The 22nd World Cup, the main planetary football event of the four-year period, starts in Qatar this coming Sunday. Without a doubt, for almost a month, special attention will be riveted to him from analysts and managers of various ranks, numerous media outlets, as well as an army of millions of fans.
The upcoming World Cup is unique in many ways. For the first time, the FIFA Cup tournament will be held in Qatar, and indeed in the Middle East. For the first time in the country of the Arab world, an absolute monarchy with a predominance of the Muslim population. For the first time in the Northern Hemisphere in the autumn-winter period. And for the first time since 1934, the host team will perform on it as a debutant.
In the meantime, the mentors of the national teams participating in the 2022 World Cup form and publish applications, bookmakers and forecasters estimate the chances, and fans of the leather ball book tours to the sandy peninsula washed by the Persian Gulf, football life in the traditional sense has noticeably subsided. The calendar familiar for decades turned out to be broken and even the group European Cup tournaments ended as early as ever - in early November.
However, UEFA did not wait to determine the pairings of the first round of the playoffs of the Champions League, the Europa League and the Conference League scheduled for February-March, and the draw took place last Monday in Nyon. The plenipotentiaries of Ukraine, Shakhtar and Dnipro-1, who remained in the competition, also recognized their rivals.
Tournament crossroads
The opponent of the Donetsk team in the Europa League was the French "Rennes". Wards of Oleksandr Kucher within the Conference League will meet with the Cypriot club AEK from Larnaca.
“What can I say about foaling? asks the site's browser sportanalytics.com Igor Zvik. — Once in a while, our team did not take itself into the rivals of the grand European football. Obviously, Shakhtar's super player is significantly stronger, and, perhaps, Rennes itself will be the favorite of this two-match opposition. But don’t forget the chances of the players to go far away, because the stench plays so spontaneously, like in the first five rounds of the Champions League.
And "Dnipro-1" in the next year, overcame its "Cyprus phobia" and healed by seeing the past. There will be a good chance, chances are in ours, but everything is stale, in addition, in what form will the patriarchy of the team be in fierce " (07.11.22).
The irony of fate is that this season the Dniprians have already met with AEK in the Europa League qualification and lost to the islanders in the sum of two matches with a total score of 1:5. Moreover, already in the group of the second-ranking European tournament, Dynamo Kyiv did not cope with the Cypriots (0:1 and 3:3). And Lucescu's team completely lost to Rennes in both meetings (1:2 and 0:1). These are the intricacies of the tournament roads of domestic teams with upcoming opponents.
"Father, cicavo will equal strength"Dynamo" and "Shakhtar" at the standing against the same "Rennes", Zwick draws the line. — Well, between the two games, mine is a little bit of time, but you can still make a big assessment. Well, pit your strength against the forces of Dynamo and Dnipro-1, and also crush each other in sickle and fierce "(sportsanalytics.com, 07.11.22).
The continental club draw was also attended by famous football masters in the past, and now experts Leonid Buryak and Jozsef Sabo.
Buryak believes that the opponents are quite tough for our representatives, and it is the Ukrainian teams that are the favorites of the upcoming confrontations. AEK made a good impression, but in the rivalry with Dynamo he was a bit lucky. Although, in general, Cypriot football is far from the one that the famous midfielder faced during his playing career.
As for Rennes, they are able to beat any opponent, they are a very qualified team, whose game is interesting to watch. For the French, participation in the Europa League is a business, then they profitably sell their best performers.
I agree with my colleague and Sabo: “We saw Rennes in matches with Dynamo — this is a good team. In the French championship, she shares the third-fourth places, shows a high level of football" (www.football.com, 08.11.22).
At the same time, both experts believe that it will not be easy. After all, in February, Ukrainian teams traditionally have a hard time playing European Cup matches. Much will depend on how they conduct pre-season training, whether they manage to keep their lineups.
In this context, the possible transfers of Mudrik, Dovbik, and now also Pikhalenok are rumored.
