How Ukraine’s Euro 2024 can inspire those fighting at home

WIESBADEN, Germany – Ukraine’s players experienced a strange kind of normal after being defeated 3-0 by Romania on Monday in the opening match of Group E for the 2024 European Championship. They turned on their phones, checked their social media channels and were inundated with criticism, condemnation and, in the words of midfielder Volodymyr Brazhko, ‘hatred’.

“A few hours after the match I didn’t take my phone with me because I expected what I would see there,” Brazhko told reporters at Ukraine’s Wiesbaden training camp. “I expected that hatred, but we deserved it. We played poorly, but it is the first situation in my life where I had to experience that.”

Several Ukraine players apologized on Instagram and X for the performance and result against Romania, but some, including Ruslan Malinovskyi, chose not to. “No one needs to apologize on social media,” said the Genoa midfielder. “It’s good to play against Slovakia again so quickly on Friday and then apologize on the field.”

Ukraine’s presence at Euro 2024 is an achievement in itself, considering Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. With heavy fighting across the east of the country, football has tried to continue, with matches in the Ukrainian Premier League ( UPL) are played behind closed doors. doors and often stopped by air raid sirens. But despite the obvious challenges Ukrainians face every day, their footballers are still expected to meet and even exceed expectations on the pitch, just like the other 23 participating countries at Euro 2024.

So while they fly the flag of Ukraine at a major international tournament and also try to ensure that the war at home remains top of mind across Europe and beyond, Serhiy Rebrov’s players must also deal with a issue that is ruining the lives of footballers around the world: social media abuse.

In the eyes of their own supporters, they are flag-waving heroes one moment and unfit to wear the shirt the next. But that distorted reality only underlines the burden that Ukrainian players in Germany have to bear: they are still expected to be normal footballers, while few things in their lives right now deserve that description.

“We have to fight a lot,” Malinovskyi, 31, told ESPN. “We understand that we have many experienced players who can help the youngsters draw conclusions and improve results. But we know we have critics. We have to accept that now.”

At the Ukrainian Euro 2024 base in Wiesbaden, the German city that houses the huge US army garrison, a short drive up the Autobahn 66 from Frankfurt, there are individual posters of Rebrov and his players, each with a message for the soldiers fighting Russia. Chelsea striker Mykhailo Mudryk says: “You are always in our thoughts. You are the pride and honor of Ukraine. Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes!” Everton defender Vitaliy Mykolenko’s message is: “We strive to be as flawless as you! Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes!”

Next to the posters are small vases with flowers – carnations, baby’s breath, chrysanthemums and solidago – in the yellow and blue colors of Ukraine. “They come from the local population here in Wiesbaden,” says Ukrainian media official Tatiana. “They are very nice.”

On the field, the players believe it is their job to boost the morale of the troops at home by performing – and hopefully winning – in Germany. But this time they fell short.

“I have friends who I played football with, but they didn’t go to the next level and now they protect the country,” says Malinovskyi. “But they always text me that we give a little shine when we get a good result, when they see the match. It gives positive emotion, you can switch off in your head, and this part is very important for them too.” For me, that responsibility is a kind of boost that gives you the energy to make things right. Maybe it’s more pressure for the younger players.”

Eight of the Ukraine squad are aged 23 or under, while 14 of Rebrov’s 26-man group still play for clubs in the UPL, so there is both a young and homely feel to the squad. And both factors, according to Malinovskyi, have a direct impact on the mentality of the players in this tournament.

“Some of those guys are only 21, 22 years old and still playing in Ukraine,” he says. “When the drones or the bombs arrive, they know what it is like. And I can say that it is not easy. I can also say that the situation makes them stronger and I also see that the boys from these (conflict) areas, they have more responsibility. They are more human, they seem older. When you talk to them, they don’t seem much more mature.

“With the war we know that every second person knows someone involved in (the) conflict and that is not easy. But I repeat what we have to do: that it is in our power on the field to show that the boys who are there (fighting) There are many of our fans there, we want to show them that we are also like that, that we are also fighting for them. So it is good that we have these two games against Slovakia and Belgium to show this to see.”

Malinovskyi’s belief that the younger players in the squad are feeling the pressure and difficulties of representing Ukraine at this tournament is confirmed by Brazhko, the 22-year-old Dynamo Kyiv midfielder who only made his international debut during Euro 2024 qualifying. play -off match against Bosnia and Herzegovina in March.

Brazhko’s birthplace is Zaporizhia, the southeastern city that has Europe’s largest nuclear power plant and was under Russian attack during the two years of the war. With his family still living in town, Brazhko has every reason to be distracted.

“Please know we’re not just talking about me,” Brazhko told ESPN. “Yes, I am from Zaporizhia, but many players in the Ukrainian national team come from regions close to the front line. Of course we feel this pressure every day because Ukrainian cities are attacked every day. And I keep in touch with my parents, with my friends in Zaporizhia and in Ukraine. They are still there and I worry a lot about them.

“But all I can do now is just play for the national team and make them happy with my game, with my play and with the results. Of course it was a disappointing result for us against Romania, but we will do it.” making everything possible to improve our results and our game and make the people of Ukraine smile and happy. And above all: that the defenders and fighters on the front line are proud of us and happy. “

Next up is the match against Slovakia in Düsseldorf on Friday. Defeat would leave Ukraine’s hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages in a precarious position going into the final match against Belgium next Wednesday. But while football is important, for Malinovskyi it is only part of a bigger picture for Ukraine, something made clear to him by a birthday message he delivered earlier this week.

“There’s a soldier who said to us, ‘Today is my birthday,’” he says. “So I make a video call, I make him happy. In football you can only get three results: you can win, lose or draw. But we have a great responsibility to give everything on the field for our country, so that our people can be proud of us.”