The veterans team of Ukraine is triumphing for the second year in a row in the USA
The national team of Ukraine among veterans triumphed in the American city of Tampa, winning the representative tournament "Cup of Legends"!
The football competition, organized by local businessman Aaron Grunfeld and famous football player, 1988 Olympic champion Igor Sklyarov, is gradually finding its place on the eventful sports map of America. We will remind, last year the first "Cup of Legends" took place in Chicago, and the national team of Ukraine became its winner. This year our team has already arrived in the south of the country as a favorite. Actually, having such a lineup, don't claim anything other than the first place! The performances of the national team in the USA took place with the support of the Football Federation of Ukraine, the Association of Football Veterans of Ukraine and Agribusiness LLC.
This year, the "Cup of Legends" selected a solid team of participants from four countries - Ukraine, USA, Canada and Colombia. Previously, the teams were divided into two groups, the two strongest of them reached the semifinals, the winners of which played in the finals.
Group A: national team of Ukraine, national team of Colombia, "Karpaty Yankers", FC "Connection Ukraine".
Group B: FC Olympiacos USA, United Chicago, West Florida, Toronto (Canada).
Coaches of the national team of Ukraine Anatoliy Demyanenko and Volodymyr Lozynsky gathered a team of 19 players for the tournament:
goalkeeper: Vitaliy Reva;
defenders: Vladislav Vashchuk, Vladimir Yezersky, Vyacheslav Shevchuk, Vyacheslav Svidersky, Andriy Donets, Vitaliy Samoilov;
midfielders: Myron Markevych, Vitaliy Kosovsky, Eduard Tsikhmeystur, Yuriy Maximov, Sergey Nazarenko, Oleg Shelaev, Yevgeny Levchenko, Bogdan Shershun, Edmar Galovsky;
attackers: Oleg Sobutsky, Sergey Nagornyak, Andriy Vorobey.
Note the participation in the matches of 67-year-old Myron Markevich. There was also a debutant in the team - his first match in a veteran blue-yellow T-shirt was played by Edmar Galovsky, who is well known to the fans and now lives in Florida. In fact, the Ukrainians played the entire tournament in two teams, playing all five matches in one go.
December 9. Group Tournament
Ukrainian national team - Carpathian Yankers - 4:2
For Ukraine distinguished: Shevchuk, Sparrow, Edmar, Nazarenko.
Ukrainian national team - the national team of Colombia - 6: 0
For Ukraine distinguished: Sparrow (twice), Shevchuk, Nazarenko, Tsikhmeystur, Vashchuk.
Ukrainian national team - FC Connection Ukraine - 4: 0
For Ukraine distinguished: Sparrow (twice), Edmar, Nagornyak.
December 10, XNUMX
Semifinal
Ukrainian national team - "Chicago United" - 6: 1
For Ukraine distinguished: Sparrow (three times), Shevchuk, Nagornyak, Sobutsky.
One of the best players in Chicago United was Dmytro Kovalenko, a Kyiv football player who currently works as a coach in Chicago.
Final
Ukrainian national team - FC Connection Ukraine - 6: 1
For Ukraine distinguished: Tsikhmeyst (twice), Nazarenko (twice), Sparrow, Svidersky.
Ukrainian national team. 1st half: Reva, Yezersky, Shershun, Shevchuk, Levchenko, Nazarenko, Kosovsky, Shelaev, Edmar, Tsikhmeyst (K), Sparrow (Sobutsky). 2-and time: Reva, Svidersky, Shershun, Shevchuk, Donetsk, Samoilov, Shelaev (Maximov), Vashchuk (K), Nagornyak, Markevich, Sobutsky.
After the tournament, the national team of Ukraine was awarded the cup of the winner, Vyacheslav Shevchuk was recognized as the best defender, and Andriy Vorobey with nine goals - the best scorer! Oleh Sobutskyi, FFU Vice President, AVFU President and organizer of the national team of veterans of Ukraine, thanked the organizers for the invitation and the wonderfully conducted tournament, presenting a traditional for Ukrainians expression of respect and gratitude - a fragrant loaf!