“Dovbik and Pikhalenok are good football players, and I do not rule out that they will be sold in winter if Dnipro-1 is offered an amount that suits the club, Sabo says. — But it seems to me that it is expedient for the players themselves to finish the season as part of the current team. In this case, I am sure that the Dnipro will pass the AEK.
As for Mudrik, there is too much noise around this guy: they say he is already worth 100 million euros. But this, in my opinion, is a lot. God forbid that the Donetsk club sell it for 25-30 million" (www.football.com, 08.11.22).
Leonid Buryak is even more categorical: “The transfers of Mudrik and Dovbik are just words so far. Yes, serious clubs are interested in them, and Shakhtar announced their desire to get 50-60 million euros for Mudrik. But there are no specifics yet. I think these guys should be allowed to go to top clubs. But first, it seems to me, Mudrik and Dovbik should do something significant for their clubs and the country, and only then go abroad " (footboom.com, 08.11.22).
Pitmen's mentor Igor Jovicevich called Rennes a good opponent, who showed himself worthy in the Europa League group.
And then he added: “But I would like to draw your attention to the fact that we are also Shakhtar. We will fight to the end and believe in our strength. Now we are focused on the Premier League, where we want to earn maximum points in the remaining four rounds of the first part of the championship. And for the matches against the French, we will have enough time to prepare well.
From watching the draw, I got the impression that the representatives of Rennes, when they saw Shakhtar in their rivals, also did not remain indifferent. We have shown what we are capable of, and I am sure that opponents also have respect for our team".
"It's a little special lot, - in turn, the general director of Rennes, Olivier Cloarek, reacted. — Because the matches will take place in three months. What form each of the teams will be in is unknown. After all, Shakhtar, like Dynamo, with whom we met, is developing in very specific conditions.
We will have to go to Warsaw. This is not the brightest poster on paper. But Shakhtar are accustomed to European competitions and have shown that they are capable of drawing against Real Madrid. Donetsk club remains a big name in Europe" (xsport.ua, 07.11.22).
Football remains part of the world
Dnipro-1 and Shakhtar are still confidently leading the Ukrainian Championship standings. Two rounds took place last week. On Wednesday, the leaders won on-duty victories: Dnipro over Kolos (3:1), miners over Veres (2:0).
And a day later, it seemed that the Dynamo team was gradually overcoming the gaming and psychological crisis. At least, the victory over Oleksandriya (3:1), an organized, sportingly angry, tenacious and aggressive team, looked very convincing.
“The people of Kiev have finally thrown off the burden of the European Cup and received such a coveted opportunity for the head coach to conduct a full-fledged training process, — written by the site's browser www.football.com Sergei Shvets. — Oleksandria has not lost in seven fights in a row before this round, having won four. She also played a solid draw with Shakhtar. Her stay in fourth place with an encroachment on the third looks quite natural. Team coach Yuriy Gura has at hand a group of footballers who are very creative by Ukrainian standards, able to compensate for the absence of a goal-scoring forward." (10.11.22).
The author notes that the guests who arrived in the capital in the debut of the match were practically in no way inferior to Dynamo and even tried to act as the first number. However, a quickly missed goal (Buyalsky) broke them somewhat. However, the Alexandrians did not deviate from their original intentions and continued to play their usual football. And in general, the first half left the most pleasant impression - speed, the desire of both opponents to sharpen the game, non-standard moves.
But for the second supply of strength and energy "Alexandria" was not enough. Dynamo took the fight to a more academic level and completely controlled the situation on the pitch. The guests created the only moment at the gates of Kiev in the 62nd minute. And after some time, Mircea Lucescu's wards turned their advantage into two more goals scored (Lonwijk and Shepelev).
The game of Kiev in this match received positive feedback from other authors.
"Dynamo" in the domestic arena does not often resist a super player, which of the starting wheezes does not curl up on its own half of the field, but is encouraged to play at the football, Sergei Sytnik noted. — «Oleksandriya "has become such a vinnyatka itself. Alegra in football for Dynamo is a great risk. Kiani, perhaps, like no one else in the line, can carry out quick attacks and effectively complete them. (footboom.com, 11/10/22).
