Ukrainian beginners win big in Bulgaria

At the recent 2nd World Deaf Futsal Championships, held in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia between Nov. 8 and 17, Ukraine’s team won the champions title in an honest and uncompromising game. Deaf indoor soccer players, many of whom communicate in sign language, chanted happily, “Ukraine is the champion! Hip-hip-hooray!”

The 2nd World Championships were an unprecedented event in world indoor soccer. It united the strongest soccer teams from 24 countries in the following group divisions (the first championships took place over 10 years ago in Holland, but Ukraine did not participate): A Group: Kuwait, Uzbekistan, United Arab Emirates, Sweden, Ukraine, and Norway; B Group: the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Guinea, Switzerland, England, and Slovakia; C Group: Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, Sierra Leone, Macedonia, Serbia, and Italy; D Group: Russia, Thailand, Columbia, Turkey, Ireland, and Israel.

The Ukrainian players did not encounter any serious opposition within their group. The first game, against Uzbekistan, did not take place because the Uzbek players did not show up. Our “blue-and-yellow” players were handed a technical victory of 3:0. Then our players wiped the floor with the team from the United Arab Emirates, winning 10:0. The Swedes got the same treatment, but managed to shoot a single goal into Oleksandr Kunytsia’s net (10:1). Compared to the two earlier teams, the Norwegians played bravely and “only” missed six balls (6:1).

After that game the Ukrainian players won the first round of the championships. But they didn’t let down their guard during the last game of the group tournament. Kuwait took a beating from Ukraine (9:0). The Bulgarians, who were hosting the Championships and were the second in their group after having lost to the Italians, were set to play Ukraine in the quarter-final. The game ended with a 2:1 victory for the Ukrainians, while the semifinal against Russian netted our players a 3:1 victory. Ukraine’s game against Thailand ended with a triumphant 3:2 result for us, and Ukraine was declared the indisputable world champion. A few words are in order about other world soccer events that have taken place this month. Ukraine’s national Cerebral Palsy Team, made up of members with Cerebral Palsy/Strokes/Acquired Brain Injuries, won third place at the World Championships in Brazil. In a match against the Brazilian team on Nov. 17 our soccer players won 2:0. The Russians won the Champions’ Cup after winning 2:1 over the Iraqi team.

At the Second Amputee Football World Cup in Antalya, Turkey, which ended on Nov. 20, the Ukrainian team was in B Group together with Uzbekistan, Brazil, Sierra Leone, Iran, and Nigeria. Ukraine beat Nigeria 3:0.