Ukraine Still Heads the Group

At last! The national Ukrainian soccer team has won one. Let us agree that this year has not yet brought great joy to Ukrainian soccer fans, in contrast to, say, the start of the qualification tournament in the fall of last year, when Jozsef Szabo's squad took three in a row. Of course, France and Iceland were not our rivals then. Nor was the Russian team coached by Anatoly Byshovets equal to the one groomed by Oleg Romantsev. In any case, the national team of Ukraine is still leading its group. As of today, this is the fourth group's only undefeated team.

As always, the team was accompanied by a large support group from Kyiv. President of the Soccer Federation and Prime Minister of Ukraine Valery Pustovoitenko was also to have flown to Reykjavik but did not. Mr. Pustovoitenko must have been held back by important governmental affairs. On the other hand, let us not forget that matches held in the presence of this country's leaders always have it rough. Maybe it is also not worth their going to Moscow?

The game shown in Iceland did not impress, frankly speaking. And who knows what turn events would have taken had it not been for the host players' carelessness in an episode that the Icelandic defense practically won, which resulted in a penalty shot. After the kickoff, the hosts dominated. And if the intrepid sons of Norsemen had not been too shy in the final stage (they in fact did not attempt a goal), I do not think the scoreboard would have still be showing zeroes by the time the penalty was awarded. Are the victors above judgment? Maybe so. One can repeat a thousand times more that Ukraine remains the group leader. But the trends, outlined in the match versus France, showed again this time. Andriy Shevchenko again failed to lead the team. Receiving a pass, this time in the manner of a Western forward, he tried to immediately attempt a goal. Nor did Andriy think that the position to do so was not always comfortable. We are not used to seeing a ball fly about twenty meters above the bar after being kicked by our super-forward.

Also surprising was our players' attitude toward the referees. The Portuguese umpire awarded most yellow cards to our boys for unsportsmanlike behavior. Some of them must have forgotten they were playing an international, rather than a Ukrainian championship, match. The liberalism of our referees seems to be a dubious favor for Ukraine's leading soccer players. Thank God, the plethora of yellow cards will keep everybody in the team for the decisive match against Russia.

But still, let us get back to the main thing. The final and crucial match remains. The Ukrainians will face the Russian national team in Moscow. The team that let almost all chances slip, having lost three matches at the start, won six victories in a row when it got its new coach and became a real candidate for participation in the Euro-2000. To do so, the Russians need one thing: to win their last match. The Ukrainians, conversely, could do with a draw, which will place them second in the group and allow them to play two additional matches. They will meet with a team from a different group (to be determined by lot). But the game versus Russia is an entirely different theme. Let us wait for October 9.