Since the formation of the independent state of Ukraine, Dynamo Kyiv (the base club) has been the backbone of the national team.
The Ukraine national team before their first ever match. Uzhgorod, 29 April 1992The first pancake was a bit tricky.
The debut match our national team played on 29 April 1992 at Avangard Stadium in Uzhhorod against the Hungarian national team. That match did not arouse much interest among the fans - there were only 1,300 spectators. Our team lost 1-3.
Our team lost 1-3: Kutepov, Luzhny, Nikiforov, Bezhenar, Tretiak, Kovalets, Tsymbalar, Shelepnitsky, Salenko (Getsko, 59), Pogodin (Sak, 56), Shcherbakov (Gusev, 69).
The first goal in the history of the Ukrainian national team was scored by Ivan Getsko in the Hungarian goal in the 90th minute.
Overseas, the game ended in a draw.
The second game of the Ukrainian national team was played against the USA on June 28 in the stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey. The 11 816 spectators gathered in the arena did not see the scored goals - 0:0.
The Hungarians lost again.
The third meeting of our team was held with a familiar rival - the Hungarians. The new rendezvous was held on the opponents' pitch in Niregyhaza.
The 6,000 spectators cheered their team to victory with a 2-1 win. Gudimenko scored in the first half for the visiting team.
Two draws in a row
On 28 October, Minsk hosted the national team of Belarus at the Dynamo Stadium. The match was watched by 15,000 football fans. They passionately supported their favourites. But the meeting ended in a 1-1 draw. The goals were scored by Gotsmanov for the home side and Maksimov for our team.
This was the fourth and final fixture of the Ukraine national team in its debut season.
The fifth meeting was held with the Ukrainians in 1993. On 27 April, they hosted the Israel national team in Odessa. 8,000 fans were present at the Taras Shevchenko Park stadium on the Black Sea coast.
Our team walked away from defeat 12 minutes before the final whistle. It was a 1-1 draw. Konovalov's accurate shot was deflected by Israel goalkeeper Ginzburg.
In the Ukrainian team Dynamo players Kutepov, Luzhny, Mykhailichenko, Shmatovalenko, Leonenko, Kovalets, Salenko, Yuriy Moroz, Rebrov, Zveiba, Annenkov, Topchiev played in the above matches.
301st match ahead
Since April 1992, the Ukraine national team has played 300 tournament and friendly matches. Their outcome is 134 wins, 85 draws and 81 defeats, goals scored and conceded - 413-305.
The most important for our team this year will be qualifying for Euro 2024, which will be held in stadiums in Germany. Opponents of the Ukrainian players are already known - England, Italy, Northern Macedonia and Malta. Only the two strongest teams have been qualified out of the group.
In the first qualifying match Ukraine suffered a 0-2 defeat against England at Wembley Stadium in London.
The nearest matches for the Ukrainians: a friendly against Germany in Bremen (12 June), qualifying matches for Euro 2024 against Northern Macedonia in Skopje on 16 June, and against Malta in Trnava, Slovakia, on 19 June.
The national team coaching staff invited the following Dynamo players to prepare for these meetings: Buschan, Tymchik, Sidorchuk, Buyalskiy and Vanat. Karavaev and Shaparenko are on the reserve list.
Oleksandr LYPENKO for Dynamo.kiev.ua
