Summing up the results of Serhiy Rebrov's debut at the helm of the national team and the entry of the Ukrainian youth team into the Euro 2023 play-offs were the main topics of discussion in the domestic sports press during the reporting week.
A new leader of a new team
In the two European Championship qualifiers in June - against Northern Macedonia and Malta - our national team won maximum points. Although both matches were very difficult, leaving many questions and several general conclusions.
"The qualifying matches have shown at least one weakness of Serhii Rebrov's national team, which is vulnerability to high pressure from opponents," says Roman Kotlyar (Football.ua, 20.06.23). "Thecoaching staff is still looking for balance in attack, but it takes time to build a team model. It will be possible to comprehensively evaluate the national team's performances in the future, now we need to be satisfied with important points in the context of the fight for a ticket to the continental forum, it will be possible to give a specific assessment only at a distance."
"Despite the fact that we managed to note at least some positive things, this match can be considered very unsuccessful for Rebrov's team. It ishardly possible to find excuses that would fully explain such an uncertain game and the effort against a team of Malta's level," Dmytro Vatras concludes (Ua.tribuna.com, 19.06.23).
The author emphasises that Ukraine allowed a modest opponent to feel like an equal opponent. There was no pressure, only its imitation. Another key problem is the lack of understanding in the search for space in the centre of the other half.
Instead, our coaches again guessed right with the substitutions: it was the three players whom Serhii Rebrov put on the pitch who organised the decisive attack that led to the penalty. Another positive fact is that Vitalii Buyalskyi from Kyiv, for whom previous coaches sometimes did not see a place in the squad at all, has shown new colours in the national team.
And the role of a real leader was taken on by another Dynamo pupil, now a player of Spanish side Girona, Viktor Tsygankov.
"A new place on the pitch, a new role in the team, and probably more weight in the dressing room - this is how Tsygankov's immediate future looks like if he continues to progress at this rate," Football.ua (20.06.23 ) looks ahead to tomorrow. But apart from that moment with the penalty, Viktor faced many challenges during the game, and even in difficult situations he still remained in perfect order."
Oleksandr Sazhko, a journalist for the Tribuna portal, describes the situation using dry facts and figures: Tsygankov recorded an assist and four goals in the June matches, two of which were triples, and was generally the best or one of the best players in each of the matches.
"Tsygankovis ready to be a leader," O. Sazhko continues.No, Viktor has always been a gifted and very balanced player who can do anything on the pitch. But he lacked the confidence that he has now. It's like a boy has become a man.
He is not the future, but the present of our national team. And, if we look at it optimistically, it can be very good, and Tsygankov can be a leader and the main driving force" (Ua.tribuna.com, 20.06.23).
"In each of the matches of this international window, he demonstrated simply the highest level and stood out significantly from all the other players on the field," Mykhailo Tsiruk writes about Tsygankov in unison with his colleague (Xsport.ua, 20.06.23 ). -. But it's not so much the statistics that give us hope as the Girona midfielder's actions on the pitch, each of which is filled with the highest football intelligence. If Tsygankov continues to progress at this pace, the status of the national team leader can be secured for a very long time."
Analysing the performance of our national team, the press also notes that Rebrov has got a team with a decent "depth" of players. There are 2-3 equivalent players for a number of positions. And the presence of a high-quality clip of at least 15-16 players, whose exit from the bench will not just not spoil, but will actually strengthen the game, is a prerequisite for a team that sets itself serious tasks.
In addition, the existing squad is rejuvenating before our eyes, hinting at prospects.
"Even in this window, Trubin (21), Zabarnyi (20), Mykolenko (24), Konoplya (23), Sudakov (20), Tsygankov (25), Mudryk (22), Vanat (21), Dovbyk (25) played key or at least quite important roles for Ukraine. "And this is despite the injuries to Zinchenko (26) and Shaparenko (24), who are not veterans at all," states Oleksandr Sazhko (Ua.tribuna.com, 20.06.23). "Rebrov has a sufficient set of gifted young players around whom to build a team for the next two cycles. Now we need this set of individuals to become a team, which is not something that can be decided in 10 or 12 days."
Thus, the press is crystallising the idea of continuity and intergenerational communication in the national team, where the leadership can be taken by either the veteran Yarmolenko (there is no doubt that Andriy's plans include another footballing youth; we are all waiting for the next interesting page in his biography after the end of his relationship with Al Ain), or a representative of the next generation, Tsygankov, or even one of the very young players.
