Shakhtar's championship and the anticipation of Serhiy Rebrov's official appointment were the main topics in the football media last week.
The matches of the 29th round of the Ukrainian league on Sunday determined the winners of the gold medal ahead of schedule and intensified the intrigue in the fight for the second ticket to the Champions League.
In the space of a week, Shakhtar Donetsk defeated both of their closest pursuers, Dnipro-1 (Sunday) and Zorya (Wednesday), with the same 3-0 scoreline, and won the Ukrainian league title for the 2022/2023 season ahead of schedule.
By and large, the fate of the championship was actually decided on Wednesday, when Shakhtar beat Zorya and Dnipro-1 lost to Vorskla. Thus, in the two remaining matches, the Pitmen only needed to take one point.
Dnipro-1 was the first to make a fateful mistake, opening the scoring quickly but conceding twice before the break and losing.
"In general, Dnipro-1 played a quality match in which they managed to pin the opponent in the penalty area and create many chances. No matter how trite it may sound, it was the realisation that let us down: when Isenko made a mistake on the way out and the ball hit Dovbyk's head, it was very likely to go in. This season, Artem has solved such simple moments in nine out of ten cases - but with Vorskla, it was the tenth. And there were many such chances: the same Pikhalenok could have scored a goal to add to his collection of assists.
However, the failure against Vorskla cannot be explained by a single offence. First of all, the Poltava club played well on the counter-attack: the attack completed by Kane and Perduta was a work of art. In addition, Kucher made a frankly strange move during the break. After a half in which he simply scored a goal himself, Blanco and Mataritta went to rest, and Hutsulyak and Pasic replaced them. There was a more or less logical explanation for this - Peglow was able to move up to his home position - but in fact, Dnipro-1 lost rather than gained in quality during the match," writes journalist Vitaliy Pasichnyi(Football.ua, 26.05.23).
"Shakhtar destroyed Zorya and killed the championship intrigue - Jovicevic outplayed his rival, a ridiculous sending off, a super goal,"- this is how the columnist Taras Kotiv eloquently summarises the game that took place a little later(Football24.ua, 24.05.23).
"Shakhtar took Zorya apart into molecules - they exploited their weaknesses and indecision, made them nervous. "Zorya didn't know what to do and started to get nervous. Only thestandards were in danger," agrees Oleksandr Sazhko(Ua.tribuna.com, 24.05.23).
In the author's opinion, the key episode in the match was the sending off of Zorya defender Snurnitsyn, who was a Shakhtar player.
"Snurnitsyn's stupid sending off for a blatant kick to Zubkov's legs is from the same series. "Zorya lost a few duels on the flank for a few minutes, and Zubkov probably even pushed the Luhansk defender. But his reaction to the episode was completely inadequate. "Shakhtar put a lot of pressure on Snurnitsyn's flank throughout the match, and it was very difficult for him - Zorya's weakest point was broken.
After the sending off, the game turned into bullying and beating. "Shakhtar were in no hurry, they were calmly playing and rolling. And Zorya simply did not have the strength to offer anything to the opponent. They couldn't play aggressively in the press - they didn't have the strength or another player. Shakhtar also failed to catch Shakhtar on mistakes in the play in this match," Sazhko said(Ua.tribuna.com, 24.05.23).
It is worth noting that the refereeing issue in these key matches received a lot of media coverage. And Dnipro-1 expressed its disagreement with a number of the referee's decisions not only in a detailed analysis of the controversial points on the club's media resources, but also in an official appeal to the UAF Ethics and Fair Play Committee.
In turn, the UAF stated the following in this regard:
"The UAF Referees Committee and the UAF Ethics and Fair Play Committee received an appeal from Dnipro-1 Sports Club asking them to give a proper assessment of the refereeing actions in the match of the 28th round of the UPL between Dnipro-1 and Vorskla.
We would like to draw your attention to the fact that the committees had already paid attention to this match before receiving the letter. While the checks within their competence are ongoing, it has been decided to suspend referee Yevhen Aranovskyi from his duties"(Champion.com.ua, 26.05.23).
It even went so far as to suggest that Shakhtar should not just get the required number of points in the last two rounds, but should beat Dnipro-1 to dispel all doubts about the fairness of their championship.
