Gigantic burden lifted: Emotional Ukraine shakes off its EM paralysis

Gigantic burden falls away
Emotional Ukraine shakes off EM paralysis

By Emmanuel Schneider & Martin Armbruster, Düsseldorf
21.06.2024, 20:43

As in the opening match, Ukraine got off to a shaky start in the important European Championship group match against Slovakia. Thanks to a goalkeeping trick and a dream goal, the blue and yellows bounced back and are back in the race for the round of 16.

Anatoliy Trubin guarded his goal with everything he had. With his feet, hands and ribs, the Ukraine goalkeeper fended off several great chances in the early stages against Slovakia. He made up for the mistakes of his teammates, who were extremely nervous despite the blue and yellow fan block behind them in the Düsseldorf EM Arena. National coach Serhiy Rebrov had put his trust in Trubin because Andriy Lunin from Real Madrid did not cut a good figure in the 0:3 defeat in the opening match against Romania. Trubin paid back. In the 18th minute, however, even the two-meter giant could no longer save his team.

Andriy Yarmolenko let Lukas Haraslin cross the ball from the left side undisturbed into the five-meter box, where Ivan Schranz easily jumped over his opponent Oleksandr Zinchenko and nodded once. The unpleasant bounce found its way past Trubin’s fingers and into the net. The men in yellow seemed unsettled, as they had against Romania. As if they were under particularly heavy pressure. As if they had to offer their compatriots at home something special in the midst of war and bomb terror. The war in their homeland has followed the Ukrainian national team all the way to Düsseldorf at this European Championship. They do not want to ignore it. The Ukrainian delegation is bringing parts of a grandstand from Kharkiv that was destroyed by Russian bombs to their host cities. A memorial. That is what association president and former star striker Andriy Shevchenko called it at the first stop in Munich. The Ukrainian team always plays for “millions of soldiers” in Germany, he said.

In Düsseldorf, the battered stands stand in front of the town hall on the market square. Twelve years ago, the Ukrainian national team trained in front of these stands at the home European Championships. Now bombed by Russian attackers. A tormenting sight. The Sonyachniy Arena in the city near the Russian border has since been destroyed. After the somewhat headlong defeat (0:3) in the opening match against Romania, many suspected that too much pressure was on the players’ shoulders. It is true that the professionals always play for their nation at a tournament. But the war of aggression against Ukraine, which has been raging for two and a half years now, seems to increase this position and symbolism even further. Perhaps it is also inhibiting the players. Even though many are playing abroad. The European Championship stage is significantly larger than in European Championship qualifiers or the playoffs.

The goal hurts

All the horror and tragedy are present. The Ukrainian players run onto the field wrapped in their blue and yellow flag, proudly singing the national anthem. Of course the setting is emotionally charged. How could it not be? Against Belgium’s nightmare Slovakia, they fell behind early on. The goal hurt. Rebrov clapped encouragingly from the sidelines and Trubin ran forward to his colleagues in the attacking department. Initial help. It took a while, however, for Ukraine to recover from the shock.

It was only around ten minutes after the goal that the team lost the shackles of nervousness and attacked with more determination. Artem Dovbyk took heart and danced around the Slovakian defence in the box, but was stopped by goalkeeper Martin Dubravka. Four minutes later, Oleksandr Tymchyk shot from 17 metres, his low shot hitting the post. It was the best phase of the Zhovto-blakytni, the blue and yellows. No power play, but finally some attacking football. Significantly, the Slovakians’ only other chance came from a counterattack. Haraslin fired a well-considered low shot with the inside of his foot from the left half – Ukraine were threatened with a knockout in the 44th minute at the worst psychological time. But Trubin pulled out his safety net again, dived under and kept hope alive.

In the second half, the goalkeeper of the traditional Portuguese club Benfica was no longer the center of attention. It was a different football game now. A different body language. Whatever coach Rebrov had told his men during the break, it had an effect. In these 45+5 minutes, it was almost only the team in the yellow shirts and blue numbers that stormed forward. Driven on by Zinchenko, who repeatedly encouraged the fans with wild rowing arms, Ukraine threw everything forward. The fans went along with it, encouraging their men. U… KRA… YI… NA! U… KRA… YI… NA! UKRAYINA! UKRAYINA, echoed from the stands, getting faster and faster. Not much more came from the Slovakians.

Zinchenko can’t stop waving his arms

Ukraine now played a more offensive role through Mudryk. The Chelsea man set up the equalizer when he played Duvbyk free. The ball found Shaparenko via Zinchenko, who slotted it in with the inside of his foot (54′). Ukraine kept the pressure on. First, substitute Yaremchcuk and Mudryk missed a good opportunity when they had a numerical advantage, and Mudryk’s shot hit the outside post. Shortly afterwards, Yaremchuk did better – fantastically better. He used his technical skills to catch a long ball with his chip, let the ball bounce and coolly flicked it past Dubravka (80′). A goal that was a one-off. The Ukrainian substitutes all stormed onto the field to face their goal hero, and the stadium was in a frenzy.

Energizer Zinchenko couldn’t stop waving his arms. It seemed as if a gigantic weight had been lifted. A well-deserved goal. Ukraine rewarded itself for a brave second half. In the remaining minutes, the team defended passionately, Zinchenko and co. repeatedly marked the pitch, made their mark, clenched their fists. These Ukrainians grew into mental monsters in Düsseldorf. There was no sign of any more fighting. When the final whistle blew, goal scorer Yaremchuk sank to his knees, his teammates rushed to him and hugged him. Others fisted their happiness into the rainy Düsseldorf sky. Three points for Ukraine in Group E, the door to the round of 16 is open for them again.

“I’m so happy, you can’t imagine”

“That was the game of our lives,” Yaremchuk told RTL. “Thanks to a good spirit, we got three very important points for our country. It will be very difficult for us, we have a tough group, our next opponent is a top team,” said the striker, referring to the Red Devils from Belgium. “I’m so happy, you can’t imagine,” said Trubin, the strong man of the first half: “After a terrible first game, these three points are a breath of fresh air.”

Coach Rebrov was pleased with his change of position on the goal line. “He deserved to play today. I’m happy with the decision. He and Andriy Lunin work very hard and are in good competition with each other. He already showed against Germany that he deserves to stay calm.” But even more important than the goalkeeping question was Rebrov’s conclusion of the day: “We deserved to win and made Ukraine proud.” Zinchenko also emphasized the importance of the success and thanked his compatriots. “The victory is very important. We would like to thank all the fans in the stadium, those who watched in Ukraine, but above all our soldiers who are defending our independence and risking their lives,” said the Arsenal professional. “It is because of them that we can represent our country at this level. After the first game we received a lot of criticism, which was justified. Today we showed who we are, who we can be as a team.”