Soccer as National Idea

Like interbellum Austria, Ukraine is a country with a great many problems, not least of which is a weak sense of what it is or wants to be. Yet, when Kyiv Dynamo plays, the most indifferent citizen of this country, who might not be able to put three words together in Ukrainian, becomes a jingo patriot, and he feels the fate of his beloved team as a personal matter of life or death. When Valery Lobanovsky's beloved boys beat Madrid Real all Ukraine heaved a sigh of relief followed by a pride they feel far too seldom. Now that is a national idea for you. Thanks, coach! You have done more for Ukraine than all those pantywaist politicians put together. Maybe you ought to think about running for president...