“The victory over the white-blues could allow the wards of Yuriy Gura to return to the top three in the standings, Yuri Gromov stated in turn. — It just didn't work out. With a fairly equal debut, the Dynamo team managed to quickly open an account. And then the hosts had more than one opportunity to increase the advantage. Vanat almost caught the Oleksandriya goalkeeper on a mistake, then the goalkeeper coped with Tsygankov's shot, and also reacted to the same Vanat's shot" (fakty.ua, 11/10/22).
There was another moment that Mircea Lucescu drew attention to at the post-match press conference. We are talking about the episode when, instead of the 11-meter penalty, Tsygankov earned a yellow card, allegedly for simulation. However, the Dynamo mentor did not focus on him. But he was satisfied with the game and the result.
“Three points are important for us. Finally returned home. Now we train and play in more acceptable conditions. No moving from place to place. I told the guys more than once that now the main thing for us is to take points, compensate for the losses that occurred through our fault, and catch up with the leading group.
I am happy with the victory because we played against an opponent who demonstrates good football. I really liked Alexandria. The team plays openly, on the attack, uses a large number of combinations, easily reaches the opponent's goal. We had to act in such a way as to anticipate the opponent's moves, act compactly during the tackle and then quickly send the ball into the zones. And so it happened" (Dynamo.kiev.ua, 11/10/22).
The victory over Oleksandriya will certainly be remembered by Dutch midfielder Justin Lonwijk, who scored his debut goal for Dynamo.
"I'm trying to progress and more and more improve the gaming relationships with partners, — admitted the author of the second ball against the guests. — I think the adaptation is going well, and with my skin, I will improve in cooperation with the team. Having added my goal to everyone, the superman no longer created problems. At the moment we missed the ball, we could play more carefully in a zahist, but in a wild gra passed under our control (Dynamo.kiev.ua, 11/10/22).
Dynamo had every reason to reinforce their positive impressions in the Sunday match with Kolos, but they were content with a draw (0:0).
Lucescu paid tribute to the opponent: "Kolos" defended in an organized manner. This is one of the most aggressive teams of the UPL in the plan to pick up the ball, defend and rush. I asked the lads to keep clear and unique contacts. At the same time, there were more than three unsafe counterattacks on our goal, after all we could have missed them, with three fouls, as if judging by not waggling chi don’t want to talk” (fcdynamo.com, 11/13/22).
At the same time, the Dynamo coach agreed that his players looked like a team only in the second half of the second half - they fought, struggled and created chances. He paid tribute to the goalkeeper of the guests. He reproached the wards for overdoing it with playing a short pass, in conditions of tight defense of the opponent, they didn’t hit enough from a long distance, they didn’t use the change of flanks for breakthroughs into the penalty area and crosses. In general, he made it clear what to work on next.
And he summed it up with these words: “The championship is three, in front there were a lot of igor. All teams can both win and spend points. Today, it was especially noted how important Shaparenko's role in the team was. Skills of yoga are important for the attack. Such we didn’t get the grave” (fcdynamo.com 11/13/22).
It is curious that the leaders, who also missed the tournament points, took a parallel course. Dnipro-1 signed a world with Vorskla (1:1), and Shakhtar even had to win back in the match with Zorya (2:2).
In general, the autumn part of the Ukrainian Championship will last until November 26 (and the postponed match between Chornomorets and Kryvbas is scheduled for December 2). So, despite all the difficulties and restrictions of wartime, strange refereeing decisions and organizational problems that still happen, the domestic fan will still have a lot of emotions and impressions.
Therefore, it remains only to agree with the opinion of the site browser Terrikon.com Vadim Samoilov, who wrote: “The forced originality of our championship makes one rather surprised that it continues than looking ahead towards the finish line. Holding matches in war conditions, when rockets are flying at Ukrainian cities, and sirens interrupt the course of fights, without exaggeration, is heroism.
As life shows, interest in football remains high in the country, although it would seem that people should now be concerned about purely everyday issues. But no - football has remained a part of our world, and no war can do anything about it" (11/11/22).
