of the attack and played a beguiling pivot role — half creator, half carrier — the Norwegians were never able to get a grip on.

As Switzerland dropped deeper to protect their lead en route to a 2-1 win, he also became important to sustaining their counter-attacking presence in the game. Ndoye offered a vertical threat and substitute Zeki Amdouni was lively too, but Rieder’s sense of where to be to receive passes and how to use possession to keep his team flowing forward was exemplary.

And ‘deep-lying forward’ doesn’t really describe his role properly, either. In truth, his influence extended across most of the pitch, even back into his own half, and it was no coincidence that Switzerland were the more cohesive of the two teams.

Watch him. He’s excellent.

Bradley Barcola

Right-winger, France/Lyon; 20

What a spectacle he is. The speed with which Bradley Barcola accelerates is amazing.

He has a delicate first touch too, but the rate at which he changes direction and runs away from players is startling. He also appears to have that instinct for a defender’s weak points — which shoulder to attack, for instance, and how to move the ball to keep an opponent off-balance. That was on display during France’s 2-1 win over Italy last night.

Italy lined up in a 3-5-2, with Giorgio Scalvini as the outside centre-back and Tottenham Hotspur’s Destiny Udogie at wing-back, but Barcola really got the better of them both, particularly the latter, who was never able to get his attacking-defending balance right, and who ultimately made the mistake from which Barcola scored the winner.

That was the result of pressure applied by Barcola. Having seen a pass intended for him easily intercepted, he might have collapsed back into a containing position. As it was, he pressed the ball immediately and earned the error from which he profited.

Domestically, he’s built a reputation. Eight assists and five goals in just over 1,400 Ligue 1 minutes (the equivalent of 16 full games) last season is an extremely healthy return, particularly when you consider he was hardly playing in a vintage Lyon side. Watching that side of his game develop over the coming years is going to be really interesting.

The point of this series isn’t to anoint stars or to over-hype young players, but should you get the chance to watch a Lyon game next season, Barcola would be a reason to do so.