Veterans team: Independence Day - in the East of Ukraine

27.08.2019 15:25

Photo of the press service of AFVU

This year's holidays in honor of the National Flag Day and Independence Day will be remembered by the national team of veterans with incredible emotions and impressions! The famous football players went to the East of Ukraine, to Luhansk region, where they played matches in Rubizhne and Stanytsia Luhanska.

Fans, who closely follow the performances of the star team, are already accustomed to the team's constant visits to the East. A significant part of the games are played by the wards of Anatoliy Demyanenko and Volodymyr Lozynsky in cities whose names are well known to ordinary citizens from news releases in recent years. Popasna and Starobilsk, Krasnohorivka and Novoaidar, Severodonetsk and Kramatorsk… So when there was an opportunity to play in the environmental protection zone on the main public holidays, we did not have to wait long for a positive answer.

"We never divide the country by regions, we play where we are happy to be seen," said head coach Anatoliy Demyanenko. - Many times in recent years we have been in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Here we are very warmly welcomed, for people football is one of the few opportunities to be present at the holiday, to forget about daily worries. We are constantly asked if we are afraid to play a kilometer from the line of demarcation, if any of the guys refuse to travel to the East? Frankly, we are all one team, and I have never heard any failures. As for security, we trust the military and the organizers. Fortunately, there were never any problems. "

The matches of the national team were organized by Agrobusiness LLC with the support of the Ukrainian Football Association, Luhansk Regional Football Federation and the Association of Football Veterans of Ukraine.

The real names in the veteran team are a real delight. Serhiy Nagornyak, Oleh Sobutsky, Eduard Tsikhmeistruk, Sviatoslav Syrota, Mykola Ishchenko, Vyacheslav Svidersky, Vitaliy Mandzyuk, Bohdan Shershun, Vitaliy Samoilov, Andriy Oksymets, Oleksandr Venglynsky, Andriy Donets, and Gennady Ulyanyts came on the field.

Photo of the press service of AFVU

August 23. Frontier

Lugansk national team / OOS national team - team of veterans of Ukraine - 3: 5

Flags of Ukraine, music, many women and children, festive mood… In Rubizhne they prepared well for the football match, gathered a combat team, where the military played together with local veterans. "Such was the wish of the team of veterans and Oleg Sobutsky - to invite the military to the stands, and to give several of them the opportunity to play," says the head of LOFF Igor Shopin. - Unfortunately, currently Luhansk region is deprived of big football, there are no teams in professional leagues, only now two teams have applied for the Cup among amateurs. But we hold the regional championship (this year it includes 13 teams), veterans and other competitions. For the region, the visit of football legends is a landmark event, I will say more, so many spectators at the stadium in Rubezhnoye have not gathered for many years. Thanks to the national team of veterans, to my friends on the football field, for such a gift. "

Photo of the press service of AFVU

To the applause of the spectators, the team went out on the field, the veterans hosted a hospitable loaf in the Khmelnytsky region, played the National Anthem of Ukraine, took a joint photo… According to good tradition, footballs and other souvenirs were awarded to the military. When the referee's whistle blew, all attention was focused on the football field. Tsykhmeistruk and Ishchenko skillfully conducted the game, Nagornyak and Svidersky made flank raids, Mandzyuk and Medvedev acted impeccably in defense… It was a pleasure to watch football legends, and the decoration of the match, as it should be, was scored goals. Andriy Khomyn, Serhiy Nagornyak, Oleh Sobutsky, Mykola Ishchenko scored in the national team, another ball was scored by Luhansk in their own goal, while Serhiy Shakun, Yevhen Shapovalov and Yevhen Simbarev scored in the goal of the stars. In the end - 5: 3 in favor of football legends.

Photo of the press service of AFVU

August 24th. The village of Lugansk

Lugansk national team / OOS national team - team of veterans of Ukraine - 2: 4

Four years ago, the Niva Stadium in Stanytsia Luhanska was at the epicenter of hostilities, there were shell craters on the field, and locker rooms and an administrative building were destroyed. Old photos and a bucket at the entrance, in which the arena staff continue to stack the fragments found after the ruptures, are now reminiscent of those terrible times. One kilometer from Niva is the demarcation line and the well-known entry-exit checkpoint "Stanytsia Luhanska", where thousands of people walk across the destroyed bridge every day.

Photo of the press service of AFVU

Holding football matches is the main part of the team's visit to the East. But, in addition, the team has a unique opportunity to see the life of the region, the conditions in which the military and border guards serve, how ordinary people see their future in a ruined but unconquered land. At each of the checkpoints on the way from Rubizhne to Stanytsia Luhanska, the bus stopped, the footballers gave souvenirs to the military, took a joint photo. It would seem a trifle, but it is so important and necessary for the guys, thanks to whom the sky over Ukraine is now calm.

Photo of the press service of AFVU

It is symbolic that the national team visited Stanytsia Luhanska on Independence Day! Before the match, the captains of the teams raised the blue and yellow flag on the flagpole and spoke in support of peace and unity in Ukraine. The composition of the hosts was unparalleled - it included local players aged 18 to 55 plus five soldiers from neighboring units and divisions. Not surprisingly, it was difficult for the hastily formed team to play with famous veterans, but it was able to put up a decent resistance. The hosts responded to four goals from Oleg Sobutsky (double), Mykola Ishchenko and Gennady Medvedev with two accurate shots. In the end - 4: 2.

Photo of the press service of AFVU

"We had a lot of proposals where to hold matches on these holidays," says the founder of the veterans' team, UAF Vice President Oleh Sobutsky. - I want to thank the head of the football federation of Luhansk region Igor Shopin, thanks to the cooperation with whom we managed to visit Rubizhne and Stanytsia Luhansk, to organize football holidays in quite difficult conditions for fans. Our goal is to unite Ukrainians and support the military, which is why the games in the East are special.

We are frequent guests here, out of 200 matches in the last four years, the national team has played about a quarter in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. There will be more - we have planned another visit in the fall. We try not to refuse anyone, but if the military invites us… Here the answer is clear, and for that I want to thank all the players, coaches Anatoly Demyanenko and Vladimir Lozynsky, true professionals and patriots. When the whole country was resting, the team gladly agreed to go to the East. Also in the near future the team has another landmark visit. As part of our world tour to unite Ukrainians on September 14 in Toronto, Canada, we will take part in a Ukrainian festival, and the next day we will play a game with the national team of the Ukrainian community in the same city. "