Helping hand from Dynamo
Football club "Dynamo" is not only the first team, the struggle for high places and awards, youth teams and its own academy, a large army of fans. It's also charity. The Dynamo team does not forget about it either in peacetime, or even more so in wartime.
As an example, the construction of a new medical outpatient clinic in Gurovshchina, Buchansky district, Kyiv region, which is being built at the expense of the club and the Surkis Brothers Foundation. The old one, where repairs were made on the eve of the war, was destroyed as a result of shelling by Russian invaders.
Back in mid-June, FC Dynamo and the Surkis Brothers Foundation undertook this project by signing a memorandum with the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and the Kyiv Regional Military Administration. And now, five months later, the implementation of the plan is nearing completion.
It will be a modern medical institution, the opening of which is expected by all local residents. Many people come to see how the external facade of the building is equipped, and the builders have already started finishing the interior.
“I think we will need some more time to complete the work, - says the senior in the brigade Sergey Neleshko. — We do everything on time succeed within the predetermined time frame» (pressing.net.ua, 06.11.22).
At the same time, the material base is being improved, computers, furniture, and office equipment are being purchased. The presence on the territory of a rural society of a new outpatient clinic, built using modern technologies and fully equipped with medical equipment, will become an incentive to attract professional doctors, whose shortage is felt.
And this, in turn, will allow adults and children, for whom a separate room with their own entrance is provided, to undergo high-quality diagnostics and receive timely medical care.
Another gesture of goodwill by FC Dynamo and the Surkis Brothers Fund was to help an 8-year-old boy from Konstantinovka, in the long-suffering Donetsk region. A child from a low-income family was given a terrible diagnosis, and the disease deprived Mikhail of the opportunity to move around without an orthopedic device. And the only means of communication with the outside world was his mother's phone.
Responding to a request for help, the Surkis Brothers Charitable Foundation ordered and purchased a special orthopedic tricycle from a Poltava certified company, which is a manufacturer of specialized medical equipment. And also a laptop with software.
With the assistance of the military administration of Konstantinovka, charitable assistance was delivered and handed over to the boy, which made Mikhail and his family incredibly happy (Fcdynamo.com, pressing.net.ua, footclub.com.ua, 11/10/22).
Meanwhile, the youth teams of FC Dynamo U-15 and U-16, on the initiative of the club's management and its friends, have been in Cologne for three months. Recently, the director of the club Youth Football School Alexander Ishchenko visited the guys, who said that the period of stay of young football players in Germany would be extended.
“In early November, we had a meeting with representatives of the city’s leadership and FC Cologne, at which our request was met with warmth and understanding to consider the possibility of our teams visiting the Germans for a longer term. After all, the situation in Kyiv is still very difficult. When peace comes and we can return home, we will do it right away. As a result, an agreement was reached that the guys would stay in Cologne until June 30, 2023", - said the principal of the schoolfcdynamo.com 08.11.22).
Moreover, plans were discussed to include Dynamo teams in the regional youth championship of Germany, and the white and blue teams will play in tournaments with rivals a year older. According to Ishchenko, this will allow the guys to quickly improve their skills, improve their technique, tactics and physical fitness. The issue of providing Ukrainians with a separate kitchen was promptly resolved, so that they would feel at home.
“The whole world is emotionally worried about what is happening in Ukraine, and we felt it ourselves in Germany. Everyone wishes us a speedy victory. I have met with many people both here and in Poland, including those who hold leadership positions, and I can speak about this with confidence,” - summed up Alexander Ishchenko (fcdynamo.com 08.11.22).
By the way, FC Dynamo, from the first days of full-scale aggression, takes care of its pupils, finding the opportunity to organize training camps for them in Hungary, Poland, Germany and other countries. As, however, it does not refuse those who need and can lend a helping hand, regardless of football. Probably, this is the only way, together, that victory is forged. And the Armed Forces of Ukraine, we are sure, will drive the occupiers over the curb.
Victor ZHURAVLEV
