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Thanks for a great run
Comments(2)I’ve been staring at this laptop screen for a couple nights now, not sure exactly what to write.
It’s hard to believe our World Cup run is over. I was really getting caught up in the momentum – I was practically packed, ready to go to South Africa to cheer on our Yellow-Blues in person next year.
But it wasn’t meant to be.
Congrats to Greece. You got the win, and you’re in. Otto Rehhagel’s style of football might not be for everyone, but it was enough to stifle Ukraine both home and away.
I wanted to thank the whole team for making it so much fun. Our 2009 team was a solid one – with a number of different personalities and talents. Thank-you Andriy Shevchenko, Oleksiy Mykhailychenko, Milevskiy, Tymoschuk, Nazarenko, Voronin, Pyatov, Gusev… the entire team. All of you made me very proud to call myself Ukrainian-Canadian. Its been a fantastic run.
EURO 2012 is just around the corner, and I’m already counting down the days. I’m really hoping that we’ll get to see some familiar 2009 faces (I’m not putting my Sheva jersey away just yet), but I’m also eager to see some new talent (our junior national teams have been showing a lot of promise). Don’t forget that this next EURO brings with it some magic words, “automatic qualification for host nations”… Let’s show the world what Ukrainians can do.
Cheers to the future!
Honestly, I knew Greece was the worst possible draw. I would have preffered any of the other teams, especially Russia. Greece knows how to choke teams out. I’m sure all their games will end up 0-0, and they won’t make it past the round-robin stage. I hope Shev plays in Euro 2012, I cant see why he wouldnt. I also really like our coach Mychailychenko. ugh, still upset though, and I really thought we’d make it. No more competitive games till 2012.
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hahahaha, I love that bit about automatic qualification. I don;t think I could have taken another playoff loss. I too was shocked and saddenned after the game. I had to check the updates at work. I hadn’t eaten all day and when I saw the 1-0 with the 1 beside the Greek Flag after hitting refresh, my heart sank.
Looking towards the future, we have been doing rather well in under 21 and under 19 with some names like Artem Kravets, Dmitri Korkishko, Denys Garmash…so there is some hope. Hosting a major tournament in 2012 should increase interest (and soccer related infrastructure) in the country. Also, schools have now implemented mandatory soccer programs all over the country. The future has serious potential.
The most important thing for the next two years is increasing our FIFA ranking. A lot of people suggest its meaningless, but it isn’t. Take Greece for example, which has been the benefactor of an extremely generous ranking for the last few years. This seeds them as the top team in their qualifying groups and helps avoid the REAL powerhouses like Italy, Germany and Spain. Keep on supporting the team..they`ll be back!