On June 29, 2021, our national football team made great progress in the European Championship, beating Sweden in the 1/8 finals. We’re talking about the ups and downs of that tense match
Artem Duvbek celebrates a goal against Sweden at Euro 2020 / Photo: Reuters
Exactly one year ago, one of the best matches of the Ukrainian national football team in history was held at Euro 2020. Then Andrei Shevchenko’s team played against Sweden until the 1/8 finals.
Yellow Blue miraculously reached the playoffs, losing two of their three group matches. The only victory was the victory over North Macedonia in the second round (2: 1), while with the Dutch (2: 3) and the Austrians (0: 1) we got zero points.
The successful form allowed us not only to go from third place, but also to get a very comfortable opponent on behalf of Sweden. Our youth opened the score in the match, and Zinchenko got a quick shot past Yarmolenko’s umbrella from the wing in the first half.
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However, before the break, the Swedes played again. Buchan couldn’t handle Emil Forsberg’s shot, after which the ball bounced off our defender and flew into the goal.
The match came close to a series of penalty kicks, but two moments broke the course of the match. Initially, Artem Besedin was removed in favor of Marcus Danielson at the cost of a serious injury.
Then Artem Duvbek came to the field and snatched the victory for our team. The Dnipro-1 striker managed to block Zinchenko’s pass from the wing and took our team to the quarter-finals. Meanwhile, he showed the world his funny bra.
Subsequent events around the team were even more unsettling. England dealt us fully in the quarter-finals, Andrei Shevchenko mysteriously left the coaching position, and the Petrakov diocese initially only drew draws with the Kazakhs and the French in the selection of the 2022 World Cup.
Later, our team went to the qualifiers and was one step away from reaching the World Cup after beating Scotland and a good match with Wales. But the match with Sweden on June 29, 2021 will forever remain legendary in our football. No less than the battle with Switzerland in the 2006 World Cup.