In Ukraine, watching World Cup, playing football pose challenges
IRPIN (Ukraine): Ukrainian videogame vendor Roman Kryvyi, fresh from a football game on a snowblanketed field in suburban Kyiv, sat up close to a TV in a kebab shop as intermittent city power returned just in time for the World Cup game between Wales and England.
For the 22-year-old football buff, there was no question about which side to support in the matchup: He remembers how he was crestfallen – rolling on the floor in despair and on the verge of tears – when Wales ousted his beloved Ukraine in the qualifiers. The grudge hasn’t worn off.
“Only England! England have supported us in a military way,” Kryvyi said, overlooking the fact that England and Wales are both part of the United Kingdom – whose government has generously backed Ukraine with firepower and other support as it tries to repel Russia’s invasion. He wants England to go all the way.
With their team not having made the Finals this year, many Ukrainian fans are throwing their support behind European countries that have backed Ukraine’s fight against Moscow’s forces, or teams with greats like Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi of Argentina. Others just want to see top-notch play, out of appreciation for the game.
For Ukrainians these days, football trails well behind mere survival in the order of priorities. But the sport – as in many places around the world – can offer an escape from the troubles of daily life.
For players, running around a field can offer up camaraderie and churn up body heat, and in this war-battered, says simply: Life must go on. Watching the World Cup in Qatar gives a sense of connection to the rest of the world.
Like many fans in Ukraine, Kryvyi and teammate Hlib Kuian, 21, were far from certain that they would be able to see the England-wales match. Russian military strikes in recent weeks have devastated power plants, rendered internet services uncertain and affected basics like water and heating – on top of the deaths and injuries they have caused.
Only minutes before the Tuesday evening’s match, which England ended up winning 3-0, Mazza Cafe kebabstand operator Mashrabjan Haydarov spotted that the lights had come back on in an apartment building across the street, so he turned off the generator outside that had been powering his bulbs and TV, and switched back to the local grid.
Then, even though the electricity was back, the internet popped off momentarily. The friends, accustomed to daily setbacks large and small, shrugged off the delay until the service rebooted. They also had to return home right when the match was set to end because of an 11pm wartime curfew.
“In my house. I have no internet, so it’s a big problem for me,” said Kuian, an economics student. The only alternative to going out to see the match, he said, was watching it on his mobile phone’s small screen.
For all their interest in watching the World Cup, Kuian and Kryvyi prefer being on the field themselves.