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Learn from the past, think about the future

June 15th, 2006 | By: Andriy Korol | 15 Comments »

Well, emotions ran high yesterday after the game. For Spain, it was emotions of pure joy. For Ukraine, emotions of utter disappointment. A lot has been discussed in the comments of this blog, many good points were raised. I’m going to sum up some of the observations of the last game, many good points made by others in their comments.

Miguelinho; “They got outplayed, but the referee kicked them while they were down. And I thought the Swiss were supposed to be neutral!”

rad|x; “This was absolutely horrible refereeing. Right Linesman was absolutely ridiculous, having flagged 3 or 4 off sides which were nowhere near. Red card…”

eltomas; “… Ukraine is NOT this bad, they played horribly, say what you say about the referee the fact is that Ukraine played worse than a drunk-Irish team today.”

Juan; “Nobody can say Spain has won today because of the referee, Xabi’s and Torres’ (with Pujol and Cesc) goals have been two of the best in this championship.”

Gene; “Yes, the ref got the call fucked up and 2:0 should have been a fair result. But Spain was clearly the better team.”

I think most people who watched this game would agree that the refereeing was very one sided, ridiculous calls were made all game. Anyone that watched this game would also agree that Spain was the superior team, they would win it one way or another. If not for the penalty kick at the start of the third period, would Ukraine have come back ? It’s a trivial question of what WOULD have happened. The fact remains that if you watch that game again you will see there is no desperation in the Ukrainian players, no fight, no will to win. This is what angered Blokhin the most, not the score.

dre145; “SHOVKOVSKYI played well he guessed most of the shots on him and made some BIG saves I don’t know what you are talking about… the defense was another story…”

Say what you want about the team, but dre145 is correct, the last player to blame for the loss was our goaltender, Shovkovskiy did his best, he made some really good saves. Two of the goals that he let in were unfair to judge him one, the second goal went off a Ukrainian player’s head and the third one was a penalty kick. When a team wins nobody credits the goalie but when they lose, it was the goalie’s fault ? No, the goalie was alone in that game, I’m glad to have a goalie on the team with such class

rad|x; “One thing I can say for sure though. I am glad that Vaschuk won’t be playing in the next game.”

Miguelinho; “What’s wrong with Vaschuk? He looked OK out there, especially on the last play, when he did nothing wrong. Those tugs are mostly never called - and it was a tug outside the area to boot.”

rad|x; “In any case I believe a defender (especially with enough experience, like Vaschuk) just has no right to take such risks, especially when team is 2 goals down.”

Natalka; “Red-carding Vaschuk was ridiculous - and a penalty shot as well?!”

Vaschuk played a somewhat decent game, he wasn’t spectacular, but he was playing better than most of his teammates. It will be a shame to lose him for the next game, his run down which converted into a red card at least showed some energy and hunger for the retreival of the ball, that could have been looked at in a different way if not for the red card.

stef; “Blokhin has so good connections that his alcoholism connected to his lack of talent in coaching ARE NOT ENOUGH????? The man is asleep during the game.”

rad|x; “I wouldn’t get into details why I do not like Blokhin as a person, but you must admit, that Blokhin has pulled Ukraine through qualifiers. Ukraine managed to qualify from the first place. That’s something.”

Gene; “Those who attack Blokhin need to wake up and smell what they are shoveling. This guy got you, folks, through the qualifying stage in flying colors in a very difficult group. He’s a World Class footballer, who played his heart out as a player. If you think he does not care or is not trying, you’re nuts.”

Miguelinho; “This will be Blokhin’s time to keep his word and correct a previous mistake. He promised that no one who doesn’t give 100% will play.”

Blokhin is not a bad coach ! He does have some strange mannerisms, I admit that, but so what ? As I pointed out in a previous blog, Aragones (Spain’s coach) is a total maniac, but look how he has faired with his team. Blokhin got us to the World Cup, something Lobanovskiy was unable to do, enough said.

Well, I am glad we got our negativity and frustrations out about that horrible loss. I’m glad team Ukraine got that out of their system as well. Now, it is time to look to the future, on Monday we play Saudi Arabia, a game that we probably wouldn’t even have to discuss a few days ago when we were so positive about our team crushing Saudi Arabia and Tunisia. Well, Ukraine wouldn’t be able to win against either of these 2 opponents if they play like they did against Spain. These 2 teams did us a huge favor by drawing each other, now Ukraine must cease the moment and turn that favor into something.

