LARNACA, Cyprus — Ukraine’s national soccer team gave its troubled country something to cheer about on Wednesday when it beat the United States 2-0 in an international friendly.
The match had been overshadowed by the turmoil in Ukraine and its players said before the game they were dedicating it to their people back home. The friendly was shifted from Kharkiv to Cyprus due to the political protests that have followed Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine.
Andriy Yarmolenko scored in the 12th minute and Marko Devic in the 68th as Ukraine exposed the shaky American central defense of Oguchi Onyewu and Anthony Brooks.
Ukraine coach Mykhailo Fomenko said the troubles at home were on his players’ minds but he was satisfied with the result.
“Of course we do it for our supporters, for our country,” Fomenko said. “I asked [the players] to make our people happy, we had to show that we’re all united.”
American coach Jurgen Klinsmann said his team’s thoughts go out to the Ukrainian people.
Before kickoff, Ukraine players linked arms on shoulders during their national anthem and both teams bowed their heads for a moment’s silence for victims of the violence in Ukraine.
The crowd of 1,573 at Papadopoulos Stadium, which has a capacity of about 10,000, was so small that players could be heard talking with each other during the game. Ukrainian fans sang their nation’s anthem in the final moments.
The opening goal came in the 12th minute when Andriy Yarmolenko pounced on the rebound after an initial shot by Denys Garmash was parried by goalkeeper Tim Howard.
A speedy run down the middle by substitute Marko Devic in the 68th caught the U.S. defense flatfooted and the Rubin Kazan forward scored at the second attempt when Howard again blocked the initial shot.
“It’s understandable that collectively, it’s not clicking, it would be half a miracle if we would click,” Klinsmann said of a defense that was playing together for the first time. “It was difficult for a lot of players to get into a rhythm.”
Neymar scored a hat-trick as Brazil routed South Africa 5-0 while Spain edged fellow heavyweight Italy 1-0, but a host of World Cup rivals faltered. Ninety-nine days before the World Cup, there were unimpressive 1-0 friendly wins for England and Germany over Denmark and Chile, respectively; Argentina and Colombia were held to draws and fellow finalists Australia and Ghana were beaten.