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Ukraine players show their nation’s culture is alive and kicking | Nick Ames
The World Cup playoff semi-final in Scotland is a reminder that the war-torn country’s identity and football heritage are intact
It would not be a huge surprise if the ball that scored Ukraine’s first official goal was still travelling. They were 3-0 down against Hungary in the western city of Uzhhorod when, with virtually the final action, Ivan Hetsko lined up a free-kick just beyond the edge of the “D” and struck it with such shuddering force that it rebounded straight out of the net. The strike meant nothing and everything: it was 29 April 1992 and Ukraine would take some years to assemble a committed XI in the post-USSR shakedown, but Hetsko’s thunderbolt had given them a form of lift-off.
“It was very difficult for us at first and I think we are in a similar position now,” says Myron Markevych, who was overseeing Volyn Lutsk in the inaugural Ukrainian championship back then and later managed the national team. “Except we had to begin from zero then, and today we are basically starting from minus two.”
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