"There has already been talk of Shakhtar's 'armchair' championship. The pressure is particularly strong from Dnipro-1, who raised a huge scandal over the refereeing after the match against Vorskla. It's hard to call most of the Dnipro team's claims adequate, but it should be noted that this season's title fight is particularly dirty from all sides: with cabinet games, terrible refereeing and a lot of press coverage. This has turned the championship race into chaos.
Whoever becomes the champion, questions will be directed at them first and foremost, because they won, which means it was their actions that produced the result. Whatever the actual balance of good and bad between the candidates for the title, only the winner of the season can be an "armchair" champion.
And Shakhtar have enough to ask about. Here are just the most recent and obvious ones:
1. Minaya's disallowed clean sheet goal at 1-0 in a match where Shakhtar did not score again and could have theoretically clinched the points.
2. The shameful match against Ingulets, which became the quintessential example of Shakhtar's postponements this season: the opponent came to visit the home game and even fielded a second team.
3. Accusations of insider incentives to rival opponents, which is prohibited by the competition regulations.
4. Even the very questionable yellow card of Oleksandr Svatko, which had no impact on the outcome of the match against Vorskla, but conveniently for Shakhtar sent the leader of Dnipro-1's defence into suspension for the key face-to-face match.
The only way for Shakhtar to put to rest all talk of an armchair champion is to win the league with a clear lead over its rivals in head-to-head matches without refereeing scandals."The Pitmen have already defeated Zorya without any questions at all, now we need to close the first-round defeat to Dnipro-1," the same Oleksandr Sazhko said the day before(Ua.tribuna.com, 28.05.23).
And it must be said that Shakhtar did just that, scoring three goals against Dnipro. Of course, Bondarenko's quick goal from long range helped them a lot. The Pitmen continued to play to the scoreline and built on their advantage after the break.
"Shakhtar didn't even feel the opposition's initial onslaught (if any), and then calmly scored twice. First, the opposition's defence failed, allowing Zubkov to cut an Iniesta-style pass to Sikan, who broke the goal drought by dealing with the opposition keeper. Three minutes later, the visitors finally capitulated, conceding the second goal of the match from distance - this time by Stepanenko. 3:0. Bring the gold medals, you can open the champagne and get ready for the parade. Everything was clear with the first place," says columnist Heorhiy Groshev(Ua-football.com, 28.04.23).
However, at the end of the game, there was an episode that will be talked about for a long time - and which will undoubtedly lead to resonant decisions by the disciplinary authorities.
"Nazarina made a hard tackle against Peglow, which led not only to the emotions of the players, but also to a kind of fight on both sides. We won't describe the fight in detail, we'll just document Rakitsky's broken eyebrow and four red cards - Nazarina, Peglow, Trubin and Fedoriv left the field early (the latter, however, was in reserve for the whole game, but still managed to take part in the fight).
This episode will be discussed and reviewed for a long time, but all this is in the future. For now, we can state the triumph of Shakhtar, who became the champions of Ukraine a round before the finish line. "The Miners have definitely deserved the title with their last two matches. And the Dnipro team's fight is still ahead - Zorya also won their match and equalised with Kucher's team on points. The last round will be decisive," adds Groshev(Ua-football.com, 28.04.23).
Thus, while the Pitmen have resolved all their issues, for Dnipro-1 this clash and its consequences could turn into big problems, as Oleksandr Kucher's team will be missing at least one important player for the next match, which will decide the fate of the Champions League qualification.
For Shakhtar, another extremely important result of last week is that the UPL gold also brings them a direct ticket to the group stage of the next Champions League. Formally, Ukraine's current position in the UEFA coefficient table does not give our champion such a right, but due to the fact that both finalists of the current Champions League draw (Inter and Manchester City) have secured places in the next campaign through the national leagues, Shakhtar will get the vacant pass.
The day before the UPL culmination, the winner of the first league was determined. It was Zhytomyr's Polissia, who, together with Obolon, had booked their tickets to the top flight even earlier. Yurii Kalytvintsev's team won the First League gold medal with a home victory over LNZ Cherkasy - symbolically, it happened on the day when the club's president, Gennadii Butkevych, celebrated his 65th birthday.