"However, this is not to say that Rebrov has developed a bias towards the young ," Terrikon.com (22.06.23 ) elaborates on the topic, "No, he constantly has two 33-year-old veterans in his line-up - Taras Stepanenko and Andriy Yarmolenko. He uses the experience of such "bison" as Serhii Kryvtsov. He has a powerful layer of middle-aged players - Nikolay Matvienko, Artem Dovbik, Ruslan Malinowski, Viktor Tsygankov. But he always has three or four youngsters in his starting line-up. We can see how the coach maintains an age balance, trying to create what is known as the "fusion of youth and experience". The results are still ambiguous, but the direction itself is absolutely clear and healthy."
Keeping up with the elders
Meanwhile, Ukraine's youth team is trying to keep up with its seniors. At the final stage of Euro 2023 for U21 players, Ruslan Rotan's wards won a pass to the play-offs after two opening matches thanks to victories over rivals from Croatia (2-0) and Romania (1-0).
"The Croats were a bit of a mystery because they had a new coach and it was difficult to predict their actions. But we did well, we figured out the opponent 's plan," admitted the Ukrainian coach at the post-match press conference. "We thank the guys for their dedication and character. We were a real team, we wanted to get the result and deserved it one hundred per cent" (Uaf.ua, 21.06.23).
Among the undoubted achievements of the opening match, the observers highlighted the players' clear implementation of the coach's instructions and interaction on the field, understanding of each other in a team where these players have been playing together for several years. What they didn't like was the not-so-strong defensive performance, because in the second half the Croats felt too free in our penalty area and had many chances to score.
"It was really very solid ," Mykhailo Tsiruk commented on the match (Khsport.ua, 22.06.23). "The Ukrainian youth team started Euro 2023 with a confident victory over its main rival in the fight for the exit from the group - Croatia. Yes, after the second goal, our team sat down, and at some point stopped playing altogether. Yes, in several episodes, the Croats were simply obliged to punish us for our defensive mistakes, but they frankly forgave the Blue and Yellows. But in the end, we have a victory in the match against a difficult opponent, in which Ruslan Rotan's men were not favourites."
Oleksiy Kashchuk was the main star of the match, scoring a goal and an assist.
"You have to admit that it was quite a sight to see the Ukrainian midfielder undress several opponents with his impeccable dribbling in a small area of the opponent's penalty area, and in the second half he delivered a surgical cross to his partner's head," Football.ua (22.06.23) praised the player.
Kashchuk spent the last two seasons on loan in Azerbaijan. His performance in the national championship - 16 goals and 10 assists in 31 games - is a very telling result.
"Kashchuk's great performance made me think that, when choosing between the club's status and the amount of playing practice for a player's development, it is always more useful to choose the second option," Mykhailo Tsiruk (Khsport.ua, 22.06.23 ) said. "Byleaving for a very modest league, the young player has taken his career to a whole new level, sending greetings to all those who prefer to sit on the sidelines in much stronger teams."
The journalists recognised defender Artem Bondarenko as the second star of the match, who confirmed his reputation in the next duel against Romania.
Skill and character
"Will this tournament be a great advertisement for Shakhtar's midfielder? " asks a rhetorical question Football.ua (25.06.23). "If our team manages to reach the high rounds, then it should definitely happen. But we can already say that Bondarenko is progressing from match to match, and if in the game against the Croats his actions were still more straightforward, the Romanians gave him a little more space and almost got a few goals in their own net in return."
In the meeting with the hosts of the tournament (the Youth Euro 2023 is co-hosted by Romania and Georgia), the Ukrainian national team created about two dozen dangerous chances, but the ball stubbornly refused to go in. But in the penultimate minute of regular time, Bragaru received a pass from Vivcharenko on the left flank, made a pass along the goal line and fired a shot at Vanat. The Dynamo striker failed to score, but the Romanian national team player Dikan did the job for him, from whose foot the ball rolled into the net.
"And how can we not mention that in the May report of the CIES (International Centre for Sports Studies), Maksym was ranked in the top 50 in terms of the dribbling index among players under 23?" Dmytro Vatras draws attention to Bragaru's actions (Ua.tribuna.com, 25.06.23).
In its report on the match, Tribuna notes the "rotation" of the main characters in the Ukrainian youth national team. While in the game against Croatia, Taloverov, Bondarenko and Kashchuk were singled out, today other players came to the fore.
