Benfica midfielder chooses the Ukraine national team instead of the Portugal national team – Benfica

Andrey Vakalyuk, 16, has been in Seksal since 2018 and is preparing to represent his parents’ native country

Despite being born in Portugal, Benfica midfielder Andriy Vakaliuk showed his desire to represent the U-17 national team of Ukraine, the country of origin of his parents who immigrated to our country and gave their consent for their son to play in Ukrainian colours. The player is 16 years old, and moves between the Reds youth and junior teams. He has caught the attention of Vladimir Yezersky, the Ukrainian under-17 coach, who hopes to rely on him soon.

The youngster arrived at Seksal in 2018 and was considered for a call-up to the national team in youth categories, but now everything points to the Ukrainian Federation getting the lead to rely on the player in the future.

According to information from “Sport.24”, Andriy Vakalyuk’s family has already traveled to Madrid to formalize the process of obtaining a Ukrainian passport, but it will take some time. Therefore, in the first qualifying stage for the European Under-17 Championship, the Benfica midfielder will not be able to help Ukraine, but the coaching staff believes that this will be possible in the next qualifying stage.