Last week was marked by a number of sensations in both the Ukrainian Cup and the national championship. The Ukrainian media also actively discussed UEFA's resonant decision to allow Russian youth teams to return to international tournaments.
Photo by Yuriy YurievObolon's bitter end for Dynamo
Even without European competitions, Ukrainian clubs did not get bored in the middle of the week, presenting many exciting matches in the 1/8 finals of the Ukrainian Cup. The main focus of attention at this stage was on the completely unexpected defeat of Dynamo Kyiv by Obolon.
To realise how unexpected the result of the capital's cup derby was, it is enough to read the headlines of the reports on this match in the Ukrainian sports media, where one word prevailed - sensation.
"Dynamo Kyiv suffered a sensational defeat against Obolon in the 1/8 finals of the Ukrainian Cup" (Football.ua, 27.09.23).
"Ukrainian Cup! Obolon sensationally knocks Dynamo out of the tournament"(Footballhub.ua, 27.09.23).
"Dynamo sensationally eliminated from the Ukrainian Cup by Obolon"(Ukrfootball.ua, 27.09.23).
"Obolon sensationally knocks Dynamo out of the Ukrainian Cup: match review"(Terrikon.com, 27.09.23).
"Capital sensation. Obolon knocked Dynamo out of the 1/8 finals of the Ukrainian Cup"(Sport.ua, 27.09.23).
"They want to become champions. Dynamo sensationally eliminated from the Ukrainian Cup by the UPL newcomer" (Xsport.ua, 27.09.23).
While noting the fighting qualities, efforts and courage of Obolon, which this season has already put up a good fight against Dynamo in the Ukrainian league, although it lost 2-4, observers also point to a noticeable lack of motivation on the part of the white and blues.
"The last time Dynamo didn't make the quarter-finals of the Ukrainian Cup was before the war. Back in the 2012/13 season, Kyiv were eliminated by Shakhtar, who were then coached by Mircea Lucescu (1-4). The Romanian coach, by the way, pleaded guilty after the fiasco against Obolon, saying that instead of the base, which lacked a cup mentality, he should have released more young and hungry players, in particular, Malysh, Tsarenko and, perhaps, even 17-year-old Ponomarenko," writes Taras Kotiv(Football24.ua, 27.09.23).
"Obolon created the main sensation of the 1/8 finals, leaving one of its main favourites out of the prestigious tournament. Valeriy Ivashchenko's men have once again proved that they are no match for the big names, are in excellent physical shape, play with heart, create chances and convert them. It seems that this team is capable of surprising us more than once. And I really want it to happen," said Viktor Perehnyak(Footboom1.com, 27.09.23).
"27 September 2023 will go down in the history of Kyiv's Obolon in the same way as, for example, 09.04.2011 (the day of victory at the Donbass Arena) or 07.11.10 (victory over Dynamo in the championship). But this victory is more valuable because it took place not in a 30-round tournament, but in a knockout match. "Pivovary have already been more successful in the Cup than the most titled club in Ukraine.
There is no other way to put it than David's victory over Goliath. This triumph of the Brewers is definitely a labour of love: even the winning goal was scored after Serhiy Kosovskyi (the son of the Dynamo legend, who also went through the Kyiv academy) gnawed the ball in a dribble. And how did Kichak, another Dynamo alumnus who lost the competition, play in the end? Obolon exemplarily punished Dynamo for underestimating them," Vitaliy Pasichnyi said(Football.ua, 28.09.23).
Meanwhile, it was not only this match that recorded the real sensation of the 1/8 finals of the Ukrainian Cup. Just look at the victory of modest Sumy's Victoria, representing the second division, over Minaj, or the relegation of Dnipro-1, which lost on penalties to UPL debutant Polissya.
After another failure of the Dnipro club, some media outlets even hastened to declare this season a failure for the silver medallist of the Ukrainian championship. Against the backdrop of three consecutive European Cup qualifiers, Dnipro-1 faced enormous difficulties in the domestic arena.
"While Dynamo had at least a good start in the league, Dnipro-1 has failed the entire season in record time. I mean in record time, because it was impossible to leave either the European Cup or the Ukrainian Cup faster, strictly according to the regulations. Everything in the league got off to the worst possible start, and it will be very difficult to catch up with the likes of Kryvbas, Polissia and Chornomorets.
We could talk about a "reset season" or "preparing a new team", but if you have been following at least the main news of Ukrainian politics this week, you understand: Dnipro-1 is now closer to disbandment than to any breakthrough in the table," Vitaliy Pasichnyi notes(Football.ua, 28.09.23).