According to media reports, Butkevych's arrival is primarily responsible for the revival of the club, which was founded in 1959 but had never played at the top level and even ceased to exist for decades. In 2016, the club was brought back to life by the city authorities of Zhytomyr, and the arrival of a powerful sponsor in 2021 brought the process to a completely different level.
"There is one specific reason for the current success of the Zhytomyr club, and it is Gennadiy Butkevych. The Forbes billionaire has increased Polissia's budget tenfold in the two years he has been at the helm, and has already achieved a historic triumph, although he says he hasn't even started to invest in football seriously. Another powerful player has appeared in the list of football owners..." - writes columnist Mykola Reshniuk(Ua.tribuna.com, 27.05.23).
"For Butkevych, according to informed sources, Polissya is not a toy. He wants to create another success story. It is important for him to demonstrate this right now, at a time when any success is worth its weight in gold. That'swhy he is ready to invest in Polissya the kind of money that almost no one in the UPL can afford," notes theTerrikon portal(Terrikon.com, 17.05.23).
Experts expect that Polissia will set quite ambitious goals in the top division: not only to gain a foothold in the elite, but also to try to repeat the unique breakthroughs to the European Cups of UPL debutants Oleksandriya in the 2015/16 season and Kolos in the 2019/20 season.
Obolon, another future UPL newcomer, has a different story, but it has something in common with the Zhytomyr miracle. The Kyiv team's rise was not as rapid, but it is also primarily due to the systematic and competent development of the club by its main investor, Oleksandr Slobodian.
In 2012, due to a conflict within Obolon's management, which long-time fans will remember as an original team with a vibrant football style, the capital's club was disbanded. The following year, Slobodyan revived it as Obolon-Brovar LLC, and the old name was returned only in 2020.
"The club has its own infrastructure. It is very rare for a club to rise from the First League with its own infrastructure - a stadium, training facilities, children's and youth sports schools. "The Obolon Arena has hosted UPL matches many times, despite the fact that the home team was playing in the lower leagues at the time...
"Obolon is committed to self-sufficiency, but recognises the complexity of this idea. Slobodian first spoke about this goal in 2014. In 2018, he stressed the need to make the club an "effective structure". This means finding advertisers and sponsors, training players to sell on the foreign market and making money. However, the club acknowledges that this is a very difficult process - it was the case even before the full-scale invasion, and the situation became even worse after 24 February," says blogger Dmytro Vatras(Ua.tribuna.com, 14.05.23).
No wonder the media often cite Obolon as an example of a structure that gradually but meticulously develops all the components of a real football club. There is no doubt that such a distinctive club should become a real asset for the UPL.
LNZ and Zaporizhzhia Metalurg also got a chance to make it to the UPL next season - they will play in the transition matches. It is also worth noting the failure of Karpaty, who were considered among the most realistic contenders for the top four during the season. However, the Lviv club stalled at the end of the season and eventually finished fifth, and therefore will remain in the first league for the next season.
Particular attention was paid to the decisive battles in the Ukrainian championship because they not only determined the winners of medals and European Cup tickets, but also showed the form of the leading Ukrainian players in the UPL ahead of the start of the June training camp of the national team, which will soon play two matches in the UEFA EURO 2024 qualifiers.
On Friday, the UAF announced the list of players called up for a friendly with Germany (12 June), as well as qualifiers against North Macedonia (16 June) and Malta (19 June). The list includes 27 players plus five reserves.
In general, the media note that there are no special surprises in the national team, and the team's main loss is Oleksandr Zinchenko, who was injured in a recent match against Arsenal in London. There were hopes that the key midfielder of the blue and yellows would be able to recover, but the fact that he is not even in the reserve team leaves no chance of that happening.
"The absence of Arsenal's player is not critical for the left and especially the right flank of the defence (Rotan saw it that way), but we will have to think about the centre of midfield. It seems that Zinchenko will be replaced by Sudakov... There are three forwards compared to March, - Vanat added. And that's right, because there were more matches in June, and it was necessary to note the effective actions of Dynamo's player, who still differs from Dovbyk in his style of play and from Yaremchuk in his manner of behaviour when he has to sit in the reserves," writes columnist Ihor Yaslyk(Ua.tribuna.com, 26.05.23).