Tags: controversy, spain, Ukraine

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Comments

By Miguelinho | June 15th, 2006 at 9:48 pm

Very well said. This was the best post-game summary I’ve seen anywhere. One thing keeps going through my mind lately: did the team file a written appeal about the red card? In the press conference, Blokhin said he does not comment on the referees, but implied that FIFA should reverse the red card if it was unfairly given.

The problem is the FIFA appeal-rule: from what I read, the team captain needs to argue the call right away with the referee, and the team needs to file a written complaint within 2 hours after the game. FIFA is under no obligation to reverse the card unless these things were done.

First, did Shevchenko complain? I don’t remember seeing him there. Second, did Blokhin’s staff or the Federation guys in Kiev fax over a written complaint? Two hours is not a big window - and if they missed it, I don’t think FIFA will “volunteer” to reverse the card. Anyone who saw the game or sees the replay (even without slow motion!) knows it was undeserved. The problem is the appeals rule.

I know that the whole defense needs to be revamped for the next game. But perhaps Vaschuk is someone we still could have used…

Posted from United States

By Miguelinho | June 15th, 2006 at 9:53 pm

Oh yeah, if you want some laughs, read what the referee had to say in an interview before the game:

http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/front/detail/World_Cup_beckons_for_Swiss_referee_Busacca.html?siteSect=105&sid=6766525&cKey=1149409166000

I like the part about being clear-headed, controlling emotions, and admitting your mistakes. Well Mr. Busacca, I have yet to read an apology from you in today’s papers.

Posted from United States

By rad|x | June 16th, 2006 at 12:08 am

“Bussaca wants to stay calm and in control”

Now thats a good one, thank you

And I don’t think they will cancel Vaschuk’s red card. It’s something that they don’t do often.. I can’t even remember when a yellow card was cancelled after the game during world or even euro cup game, save the red one.

By Miguelinho | June 16th, 2006 at 12:42 am

The red card stays. They did not even appeal it. Surkis said an appeal wouldn’t change anything.

http://www.ffu.org.ua/news.php

What?! You can have your suspicions, but why not try? If there was ever a World-Cup red card worth appealing, this is it. This could have brought official admission of the mistake.

Honestly, I think they just missed the 2-hour deadline. When they considered appealing, it was too late. Damn, the more I read FIFA’s guidelines, the more I see how dictatorial they are. I guess it takes a 10-person legal team to do these things like they say. Sadly Ukraine is not too rich and powerful these days.

Posted from United States

By pwnawannab | June 16th, 2006 at 1:16 am

Damn - they don’t have russian version

Posted from United States

By rad|x | June 16th, 2006 at 1:30 am

Well, I saw that coming. I would actually be more surprised if they appealed. Oh well. This is how they do things.

By ash | June 16th, 2006 at 3:45 am

This match (URK-SPA that is) epitomized everything i consider rotten with this beautiful game ( i am a football junky, but prefer street ball as i scorn the rules of the big brother….)
To be precise, i am talking about unquestionable referee authority including penalties, red cards, offsides (sounds familiar?), as well as lack of review and control of the game.

First, authority - i cannot believe that one dude (ref) controls destiny of such a precious game!!! i don’t’ know if his girlfriend dumped him a night before, or may be he hates Ukrainians (or loves Spanish), bribed - no one really knows!!!! But it’s so unjust! not to mention that it welcomes the highest levels of corruption. I don’t want to ramble over and over again. But this article from the Economist should serve as the latest reminder how money and power can rig the matches at our expense.

http://www.sirspeed.org/misc/match_fixing_italy_soccer.txt

now, offsidewise refs are not even truly responsible for their mistakes as the requirements put on their eyes by the game transcend the human physical capacity! read for yourself and decide - i am talking about offside discussion in the second part of the article:

http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/060612_soccer_science.html

now, all i want is justice. i don’t want to watch Ukraine Vs Refs (or for that matter any team vs. refs and crooks) Is there a solution? Of course there is - it’s XXI century for f**k sake, and they have the same way of refing football as they did in XIX century?! may be they should mandate the same balls, soccer shoes, and uniforms as well!
alas, the sport is laced with crooks who want to keep the swamp for themselves….. the solution should be drawn from experience of hockey, basketball and american football. pretty much all of them now offer: video review (mandatory in some sports!), coach challenges, etc. Just check this article (it doesn’t quite address the rule changes, but rather the dynamics and adaptability of US sports):

http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=6859210

Even the rules of the game need not change! All we have to do is guarantee:
- video review from multiple angles for ALL questionable calls in penalty area,
- coach challenges a la american football (may be 1 per game - can u imagine if Blokhin could challenge this call?),
- revamp the offside rule, (or control with sophisticated computer/video system with RFD, etc.)
- making final decision upon review by consensus of refs, not just the head one (here goes corruption!)