Meanwhile, after Dynamo and Dnipro-1 were eliminated, some experts almost decided to hand the trophy to Shakhtar Donetsk, who won their match at this stage against Veres 3-0.
However, although the scoreline showed a convincing victory for the miners, the game did not look so rosy. And as subsequent events have shown, Shakhtar cannot boast of any stability at the moment either, so such talk is very, very premature.
"Shakhtar in the turbulence zone
No sooner had the football community recovered from the cup surprises than the UPL created another sensation. On Saturday, Shakhtar suffered its first defeat in the Ukrainian league, losing at home to Vorskla 1-2.
"Shakhtar's players played almost the entire match at a slow pace. They failed to get past the compact Poltava defence. The players made a bunch of set pieces and shots from the flanks, but there were no dangerous moments afterwards. However, for some reason, they did it again and again.
Attempts to play combinations near the opponent's penalty area often ended in ball losses and interceptions by Poltava. In addition, there was a certain physical heaviness. It was as if the players were tired and unable to run and think faster. The conclusion about Shakhtar's game today is that the players looked helpless," Sport.ua wrote (30.09.23).
The Ukrainian media point out that the Pitmen have been experiencing more and more problems in the game lately and have not been showing consistent results. In particular, the defeat to Vorskla is the Pitmen's fourth loss of points since the start of the Ukrainian league: previously, Patrick van Leeuwen's team drew with Veres (1-1), Kryvbas (3-3) and Rukh (1-1).
Taking into account all other tournaments, Shakhtar have won only one of the last four matches (the same cup match against Veres with a 3-0 score), including a defeat to Porto at the start of the Champions League group stage. Experts are particularly concerned about the number of mistakes made by the Donetsk club in defence.
"The Pitmen's defensive performance was again far from being effective: "Vorskla failed to realise at least one more killer moment in the second half. Intotal, Shakhtar have conceded in seven UPL rounds out of the nine already played - only one team from the top half of the table, Vorskla, with 15 conceded, has scored more goals than van Leeuwen's men (they scored 10)," states blogger Yulia Grabova(Ua.tribuna.com, 30.09.23).
"Shakhtar's coaches and players had no faces. And the players on the pitch had no ideas. It all came to a painful defeat, which, after all Shakhtar's previous failures, raises a logical question: what is going on? Did the champion make a mistake with the coaching changes in the off-season? What did they want to say? " asks columnist Ihor Semion(Ua.football.com, 30.09.23).
Indeed, immediately after Shakhtar's defeat to Vorskla, rumours circulated that the team's head coach Patrick van Leeuwen might be dismissed in the near future. Obviously, the Champions League second-leg match against Antwerp on Wednesday should be the decisive game for the Dutch coach at this stage.
However, given the Pitmen's performance and results in recent matches, the Ukrainian media are not very optimistic.
"The rehearsal before the Champions League was a failure," Football 24 notes(Football24.ua, 30.09.23).
"With such a game, it will be very difficult for Patrick van Leeuwen's men to achieve a positive result in the match against Belgian Antwerp," agrees Sport.ua (30.09.23).
Meanwhile, after the cup shock, Dynamo Kyiv seems to have drawn the right conclusions and gained another three points in the UPL. The game against Oleksandriya was not easy: the Kyiv team took the lead twice and conceded twice after standard positions, and only in the 83rd minute managed to finally take the lead, and in stoppage time to finish off their opponents - 4-2.
It is interesting that the main character of the match was the young defensive midfielder Brazhko, who was heavily criticised after Obolon, including by Mircea Lucescu himself. However, the Dynamo pupil showed that he knows how to work on himself and played a magical game, scoring a double and making a key contribution to the victory of Kyiv.
We should also mention striker Vanat, who did not play against Obolon due to injury. In the match against Oleksandriya, he demonstrated his importance to the White and Blues' attack not only with a goal and an assist, but also with how active he was up front and how much work he did.
The media noted that Dynamo again won primarily due to their power in attack: there were traditionally no shortage of mistakes in defence, but the number of dangerous chances created and the efficiency in the final stages ultimately gave Lucescu's team the result they needed.
"Dynamo is the most productive team in the UPL. The Kyiv team has scored 20 goals, having played three fewer matches than their rivals in the standings."Dynamo's victory in the game against Oleksandriya was once again brought about by the attack," states journalist Oleksandr Sapozhnikov(Ua-football.com, 01.10.23).