"Heorhii Sudakov - 87 out of 99 passes (88% accuracy), 4 key passes, 6 out of 8 diagonals, 4 out of 6 successful dribbling attempts, 8 out of 11 fights won, three earned fouls;
Vladimir Brazhko - 86 out of 89 passes (97% accuracy), 3 key passes, 3 out of 4 diagonals, 9 out of 14 duels won, 3 tackles, 3 interceptions, 1 clearance;
Maksym Bragaru - in 20 minutes he won 3 out of 4 fights, made a key attempt to beat the ball and even managed to block a shot in defence and make a tackle," writes D. Vatras (Ua.tribuna.com, 25.06.23).
Ruslan Rotan, summing up the match at a press conference, drew attention first of all to the team's character and its ability to learn from mistakes.
"We played a very good match," Sport.ua quoted the coach (25.06.23). " Big compliments to our players! I told the guys that I have no doubt that we have a team, a character... In such moments, when there is an advantage and the ball does not go into the goal, the most important thing is the reaction to the loss of the ball, mistakes, when we immediately return the ball. Today it happened, the guys finally understood this, gave their last effort. You have to earn your luck, and they deserved it with their play, skill and character."
Crimea: no need to reinvent the wheel
After the victory over the Croats, Ruslan Rotan in the very first sentences of his speech at the press conference thanked the Armed Forces of Ukraine for the opportunity to continue playing football.
It is clear that our warriors are not only happy about any sporting success of their compatriots, but also need "rear" support from politicians, diplomats, responsible officials and bureaucrats. This also applies to the topic of sports annexation, which has reappeared in the media this week.
"The Russian Football Union is preparing to include teams from the temporarily occupied Crimea in the second league of the aggressor country's championship. At the same time,local clubs will not become members of the national federation. In this way, the Russian Federation hopes to avoid additional sanctions," said Oleksandr Chekanov (Obozrevatel.com, 19.04.2023).
Soon after, the editor-in-chief of Tribuna.com, Oleg Shcherbakov, posted a comment on this topic on his Facebook page:
"A few weeks ago, a bad, but very unnoticeable event happened for Ukrainian football. The Russian Football Union included the Sevastopol football club in its ranks. To put it bluntly, they stole the club from Ukraine. In 2014-15, they had already tried to do this, but under the threat of severe sanctions, they stopped the process. Now they've pulled the plug.
Have Oleg Protasov, Anatoliy Demyanenko, Oleg Blokhin and Igor Belanov spoken out about this outrageous event? No.
Does the UAF publicly dispel this story? No.
Has one of the most famous law firms been hired to defend the rights of Ukrainian football? No" (21.06.23).
The UAF reacted a few days later, publishing an open appeal to FIFA and UEFA "regarding the illegal actions of the terrorist state".
"Open sources have reported that FC Sevastopol from the temporarily occupied Crimea has received a certificate to participate in the second league of Russia (third national division )," the letterreads (Uaf.ua, 24.06.23 ).All of these teams come from the territory that was granted special status by UEFA in 2014.
Allowing such actions actually demonstrates disregard for the position and decisions of FIFA and UEFA, tolerance for the war crimes of the Russian Federation against Ukraine and disregard for human rights and the laws of the civilised world.
In this regard, the UAF insists that FIFA and UEFA consider this illegal process of takeover of Ukrainian football entities by Russian stakeholders, take measures and seek opportunities to prevent the development of this process in the future. We also appeal to FIFA and UEFA to consider the possibility of revoking the membership of the Russian Federation in FIFA and UEFA due to the proven non-compliance with the requirements of the statutes of the governing bodies of world and European football and the values of the world football family."
Nine years ago, the issue of football development in the occupied Crimea was carefully considered at the level of FIFA and UEFA. With the direct involvement of the then Vice President of the European Football Union, Hryhoriy Surkis, and in conditions when the FFU leadership actually withdrew from the development of any solutions to the problem, solutions were found and approved that repelled the invaders' encroachments on the football treasures of the Ukrainian peninsula.
"In light of the difficult current political situation and until a general decision can be taken on Crimea, UEFA's emergency working group today decided that any football matches played by Crimean clubs in competitions under the auspices of the Russian Football Union (RFU) will not be recognised by UEFA until further notice," the BBC quoted a publication on the official UEFA website (Bbc.com, 22.08.2014).
"UEFA does not want to prevent clubs from playing football. On the contrary, UEFA recognises that football can have a positive social effect and bring people together, especially in times of crisis and difficulty. Nevertheless, for football to take place within an organised sporting and legal structure, the teams' performances must comply with the provisions stipulated in the UEFA Statutes, agreed by all 54 UEFA national associations," the working group also said in a statement, which reacted to the participation of VSK (Simferopol), SCFC (Sevastopol) and Pearl (Yalta) in the first stage of the Russian Cup and the inclusion of these teams in the second division of the aggressor country.
