Five years ago, on June 11, 2012, Ukraine, as co-host with Poland for the 2012 Euro Cup soccer championship, saw its opening match in the tournament with a 2-1 win over Sweden at Olympic Stadium in Kyiv. The stadium itself was a sea of blue and yellow, as these are the colors of the national flags of the two teams. Other teams in Group D were France and England, which tied 1-1 in their opener, leaving Ukraine with a chance to emerge as a the winner of the group.
It was a memorable comeback victory for Ukraine following a scoreless first half. Sweden’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic opened the scoring for Sweden in the 52nd minute, and three minutes later Andrii Shevchenko headed in the equalizer for Ukraine after a cross by Oleh Gusev.
Shevchenko clinched the win for Ukraine with another header in the 61st minute and earned the Man of the Match award.
A YouTube clip, which became a symbol of the tournament for Ukrainian fans, featured a 6-year-old boy from Kyiv named Timur Shamanov, as he celebrated Shevchenko’s winning goal. Some called the boy a good luck charm.
As noted in The Ukrainian Weekly’s editorial of that issue: “His reaction to Ukraine’s winning goal and the expression on his face have come to personify Ukraine’s joy. We were all Timur on June 11. And, no matter how team Ukraine does in its next games, Ukraine and Ukrainians worldwide had much reason to rejoice with the start of the Euro 2012. How great to see Ukraine’s mood so uplifted and united!”
Also memorable from the Sweden-Ukraine match was the video clip of Ukrainians from all backgrounds and races as they sang the words to the national anthem of Ukraine. It was a visual testament against the rumors of racism that were rampant prior to and during the tournament.
The tournament was opened on June 8 with official ceremonies at the National Stadium in Warsaw, prior to the Poland-Greece match. Other host cities (besides Kyiv) in Ukraine were Lviv, Kharkiv and Donetsk; while in Poland, other host cities (besides Warsaw) were Wroclaw, Poznan and Gdansk.
Ukraine lost 0-2 against France on June 15, England won 3-2 against Sweden on June 15, and Sweden won 2-0 against France on June 19.
Ukraine was eliminated from the Group D stage on June 19 in Donetsk after its controversial 0-1 loss against England; Wayne Rooney scored the lone goal in the 48th minute. Ukraine appeared to have scored in the 62nd minute thanks to Marko Devic, however, neither the referee not the line assistant awarded the goal. The controversy caused the European soccer governing body UEFA to adopt “goal-line technology” to review goals and suspected goals.
Ukraine finished in third place in Group D and Sweden finished in fourth. England topped the group with seven points and France finished in second place, with both teams advancing to the knockout phase of the tournament to play against Italy and Spain, respectively.
Source: “Sheva’s double-header against Sweden puts Ukraine on top of Group D,” by Ihor N. Stelmach, The Ukrainian Weekly, June 17, 2012.