With the country in turmoil, Ukraine remains on schedule to face the United States in a soccer friendly on Wednesday in Nicosia, Cyprus, a match moved from Kharkiv to Larnaca for security reasons.
Then there is the exercise of unfriendly soccer diplomacy: The Ukrainian ambassador to the European Union has floated the idea of sanctioning Russia by booting the country from this summer’s World Cup, according to a BBC Europe report.
Russia, coached by former England coach Fabio Capello, finished atop its qualifying group for the tournament in Brazil. Ukraine is one of four teams — along with Sweden, Romania and Iceland — that lost in the final stage of European qualifying.
The Ukrainians are therefore using Wednesday’s relocated match against the US as preparation for the qualifying tournament for the 2016 European Championship.
Ukrainian team spokesman Alexander Glyvynskyy conveyed the players’ collective concern over developments at home on Monday, and stressed that the players — who come from all over the country — are united.
Despite threats to cancel the match, Ukraine football association president Anatoliy Konkov said Tuesday the game would go ahead.
“(We) reached a consensus to play the USA after all,” Konkov said in a statement that also praised the American team. “(They) stood behind us to protect the national interests and territorial integrity of Ukraine.”
The match, which will be played at Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, is a key warm-up for the United States ahead of this year’s World Cup.
“This game is a huge opportunity, mainly for our European-based players, for those guys to prove to us that they are eager and hungry to jump on the train to the FIFA World Cup,” US coach Jurgen Klinsmann said.
With AP