First game of Ukrainian national football team

Background

This game was organized almost by accident. The president of FFU was on vacation with his wife in Budapest. Walking the streets of the city, they ended up by the doors to the Hungarian Football Federation and decided to walk in. With the help of his wife who knew English, they agreed to play a game between the two national teams.

At first they come up with the date of April 28, but because of Viktor Bannykov birthday it was agreed to postpone it to April 29. The place also was changed from the original at NSC Olympiyskiy in Kyiv to the Avanhard in Uzhhorod, because of financial difficulties. Those difficulties also contributed to the hardship of gathering the national team of the FFU because the Federation could not afford to pay a plane ticket of some of the footballers.The FFU wanted to see Valery Lobanovskiy as the head coach, but he was under the contract with UAE national football team. So from the three candidates who agreed to pledge their services the first coach of the Ukrainian national football team was chosen Viktor Prokopenko coaching FC Chornomorets Odessa. The other two were Anatoliy Puzach (FC Dynamo Kyiv) and Valery Yaremchenko (FC Shakhtar Donetsk).

Squad

The list of 20 players for the first game of the national team was such,
* Goalies: Kutepov (Dynamo), Hryshko (Chornomorets)
* Defense: Luzhnyi (Dynamo), Yuri Moroz (Dynamo), Nykyforov (Chornomorets), Tretiak (Chornomorets), Drahunov (Shakhtar), Bezhenar (Dnipro)
* Midfield: Annenkov (Dynamo), Kovalets (Dynamo), Zayets (Dynamo), Shelepnytskyi (Chornomorets), Sak (Chornomorets), Tsymbalar (Chornomorets), Pohodin (Shakhtar), Dudnyk (Metalurh)
* Offense: Salenko (Dynamo), Hetsko (Chornomorets), Husev (Chornomorets), Scherbakov (Shakhtar).

Details

The game itself was less rich on events as the whole period of it organization. At first Shelepnytskyi wasted an opportunity to open the score by striking the goal-post, then the referee, Vadym Zhuk (Belarus), was indecisive to point to a penalty mark for the foul against Scherbakov. And after the break all the fire for a victory was lost to the guest team and with it the whole game. At the end on the 90th minute, after trailing 0:3, the Ukrainians managed on a consolidation goal from Hetsko scoring the free-kick. Hetsko made a history becoming the author of the first goal of the national team and the only one in his career on this level.

Ukraineflagicon|UKR – flagicon|HUNHungary – 1:3 (0:0)

Goals: 0:1 Salói (61), 0:2 Kiprich (70), 0:3 Kiprich (84 pk), 1:3 Hetsko (90).

Ukraine: Kutepov, Luzhny, Nykyforov, Bezhenar, Tretiak, Kovalets, Tsymbalar, Shelepnytskyi, Salenko (Hetsko, 59), Pohodin (Sak, 56), Scherbakov (Husev, 69).

Coach – Viktor Prokopenko.

Hungary: Brockhauser (Balog Tamás, 88), Mónos, Telek, Simon, Lőrincz (Kovács, 86), Limperger (Balog Tibor, 58), Kiprich, Márton (Illés, 82), Salói (Pisont, 74), Lipcsei, Vincze.

Coach – Jenei Imre.

Cautioned: Kovalets - Mónos, Salói.

Referee: flagicon|BLRVadym Zhuk .

April 29 1992. Uzhhorod. Avanhard Stadium. 13 000 spectators.

See also