The bottom line is that Dynamo is formally only fifth in the standings, but in terms of points lost, it is the hidden leader of the league, as it would be six points ahead of Shakhtar if it wins all the rescheduled matches.
UEFA provokes a new boycott of Russian teams in Europe
At the international level, in addition to our clubs' preparations for the second round of European competitions, the Ukrainian media paid great attention to the recent decision of the UEFA Executive Committee to allow the Russian youth and girls' national teams (under a neutral flag and on neutral territory) to participate in its competitions.
In a statement, the Union of European Football Associations explained the decision: "UEFA was the first sports body to react to the war in Ukraine and take decisive action in February 2022 by suspending all Russian teams from its competitions, cancelling events planned in Russia, such as the Champions League final in St. Petersburg and the UEFA Super Cup in Kazan, and terminating its sponsorship contract with Gazprom.
However, UEFA also recognises that children should not be punished for actions for which adults are solely responsible and firmly believes that football should never stop sending messages of peace and hope. It is particularly regrettable that a generation of minors is being denied the right to compete in international football due to the ongoing conflict"(UEFA.com, 29.09.23).
It should be noted that shortly before the UEFA Executive Committee meeting, the president of European football's governing body, Alexander Čeferin, gave an interview in which he stated categorically: "How long will Russia be excluded from European football competitions? Until the end of the war"(Obozrevatel.com, 18.09.23).
Obviously, knowing how controversial the decision was going to be at the executive committee, Cheferin probably decided to inform both the Ukrainian and international football community in advance. So to speak, to give a warning signal...
It's no secret that, like any global international organisation, UEFA is prone to compromise, because there is always an internal struggle and different, sometimes completely opposite, interests of numerous parties.
This can be seen even in UEFA's decisions that are somehow related to Russia's aggression against Ukraine. For example, in 2014, UEFA, on the one hand, resolutely prevented the takeover of Crimean football by Russia, banning any form of participation of clubs from the occupied peninsula in tournaments under the auspices of the Russian Federation.
On the other hand, emphasising its desire to ensure the development of football in any territory and under any political conditions, UEFA decided to create a special football zone in Crimea, which directly interacts with UEFA.
It was the same in 2022: on the one hand, UEFA took perhaps the toughest stance against Russian teams among all similar international sports organisations (it suspended absolutely all teams, took away all international tournaments and events from Russia). However, at the same time, it has retained the membership of the Russian Federation, regularly transfers funds to Russia as part of its solidarity programmes, all Russian members of UEFA committees remain in their positions, and recently UEFA has returned several Russian referees to work.
So now the question arises: what is behind this decision of the UEFA Executive Committee? Is it an attempt to start a gradual process of Russia's full return to international football? Or is it just a situational attempt to reassure Russians who were incredibly outraged by Cheferin's interview and the complete uncertainty about their prospects?
The answer to this will be revealed by further developments. In the meantime, UEFA immediately began to receive signals from all over Europe that the idea of Russia returning to international football - in any format and under any flag or without it - was not supported by the football community.
Just hours after the UEFA decision was made public, England announced that they would not play Russian teams under any circumstances.
"We do not support the position on Russia's admission to UEFA youth competitions. And our position remains unchanged: English teams will not play against Russia," the English Football Association stressed(Sport.ua, 27.09.23).
Of course, the Ukrainian Football Association also strongly condemned the decision of the UEFA Executive Committee: "The UAF insists on upholding the previous decisions of UEFA and FIFA to prevent all Russian teams from participating in international competitions under the auspices of these organisations.
The UAF confirms that it will not participate in any competitions involving Russian teams and appeals to other UEFA member associations to boycott possible matches with the participation of teams from the Russian Federation, if they are admitted.
We are convinced that the adoption of such decisions regarding the gradual return of teams from the Russian Federation to participate in competitions in the midst of military operations waged by the Russian Federation against Ukraine is groundless and tolerates Russia's aggressive policy"(UAF.ua, 27.09.23).
At the moment, more than ten national associations have stated that they will not comply with UEFA's decision and will not play with Russian youth and girls' teams, even on neutral territory and under a neutral flag. In particular, in addition to England and Ukraine, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Romania, and Ireland have already expressed such a boycott.
"At the board meeting of the Football Association of Ireland last night, it was unanimously agreed to reiterate our clearly stated position that no representative team of Ireland at any age group will play against any team from Russia in any competition at this time," reads, for example, a statement from the Football Association of Ireland(LB.ua, 28.09.23).
