Ukrainian backlash!

Uh oh!

After the Ukraine pulled out of their scheduled friendly with Iran, which was supposed to be played on March 1st, a mini backlash has occured. Alot has been made of the political issues about the situation but I’m going to stick to the football reasons because I’m a football fan not a politician. I hate to imagine what it would be like if it was the other way round.

Ukraine coach Blohkin’s reason for the cancellation was because he thought a flight to Iran might prove too taxing on his players before the World Cup. We’re only 3 months away from the big kick off against Spain on June 14th you know, a trip to Iran at this time is crazy talk surely. I realise some of you might not be as loyal as me and you might beleive some of the talk going around online about the ‘real’ reasons behind the cancellation.

Some people say that the Ukrainian Football Federation (UFF) don’t want any losses before the World Cup and that an away fixture against Iran might prove a little too tricky. Personally I don’t think this is the reason. But even if it is I don’t see the problem in building up a bit of confidence around the team before a major championship. We want to go into that first fixture against Spain in a good frame of mind ready for the challenge in front of us. A couple of victories leading up to that first game will help the confidence of our players. In modern day football their aren’t any easy fixtures anymore anyway…just slightly less taxing fixtures.

Although some people beleive that the Ukrainian fans hopes are a bit too unrealistic already and that playing against so called easier opposition will only fuel their beleif. On the UFF website recently they conducted a poll which showed that 75 percent of people that voted beleived Ukraine would qualify from the group stage and 25 percent even dared to dream of winning the World Cup.

O.K maybe Ukraine becoming World Champions is a bit unrealistic but fans always expect more no matter how much you give them. England and it’s fans expect to win the World Cup every time it comes round and yet they always fall short. England fans are also some of the most vocal and passionate fans when it comes to supporting their team and if the Ukrainian fans get a little excited about their teams prospects then I think it’s a good thing fot the team and the nation.

Come on Ukraine!!!