The historic football match between Russia and Ukraine

 The historic football match between Russia and Ukraine

The latest football match between Russia and Ukraine is an unforgettable memory for the fans of these two countries.

"Please don't bring up the worst memory of my life, I'm still trying to forget it. None of us want to live after the football game against Ukraine. Honestly, all of us feel better than killing ourselves. or at least retire from football forever. I can't remember exactly what happened. It's all foggy now. It's painful and not worth it, it's like we ran a marathon and were left out. wear to death".

Those were the words of Oleg Romantsev in 2014, 15 years after the last official match between Russia and Ukraine. The former Russia coach could not accept that bad experience. Both Russia and Ukraine do. When referee David Elleray blew the whistle to end the match in Moscow on a rainy night in October 1999, everyone knew for sure that this match would go down in history forever.

Russia vs Ukraine England 1

Russia failed to qualify for Euro 2000 after a match against Ukraine in the final round of qualifying.

Background

Everything will probably start in 1991, when the Soviet Union disintegrated. The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) team was formed temporarily to attend Euro 1992 but then all disbanded.

FIFA and UEFA decided that Russia would inherit the entire legacy of the Soviet Union, while the rest of the countries had to start from scratch. Ukraine immediately realized this injustice after they made a great contribution to the strength of the Soviet Union. of the Soviet Union. During the reign of Valeriy Lobanovskyi in the late 80s, the mainstays of the Soviet team were all the stars of Dynamo Kyiv.

Russia vs Ukraine England 2

Andrei Kanchelskis is one of the players born in Ukraine but chose to dedicate himself to the Russian team to attend major tournaments.

There are at least 7 players who always start from the beginning in the Soviet Union's Euro 1988 runner-up victory is Ukrainian. To fight the fire, FIFA allows players to choose a shirt color to dedicate. Many Ukrainian stars have chosen to play for Russia with the goal of attending major tournaments, from Viktor Onopko, Andrei Kanchelskis, Igor Nikiforov, Ilya Tsymbalar to Sergei Yuran.

Ukraine team only has young players left. It is not surprising that Ukraine struggled in the 90s. They failed to win tickets to the World Cup and Euro finals. Ukraine's only spark is the vitality of the young generation, whose pioneer is Andriy Shevchenko.

Russia was supposed to honor the Soviet Union in the international arena, but it failed. The Russian football management system in the 90s was a disaster. On the eve of the 1994 World Cup, many stars even refused to attend the tournament. Russia was eliminated from the group stage of the world cup in the US and suffered a similar hardship at Euro 1996. They did not even win tickets to the 1998 World Cup.

A talented generation with Onopko, Mostovoi, Karpin... can only hope for Euro 2000 to seek glory. At the same time, Ukraine began to confidently compete with the top teams. They succeeded with the 1998 World Cup Qualifier campaign when they overcame Portugal to finish second, just behind the Euro champion, Germany. Losing to Croatia (who later won bronze at the World Cup) was painful, but the future was still open to Shevchenko and his teammates.

Fate put Ukraine and Russia in the same group in the Euro 2000 Qualifier. The situation is not simple when France and Iceland are also in this group. The top team will go to Belgium and the Netherlands in the summer of 2000, while the second place team will have to play in the play-offs.

The head coach of the Russian team at that time, Anatoliy Byshovets, was not a strange name to Ukraine. Mr. Byshovets led the Soviet Union to win the 1988 Olympic gold medal but failed at Euro 1992. Born in the Ukrainian capital, this man devoted his entire career to Dynamo Kyiv.

Four years ago, Ukraine also wanted to bring Byshovets to be the head coach. Byshovets' close friend in Dynamo Kyiv, Josef Szabo, suggested that he accept. But after negotiations, Szabo became the head coach of Ukraine instead of Byshovets.

Suddenly, the old comrades were on both sides of the front line. The first leg was played on December 5, 1998. This is the first official match between Russia and Ukraine. Many reporters hastily called this the "Match of the Century". They don't know what awaits them a year later.

Russia did not have the best preparation for this match. When the Russian team was about to take off for Kyiv, the plane suddenly stopped. Moscow airport decided not to take off without paying for gas. The players had to wait for 2 hours before the cash was brought in.

Coach Byshovets understands Ukraine well and is afraid of opponents. Russia does not have the best force: Two key defenders Yuri Nikiforov and Dmitri Khlestov are absent. The "tsar" Aleksandr Mostovoi had physical problems, and the Byshovets decided not to take the risk. Igor Dobrovolski was kicked in as a substitute.