The author also notes that the interests of the "youth" Ruslan Rotan, as the application of the national team does not include Batagov, Brazhko, Bondarenko and Kryskiv, who could potentially get into the main team.
"In general, there are no special complaints about this team. Everything looks logical. After 19 June, if any complaints arise, they will not concern the main and reserve lists," Yaslyk concludes(Ua.tribuna.com, 26.05.23).
At the same time, the media expectedly emphasise the strange situation with the appointment of the national team's head coach - or rather, with his non-appointment. Although, of course, everyone is convinced that it will be Serhiy Rebrov...
"The situation looks paradoxical when there is a squad, but no coach yet... I also wonder - was this squad chosen by Serhiy Rebrov or was he helped by well-known coaches, so many of whom are under the wing of the UAF? Because collective creativity means collective responsibility - that is, no responsibility," Yaslyk emphasises(Ua.tribuna.com, 26.05.23).
"Unlike a similar situation on the eve of the opening match of the Euro 2024 qualifiers - against England - this time we saw and heard the names of the candidates for the national team promptly. However, this time there is a negative connotation. I would like to hope that the key word in this case is "for now". As you know, we are talking about the person of the head coach of the national team. So far, he does not exist as such...
Well, God be with him. It is much more interesting to talk directly about the list. As for me, the list is very adequate. As for the resonance of some of the names on it, we can only discuss, not argue until we are hoarse. It does not contain "passengers" like Konoplyanka, who was called in last time due to "family ties". It contains people who deserve, in my opinion, to try their hand at writing for the first time. And perhaps some deserved to be among those called up for old time's sake," said journalist Valeriy Vasylenko(Sport.ua, 26.05.23).
In the author's opinion, the most controversial issue was the attacking line of the Ukrainian national team, although he generally agrees with the compilers of the list.
"Dovbyk - no alternatives. Vanat is objectively deserving: he is one of the few strikers in our football who is able to use real dribbling. Yaremchuk... For all his shortcomings, we couldn't help but call him up. Who else could we have tried? Well, perhaps Nazariy Rusyn and Alefirenko. They are now at the forefront of the UPL. Although they are of the same type as Vanat. If you choose from this trio, then Dynamo, in my opinion, still seems to be the best option," Vasylenko sums up(Sport.ua, 26.05.23).
Meanwhile, according to the VZBIRNA YouTube channel, the presentation of the new head coach of the Ukrainian national team, Serhiy Rebrov, and his staff will take place on 30 May(Ua-football.com, 23.05.23). After the final match of the UAE League Cup against Al Sharjah, which his team lost on 27 May, Rebrov said goodbye to Al Ain, so there is little doubt that the official announcement of his appointment as national team coach will take place in the near future.
TheUPL has a new president and will be preparing its own TV. On Tuesday, 23 May, a meeting of representatives of UPL clubs was held at the Football House, where Yevhen Dykyi was approved as the full chairman of the league. Previously, he held the position of the organisation's executive director.
"The clubs unanimously decided to appoint Yevhen Dykyi as the head of the UPL without any prefixes, in compliance with all relevant regulatory requirements," theUPL's official website reported(Upl.ua, 23.05.23).
It is worth noting that the UPL has not had a full-time team since 2020. The last head of the league was Swiss Thomas Grimm. He has been running the organisation since April 2018.
One of the first global projects that Dykyi was entrusted with in his new status was the preparation of a project for the UPL's own channel, which could potentially accumulate the rights to show matches of all the Premier League clubs.
"There are 2-3 clubs that want to see a more detailed business plan for UPL TV, but the atmosphere at the meeting was such that I don't remember it. Everyone was respectful and understanding. I believe that we are very close to creating the UPL TV," said Shakhtar's Director of Strategic Development and Communications Yuriy Sviridov(Sport.ua, 24.05.23).
FIFA extends the "military" rule. FIFA has decided to extend the rule that allows foreign players and coaches to suspend their contracts with Ukrainian and Russian clubs. The rule has been extended until 30 June 2024, provided that the clubs are informed in writing by 1 July this year.