Subsequently, the then Secretary General of the organisation, the future President of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, announced UEFA's plans for Crimea.
"According to the Secretary General of the Union of European Football Associations, a special zone will be created in Crimea, where football will develop only under the auspices of UEFA. The organisation says that it will finance the development of football on the peninsula, especially in terms of youth sports and infrastructure construction.
UEFA has also banned the Russian Football Federation from holding any football tournaments in Crimea without the consent of the organisation and the Ukrainian Football Federation" (Bbc.com, 4.12.2014).
Thus, international institutions do not need to reinvent the wheel, they simply need to confirm their own decisions and recommendations. Adding to them the necessary toughness of new sanctions in response to the openly provocative actions of the Russians.
"The behaviour of the Russian Federation requires an adequate response," insisted Hryhoriy Surkis at a special meeting of the quadripartite group in Nyon, attended by representatives of the FFU, the Russian Federation, UEFA and FIFA in September 2014. "I do not presume to judge today when, what kind and to what extent sanctions should be imposed on the Russian Federation, as my colleagues from the FFU rightly insist. This issue should be specifically worked out by the authorised disciplinary bodies of UEFA. At the same time, I am convinced that the leadership of the Russian Football Union has no other legal way out of the Crimean impasse than to voluntarily return to the legal framework of the International and European Football Associations.
In the current situation, in order to save face, the Russian Football Union should take this chance and, having changed its populist rhetoric, unconditionally undertake the following obligations
- immediately stop the above-mentioned violations;
- not to carry out any actions on the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol; not to carry out any actions to organise football, in particular football matches, without the approval of the Football Federation of Ukraine, even in the case of friendly matches that took place recently between the teams of Kerch, Simferopol and a team from Kosovo;
- to reconsider the decision to admit clubs established in these territories belonging to the territory of another country/state to the RFU;
- not allow these clubs to participate in competitions held under the auspices of the RFU;
- not to allow associations (federations or other collective members) whose activities extend to the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol to become members of the RFU;
- publicly refute the false information about the alleged permission of UEFA and FIFA to commit the above-mentioned illegal (contrary to the statutes) actions, such as affiliation/admission of clubs established in the territory of another country/state to the RFU.
All of these requirements stem from the provisions and norms of the UEFA and FIFA statutes, which are binding on all members of these organisations without exception" (Footclub.com.ua, 18.09.14).
The Russians then "backtracked" by not including Crimean clubs in their competitions. In the opinion of UEFA and FIFA officials, this was enough to avoid tightening sanctions against the Muscovites. They say that the ban on clubs and national teams playing in official tournaments is enough.
In Russia, they pretend not to understand the reasons for even the semi-sanctions currently imposed on them. For example, one of their football officials, Alexei Sorokin, commented on the situation as follows.
"-The words of UEFA and FIFA that the negotiation process is ongoing? They are not lying. Indeed, there are discussions and discussions about the return. We would like to see a more dynamic achievement of results. We continue to hope that prudence will prevail and Russian football will be restored to its rights. It is going slower than we would like..." (Championat.com, 22.6.2023).
Of course, the hope for a change in the positions of UEFA and FIFA is not fading. On the one hand, we see the outright arrogance of the Russians on an increasingly large scale. On the other hand, we see the dynamics of trends in the civilised world's support for Ukraine: in military, political, sanctions, etc. We are witnessing a growing wave of dissatisfaction with the position of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which refuses to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes.
Last week, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution calling on the IOC to ban athletes from aggressor countries from the 2024 Olympics in Paris "while the war against Ukraine continues".
"The IOC's efforts to establish a set of criteria that would allow these athletes to participate as neutral individual athletes cannot provide the necessary guarantees and is not a response worthy of the values of human dignity and peace enshrined in the Olympic Charter," the Resolution says. - "Arguments in favour of their participation on the grounds of neutrality, independence of sport and non-discrimination do not carry sufficient weight in the face of the need to condemn and denounce the crimes committed and to demonstrate full and unwavering support for Ukraine" (Sportarena.com, 23.06.23).
I would like to see domestic officials in their calls for justice in international sports arenas not limited to half-measures, but insist on the Ukrainian position to the end, as the heroic soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine do every day at the front.
Orest LELEKA
