Another reason for self-respect. EURO-2012: pre-playoff round
The last match of the Ukrainian national team in Group D against the team of England in Donetsk did not become either triumph or tragedy for the hosts of Euro-2012. Ukrainians lost with a minimal score (0:1) and showed the best level of playing in this tournament. If it was not for the awkward goal headed by Wane Rooney in the 48th minute that our defenders and goalkeeper missed and not for the obvious mistake of Hungarian judges, who were blinded by who knows what and did not recognize the goal scored in the 62nd minute by Marko Devic Ukrainian team could’ve fought for the victory in the last 30 minutes. If they would’ve been successful at that, Ukrainian team could theoretically play against Spaniards in quarter-finals. And then even if we’d lost the match with the current world and European champion Oleh Blokhin and his team would consider their participation in Euro-2012 very successful and that our team belongs to the cohort of the strongest teams in Europe. It is true that we all – both professionals and fans are good at boasting even about some little things in soccer. All this is due to the lack of victories.
Maybe it is good that this optimistic scenario did not happen in reality because its formal assessment would be a big lie and we would start the qualifying tournament for the World Cup 2014, which will be held in Brazil, in the state of self-deception and illusions. In this competition Ukraine will play against England, Poland, Montenegro, Moldova, and San Marino. On September 11 Ukrainian national team will play its first out match of World Cup 2014 qualifying tournament against England. FIFA’s president promised that the World Cup referees will verify their decisions by watching video recordings. Therefore, there should not be anything like the Hungarian awkward moment any more. This game of Ukraine against England that will be held in 50 days will be an objective test of the current strength of the Ukrainian team. We have a chance to drop the status of a middle-level team but we still need to do a lot to make it happen.
There are two things that are a must. The first one is to find a worthy replacement for Andrii Shevchenko, who announced that he will no longer officially play for the national team and is getting ready for the farewell game. In three games that Ukraine played within Euro-2012 the national team scored two goals on its home field and both of them are on the account of the 35-year-old veteran striker, who hardly played during the last few months. This is a sign of luck for Shevchenko and a sign of trouble for the team. Those, who now thought about the Marko Devic’s goal which was not counted by the referee, should also remember that it was not Ukrainian but Serbian soccer that trained the current striker of the Ukraine’s national team. Besides, Devic alone will not be enough for a successful play. Unfortunately, compliments that have been repeated for several years in the media for some of our team players have been made at the instigation of their agents and were not proved by evidence during Euro-2012. None of Europe’s top soccer clubs has become interested in the talent of young and mature Ukrainian players. Matches of Ukraine against Sweden and France did not surprise the soccer world with discovery of some bright individuals. One of experienced soccer judges told me, warning that this is not “for the press,” that there are two main reasons why soccer giants are not interested in the service of our players. The first reason is the lack of their professional motivation and self-organization, and the second is the lack of their ability to work with the ball, what is called technique. Top league soccer today does not need all those athletes (runners, jumpers, and “fallers” too) or dancers. Just compare a textbook miss of Artem Milevsky, who only kind of placed his head to meet the ball while standing in the goalie area of England’s team, with the goal scored by Swiss player Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the game against France – while falling he hit the ball that was coming from a great distance. These two goals are extremely different.
Another thing we must do is to make a strategic long term decision about coaches and their tactical and strategic objectives. Either everybody, including the Soccer Federation of Ukraine (SFU) and soccer community will trust Oleh Blokhin and his assistants, and in this case the representatives of Kyiv Dynamo soccer training school will not be afraid to lose their jobs – this, perhaps, was the reason why during the games Ukraine played in Euro-2012 they relied more on players from Kyiv Dynamo and not on players from Donetsk Shakhtar. Or, after the resignation of Hryhorii Surkis, true Dynamo fan, from the post of the SFU’s president, Ukrainian soccer will be managed completely by students of Donetsk school and they will most likely invite foreign specialists to work with the national team. Because to praise the team and harshly criticize personnel decisions made by the coach, the way some impolite journalists might do sometimes, can be destructive for our team in the near future.
What concerns involving foreign coaches in training national team, there are many various thoughts concerning that, some of which are not quite of sport character. One of the fundamental issues regarding organization of the competitions of national teams will soon be raised before FIFA: why the players of national teams must be citizens of the countries they play for and there is no such rule about coaches? For if the main goal of such tournaments will be success achieved by attracting foreign specialists and naturalized players, who only yesterday were citizens of a different country, will the countries really need such competitions, when they will delegate jerseys and their flag to strangers, because foreign players do not usually sing the anthem. Maybe it would be better for the quality of soccer and the business made on it to organize high-grade European and world championships among club teams. If globalization is in fashion it will prevail in soccer market also. Otherwise, after a decade we might come to a situation when former Brazilians or Argentineans will play for national teams of some European countries. These countries will have enough masters of leather ball for everyone who has a desire and money to have them.
Turning back to Euro-2012, which ended for our national team, but not for the fans and stadiums in Donetsk and Kyiv, we have to say that Swedish team defeated French players (2:0) on June 19. Here is the final situation in Group D: England is on the 1st place with 7 points, France is on the 2nd place with 4 points, Ukraine is the 3rd with 3 points, and Sweden is the 4th with 3 points.
A day before, on June 18, matches of the third round in Group C took place without any sensations: Spanish team defeated Croats (1:0), and Italians defeated the Irish team (2:0). Final results: Spain is the 1st with 7 points, Italy is the 2nd with 5 points, Croatia is the 3rd with 4 points, and Ireland is the 4th with 0 points.
Top scorers of Euro-2012, who can still score more goals in the upcoming games and improve their results, are: Mario Gomez (Germany), who scored 3 goals; Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Vaclav Pilar, Petr Jiracek (the Czech Republic), Cesc Fabregas and Fernando Torres (Spain), who scored 2 goals each.
Quarterfinal games: the Czech Republic – Portugal in Warsaw on June 21, Germany – Greece in Gdansk on June 22, Spain – France in Donetsk on June 23, and England – Italy in Kyiv on June 24.
UEFA President Michel Platini expressed his great appreciation for a good level of preparations and tournament organization and said that Ukraine and Poland have already won Euro-2012 regardless of the results of the performance of their national teams. No matter what, it is still pleasant and reassuring that in the world of big soccer there is such stable platinical love for us.
