2018: the main events of the year in Ukrainian football

31.12.2018 13:49

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

The past year has left a noticeable mark in the history of Ukrainian football. For the first time our country hosted the decisive matches of the Champions League, the national team performed well in the new tournament, the League of Nations, and the U-19 junior team made its way to the finals of the European Championship, where it was among the winners.

We suggest remembering the highlights of 2018.

May 24 at the Football House passed XXI Congress of the Football Federation of Ukraine. The congress was attended by representatives of regional football federations, delegates from the collective members of the FFU, invited guests and the media. The event was attended by UEFA President Alexander Cheferin. Speaking to the congress audience, the high guest noted the quality of work carried out by the Football Federation of Ukraine in preparation for the final matches of the UEFA Champions League.

Photo by uefa.com

Champions League Holiday in Kiev

The main action of the European club season-26/2017 - the final of the Champions League took place on May 2018 in Kyiv at the NSC "Olympic". Eyes from all over the world were chained to the capital of Ukraine that day, and 61,5 thousand spectators saw with their own eyes a fascinating match in which Real Madrid won Liverpool won 3: 1 and won the most prestigious club football trophy.

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

The final match was preceded by a busy schedule. Two days before him, on May 24, at the Dynamo Stadium. Valery Lobanovsky hosted the final of the Women's Champions League, in which the French "Lyon" in overtime won over German "Wolfsburg" - 4: 1. Besides, these May days in Kiev was happening "Festival of Champions", which was joined by thousands of Kyivites and guests of the city.

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

The level of organization of the event was appreciated by distinguished foreign guests. In particular, UEFA President Alexander Cheferin has repeatedly expressed his admiration for the excellent organization of the UEFA Champions League finals, calling the work done by FFU President Andriy Pavelko and the Football Federation of Ukraine "as exemplary as possible." This was confirmed sheet, which Alexander Cheferin sent to Andriy Pavelko after returning to Nyon. "It was a great pleasure for us to be in Kyiv during the 2018 UEFA Champions League final. "NSC" Olympic "is one of the greatest stadiums in Europe, and it hosted the final of the Champions League," - wrote the head of European football.

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

Euro semi-final for Petrakov team

In July, the national team of Ukraine U-19 performed well in the final tournament European Championship in Finland, stopping only in the semifinals after the defeat (0: 5) of the future champion - Portugal. Alexander Petrakov's team in the group stage defeated France (2: 1) and Turkey (1: 0), parted ways with England (1: 1) and eventually fulfilled main task - got a ticket to the U-20 World Cup, which will take place next year in Poland.

The youth team is blue and yellow five times in its history won a prize at the Euro. "We even slightly overfulfilled the task, making it to the semifinals of the Euro", - summed it up performance of his wards in Finland Alexander Petrakov.

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

And the president of FFU Andrey Pavelko, congratulating collective of a national team in the House of football after returning home, noted: "You are real heroes for us. You are among the four best teams in Europe and had a very good experience at this football forum. I am sure that you will approach the start of the World Cup in combat, and the coaching staff will take into account the experience of performances at Euro 2018. For our part, we will create all the necessary conditions for the team to effectively prepare for the World Cup, which will take place in Poland. "

The historical success of the national team

In the autumn the national team of Ukraine spent four fights as part of a new tournament - the UEFA League of Nations. The blue-and-yellows started with an away strong-willed victory over the Czech Republic (2: 1), continued their victory over Slovakia in Lviv with empty stands (1: 0), and then defeated the Czech Republic again - this time in Kharkiv (1: 0).

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

The maximum score in the first three matches allowed Andriy Shevchenko's team to secure a victory in Group B1 and a ticket to Division A of the next draw of the League of Nations. In the last match, in which the coaching staff resorted to personnel and tactical experiments, the Ukrainians lost away to Slovakia - 1: 4, but this failure did not affect their tournament position. By the way, the defeat in Trnava was the only one for the blue-yellows in 2018 10 matches.

At the League of Nations meetings, the Ukrainian national team demonstrated not only a decent result, but also a great attacking game, allowing fans to look forward to the team in the near future.

"It is very important that the team is on the right track. Young players are growing up, there is mutual understanding, a good atmosphere. You can set certain tasks for this team ", - said Andriy Shevchenko at a press conference assessing the current state of his team.

And the main task for the national team is the exit to Euro-2020, the draw of which qualifying tournament had happened at the end of the year.  

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

International forum for counteracting match matches

In December at the House of Football passed And the International Forum for Counteracting Contract Matches. The event was attended by representatives of FIFA, UEFA, FFU, the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, football associations of Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Latvia, Georgia and Azerbaijan, as well as members of the National Police and Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine.

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

During the event, participants discussed key mechanisms and tools for detecting and combating the organization of matches with a predetermined result, shared their experience in this field of football associations of different European countries and successful examples of cooperation with law enforcement agencies.

"Contract matches are a major threat to modern football, as they destroy the key idea and philosophy of this great game - fair play, which is admired by millions of fans around the world, so it is important that this forum brings together professionals who want to clean football from such a shameful phenomenon." - noted FFU President Andriy Pavelko opening the forum.

In addition, in the coming year, national teams U-17, U-19 and WU-19 made their way to the elite rounds of Euro 2019, the futsal squad for Euro 2018 came out to the quarterfinals, and the women's national futsal team obtained permit for the European Championship 2019.