However, one change has been made to the rule. From now on, foreign players and coaches who, despite the war in Ukraine, decide to come, return or not leave the territory of Ukraine or Russia, will not be able to rely on the revised 7th annex to suspend their current contract(Ua-football.com, 22.05.23).
FIFA's decision was expected to cause dissatisfaction among a number of Ukrainian clubs, with Shakhtar remaining the most active in the confrontation with FIFA. The Donetsk club's CEO, Serhiy Palkin, reiterated that the miners have already lost approximately €40 million and will potentially lose the same amount due to FIFA's position.
"FIFA says that they were pressured by the FIFPRO footballers' union, which demanded that all legionnaires be granted free agent status. And FIFA seems to have already compromised with its decision. But it seems to me that this is a political issue. We understand FIFA's relationship with Russia. And this is another point that irritates me incredibly. How could they make the same decisions about us and Russian football? Hey, are you confused there? They are the aggressor, and we are the victims. You are destroying us, not helping us," Palkin said(Sportarena.com, 26.05.23).
Dynamo's humanitarian mission continues. Indeed, the world should be constantly reminded who is the aggressor and who is the victim in this war. Unfortunately, in all areas, our country continues to suffer from the war unleashed by the Russian Federation. And while our national heroes are defending the country on the frontline and driving the occupiers out of our lands, others are rebuilding what has been brazenly destroyed.
For example, as a result of another attack on the capital by enemy drones in early May, the building of Kyiv Gymnasium No. 154, located in Nyvky, was damaged. Among its graduates are those who died heroically defending Ukraine during the war with Russia - Oleksiy Oschepkov, Mykyta Nedovodiev, Oleksiy Bobkin. Among the former students of the gymnasium are also famous personalities, such as singer Iryna Bilyk. There are also famous football players and coaches of Dynamo Kyiv, such as Anatolii Shepel and Volodymyr Onyshchenko. Dynamo president Ihor Surkis and his elder brother, UEFA honorary member Hryhoriy Surkis, also studied at the gymnasium.
"Upon learning about the destruction of the building caused by the explosion of an enemy drone, the Surkis Brothers Charitable Foundation immediately took over the organisation of the reconstruction of the damaged building of the gymnasium. In a short time, new metal-plastic windows were installed on all three floors.
And Hryhoriy Surkis visited his native gymnasium to check the state of repair, meet with the headmaster Larysa Semenivna Lishchynska and personally ask if any other repairs needed to be organised. During the meeting, it was agreed that the Surkis Brothers Foundation would continue to provide assistance to the educational institution until all damaged premises are fully restored," the website of Kyiv'sDynamo team reported (Fcdynamo.com, 25.05.23).
"It is hard to believe that everything was restored so quickly. We have experienced repairs and overhauls more than once. As a rule, they lasted for six months. And when so many windows - over a hundred - were installed in such a short time, it's just amazing! I would like to express my respect and gratitude to those people who come to the school where they studied and received their education with a big heart and open mind. They responded in the first moments of the tragedy by immediately calling and saying they would help," said Larysa Lishchynska, the headmistress of the gymnasium(Fcdynamo.com, 25.05.23).
Hundreds of medical facilities were also destroyed by hostile shelling across Ukraine. Chernihiv region and, in particular, its regional centre was one of the regions that received the first enemy attack and is still recovering from the significant destruction. At the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, Chernihiv was under continuous artillery and aerial bombardment for more than a month, causing irreparable human losses and large-scale destruction of civilian infrastructure. One of these facilities was Chernihiv City Hospital No. 3.
"The UNITED24 platform contributed to the major and thorough restoration of the medical facility, for which the Chernihiv hospital became the first project to rebuild medical infrastructure implemented in partnership with FC Dynamo Kyiv, which did not stand aside. Thanks to the football club, UAH 13.8 million was raised for the reconstruction during a charity match between Dynamo and English Everton, which took place on 29 July 2022 in Liverpool," the Dynamo website informs(Fcdynamo.com, 27.05.23).
The capital's club has once again stressed that it will continue its humanitarian mission to help rebuild destroyed and damaged critical infrastructure across Ukraine, as well as, of course, to help the defence forces that are fighting a heroic battle against the aggressor.
Orest LELEKA