Sorry for venting, but i am tired of hating my favorite game…. peace.

Posted from United States

By Ukraine | June 16th, 2006 at 5:29 am

It’s fine, the referees simply ruled for spain but we could have played better in the second half, but really we would have had a few goals if not for those offside calls. The refs ruled the game. Ukraine can still bounce back.

and pwnawannab, maybe, if you’re ukrainian maybe you should be able to read and understand ukrainian? Russian after all is for russians.

Posted from United States

By Andriy | June 16th, 2006 at 5:49 am

3/4’s of Ukraine speak Russian, its practicly the second language, get out of your diaspora and go visit East Ukraine

Posted from United States

By Miguelinho | June 16th, 2006 at 8:32 am

Yeah, it’s not our fault that generations of Ukrainian students were taught Russian first and Ukrainian later, as an after-thought. Such were the times.

They’re still pretty close though.

Did you guys see the movie Sum of All Fears? The Ben Affleck character (brilliant U.S. State Dept. analyst) goes into Ukraine on a covert mission. He is accompanied by the Liev Schreiber character who is a CIA agent specializing in Eastern Europe. In a prior scene, we see Schreiber speaking near-perfect Russian with an old woman.

When they need to address Ukrainian soldiers at gunpoint, however, Schreiber is confused and repeatedly yells: “What are they saying?!” Affleck then tells them to lie down and take off their boots in barely recognizable Ukrainian.

Schreiber says, “You speak Ukrainian?!” He has a surprised look on his face, like they are totally different languages.

Affleck smirks and says, “Yeah, you don’t?”

If this happened in real life, and Schreiber just yelled out a phrase in Russian, I am sure those soldiers would understand.

Posted from United States

By OPKO | June 16th, 2006 at 12:19 pm

Ukrainian if the official language of Ukrainian parliament and all government institutions. However, it will take several generations, if not centuries, of Ukrainian children learning Ukrainian and not Russian in schools to re-establish Ukrainian as the popular language of choice east of the Dnipro and along the Black Sea. But this is not the place for such a discussion.

What I can comment on is that even the players (majority) who go to Russian first for interviews were mouthing or trying to sing the anthem, which was nice to see.

I’m excited about Monday and Friday of next week. If we play our game and take care of business, we’ll stay in the tournament. If not, chalk it up to experience and take another run next time.

Posted from Canada

By pwnawannab | June 16th, 2006 at 6:45 pm

Hey hey hey - I did not mean to start a discussion!!! Now stopit. I am well versed in both languages. That was just a joke
Gooooooooooooo Argentinaaaaaaaa!!!

Posted from United States

By UkieFan | June 16th, 2006 at 9:11 pm

if anybody has the video of the red card given to the ukrainan player
please send me a link at:
g.l.e.b@hotmail.com

Posted from Canada

By Miguelinho | June 17th, 2006 at 12:55 am

Here you go man:

http://us.dynamo.kiev.ua/Media/WC2006/ukr_spain_fol.avi

Do you see a foul in the penalty box? Neither do the rest of us. Do you see a penalty? Neither do the rest of us.

Also, the main page with all video clips from the game:

http://dynamo.kiev.ua/Sources/med_wc_nb.htm

Posted from United States

By Ukraine | June 19th, 2006 at 4:14 am

Out of my diaspora? Why the hell would I visit east ukraine? It’s full of dirty russian speakers why, unlike in kiev, don’t even understand ukrainian. Thank god that there is still western ukraine, and that education west of dnipro still forces children to learn their native language. Maybe you, Andriy, shouldn’t be given a position to represent ukraine on this website if you are so hateful of the native language of ukraine, the language which was prevalent even in eastern ukraine before the holodomor. And what the stalin do? Made a bunch of russians move in when ten million good ukrainians died, and the ukrainian language died in the east. And, most ukrainians don’t care, pathetic. Pathetic.

Posted from United States

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