SPORTSLINE (09/06/98)

SPORTSLINE

by Andrij Kudla Wynnyckyj

ATHLETICS

On August 18, the European Championships of Athletics kicked off in Budapest, Hungary. Oleksander Bohach won the men's shot put that day with a throw of 69 feet 5.5 inches, besting Germany's Oliver Buder's 68 feet 10 inches. Ukraine's Yuriy Bilonoh took the bronze with a distance of 68 feet 7.75 inches.

In the women's shot put, Viktoria Pavlysh completed Ukraine's sweep of the event on August 19, with an astounding distance of 71 feet, 1.75 inches, almost two full yards further than nearest competitor Irina Korzhanenko of Russia, and further than Mr. Bohach had propelled his steel ball to win the men's competition. Ukrainian Champion Olena Rurak failed to make the cut in the 400 meter sprint, finishing fourth in her heat with a time of 52.36 seconds, well off the winning pace. Also that day, Olena Hovorova came sixth in the triple jump, with a distance of 46 feet, 8.75 inches, nearly a full foot off the third place podium performance by Tereza Marinova of Bulgaria.

On August 21, the anchor leg heroics of Ukraine's Zhanna Pintusevych could not overcome the deficit allowed by her predecessors, and the Ukrainian women finished a substantial 0.85 seconds off Russia's third place finish in the 4x100-meter relay. On August 22, Viktoria Styopina came in seventh in the women's high jump by clearing a height of 6 feet 3.5 inches.

SOCCER

For once, we'll lead with news about Ukraine's national women's team, which has achieved some heartening success by defeating Iceland at home on August 30, by a score of 1-0. The win evened their record at three wins and three losses (for 9 points) and put them in second place in Group 1, a full 6 points behind Sweden.

Ukraine, who were outscored 13-9 in qualifying (including a 0-5 shellacking in Kyiv at the hands of the Swedes) will now face Germany in a home-away series for the right to play in the Women's World Cup in 1999, which will be held in the U.S. Germany had a strong four-win, two-loss record, but finished second behind Norway in its group.

In the fall of 1997, Iceland defeated Ukraine 3-2, but the yellow and blues bounced back to win two matches over Spain 2-1, one in October 1997 (away), and another in June of this year (at home).

Four of the six UEFA spots have already been filled by Sweden, Italy, Norway and Denmark. Russia will play Finland to determine the other European qualifier.

National men's team

As The Weekly went to press, Ukraine's national men's team was preparing for a momentous match in the European Championships. On September 5, they will face elder brother Russia, for the first time in head to head international competition.

Coach Valerii Lobanovsky announced his roster (with club affiliations in brackets) on August 29:

Goalkeepers: Oleksander Shovkovsky (Dynamo Kyiv), Valeri Vorobyov (Torpedo Moscow);

Defenders: Oleh Luzhny, Vladyslav Vashchuk (both Dynamo Kyiv), Volodymyr Mykytyn, Volodymyr Yezyorsky (both Karpaty Lviv), Mykhailo Starostyak, Serhii Popov (both Shakhtar Donetsk), Serhii Bezhenar (CSKA Kyiv), Viktor Skrypnyk (Werder Bremen), Yuri Vernydub (Zenit St. Petersburg);

Midfielders: Yuri Kalitvintsev, Andriy Gusin, Vitaly Kosovsky, Dmytro Mykhailenko (all Dynamo Kyiv), Serhii Kovalyov (Shakhtar Donetsk), Olexander Yevtushok (Karpaty Lviv), Roman Maximyuk (Zenit St. Petersburg);

Strikers: Andrii Shevchenko, Serhii Rebrov, Serhii Konovalov (all Dynamo Kyiv), Eduard Tsykhmeistruk (CSKA Kyiv), Volodymyr Musolitin (Vorskla Poltava), Yuri Seleznyov (Shakhtar Donetsk), Serhii Skachenko (Torpedo Moscow).

October 10 and 14 will see games against likely Group Four doormats Andorra and Armenia respectively, but the Ukrainians should remember that the Armenians were known to plague even Germany with a propensity to playing for ties during World Cup '98 qualifying. World Champion France, also in the group and expected to win will be another story altogether. Ukraine's first match against France is scheduled for March 27, 1999. The other team in the group is Iceland, whom the Ukrainians will host on March 31, 1999.

Jaroslaw Jarmola's Ukrainian National Team site (http://www.netwave.net/members/jarmola/news.html), to which this column is greatly indebted, carried news of a report in the August 31 edition of the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot, that suggested that superstar striker Andrii Shevchenko has been sold to AC Milan for $25 million and has signed a five-year contract with a three-year option that would pay him a salary of $800,000 annually.

Serhii Yuran, the Ukrainian-born striker who opted to play for Russia in the 1994 World Cup and has played for Russia since, is now claiming that he had been slighted by "not having been picked to a Ukrainian national squad in 1993" and was thus "looking ... to prove a few people in Ukraine wrong. I want to be a part of [the Russian] side."

This doesn't look likely as Mr. Yuran, feuding again with his coaches, has been left off the squad that will face the Ukrainian nationals. Another formerly Ukraine-based player, Andrei Kanchelskis, has been called from the Glasgow Rangers to play for Russia. Mr. Kanchelskis, equally moody, had declared earlier this year that he was retiring from international play because of differences with former Russia skipper Boris Ignatyev. Now that Anatolii Byshovets has returned, it appears that he will dress for the Russian tri-color after all.

Dynamo Kyiv

Playing in the Champions League Draw in the preliminary round on August 12, Dynamo Kyiv started off in a rocky fashion by losing to Sparta Prague 0-1 at home. In the fifth minute, Prague's Baranec scored the only goal of the game, which was marred by rough play, with Ukraine's Khatskevych and the Czech Svoboda sent off with red cards at the 62nd and 70th minutes respectively.

In the Czech capital on August 26, the Dynamisty eked out a 1-0 score in regulation, thanks to a deflection off a defender that arced around the Sparta goalie after he'd initially parried Mr. Shevchenko's shot at the net in the 88th minute. Since this score tied the series, another 30 minutes of overtime were played, but without result. Thus, a nerve-racking penalty shootout ensued. Ukrainian netminder Oleksander Shovkovsky proved to be the hero by pulling off an astounding three saves (stymieing Vatava, Stracheni and Baranec), while Rebrov, Kaladze and Dmytrulin tallied for the home side, allowing the Dynamisty to advance to the Champions' League playoff.

In the qualifying round, the DK's had demolished the Welsh Barry Town team on July 22, by an embarrassing score of 8-0. Rebrov exploded for four goals, and Shevchenko chipped in two. The second game, on July 29 was somewhat more even, ending 2-1 in favor of the Kyivans.

The Dynamisty have been assigned to Group E for the playoffs, and are scheduled to face Panathanaikos of Greece on September 16. Other group members include Lens of France and England's fearsome Arsenal. The Ukrainians play Lens at home on September 30, then Arsenal on October 21.

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