"I was surprised by yesterday's statement by the UEFA Executive Committee. If Russian teams are allowed to compete, our teams will not compete with them. This is the only right decision," said Cezary Kulesza, president of the Polish Football Union(Footclub.com.ua, 27.09.23).
Among the statements of the national associations that joined the boycott, which were quite similar in their arguments, it is worth highlighting the statement of the Romanian Football Federation, which stressed that UEFA should take into account the position of each national association.
"The RFF understands the arguments put forward by the UEFA Executive Committee and agrees that under no circumstances should children suffer because of the reckless actions of the state authorities. At the same time, the FFR believes that football and sport in general cannot be separated from the legal, institutional and economic values that have made Europe a space of peace, freedom and economic prosperity.
At the same time, the FFR believes that it must stand in solidarity with the spirit of the sanctions approved by European and national institutions and will not play any official or friendly matches with the national teams of the Russian Federation. The FRF is awaiting the completion of the procedures to implement this decision of the UEFA Executive Committee, believing that the competition regulations will respect the position of each national federation," the FRF said(Ua.tribuna.com, 29.09.23).
To understand the disagreements within UEFA over this situation, it is enough to take into account that one of UEFA's vice-presidents, Swede Carl-Erik Nilsson, according to Sky Sport, supported the decision of the executive committee, while his country's football association, on the contrary, said that Swedish teams would not play against Russian teams.
Moreover, the Swedish Football Association in its official statement announced that it would not allow the Russian U-17 women's national team to participate in the WU17 European Championships to be held in the country in 2024.
"In May 2024, Sweden will host the U-17 European Women's Championship. We will not allow the Russian national team, which can qualify, to participate in this tournament," the SFS said(Ua-football.com, 27.09.23).
It should be emphasised that the UEFA European Under-17 Championship, the final stage of which will be hosted by Sweden, is one of only two tournaments to which UEFA has allowed Russian national teams to participate. The other is the European Under-17 Championship, the decisive stage of which will take place next year in Cyprus.
Thus, it can be stated that the decision of the UEFA Executive Committee has caused an extremely large resonance throughout Europe, and the football community of Ukraine and its allies should continue to put pressure on Nyon and carry out systematic work aimed at increasing the number of national associations that will join the boycott of Russian teams.
Other aspects of football life in Ukraine
Andriy Shevchenko's new role. One of those who, since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, has made it his priority to raise international support for our country and has been doing an excellent job of it all along, is Andriy Shevchenko, who celebrated his 47th birthday last week.
Along with congratulations from all over the world, Shevchenko also received news of his appointment as an official freelance adviser to President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"The position of a freelance adviser is a continuation of the activities that I have been carrying out for a year and a half as an ambassador of the UNITED24 fundraising platform. Together with the project team, we have raised millions of dollars to help Ukraine, held a number of charity events, including Game4Ukraine.
We must use all opportunities and resources to deliver our powerful message. Sport is a great force that unites billions of people around the world. We have to do everything to encourage people to support Ukraine, and I will do everything I can to do so," said the former Ukraine coach(Sport-express.ua, 28.09.23).
Minus two clubs from the TV pool. Last week, the number of UPL clubs belonging to the so-called TV pool on MEGOGO decreased. First, Veres left this cohort, and then Kryvbas. This leaves 9 clubs on MEGOGO: "Shakhtar, Chornomorets, Polissia, Metalist 1925, Kolos, Vorskla, Oleksandriya, LNZ and Obolon.
"In fact, there were only two offers - two formats from MEGOGO. And all of them were with a big disadvantage for the clubs. But all of them had a commission, profit, I don't know, compensation for expenses for MEGOGO. You can call it differently, but in all these options, MEGOGO definitely did not lose anything, and the clubs had to pay for their broadcast, give it to MEGOGO, and still end up with a minus. I believe that this is unacceptable under any circumstances, and I know that not only Veres will refuse to cooperate," explained Veres president Ivan Nadein(Ua.tribuna.com, 27.09.23).
It is known that Veres plans to switch to a fully paid format of broadcasting its home matches in the UPL, while Kryvbas stressed that it will broadcast its matches for free on YouTube. It is worth noting that, in addition to the clubs from the MEGOGO pool, Rukh and Minaj also broadcast their matches on YouTube and several TV channels.
In turn, Dynamo, Dnipro-1 and Zorya, in addition to YouTube, remain on the air of the 1+1 group of channels. These three clubs have repeatedly stressed that they will continue to defend the interests of their audience by providing them with free access to football matches. During the period of martial law, they consider this position to be a manifestation of patriotism.
Orest LELEKA
