SPORTSLINE

SOCCER

Ukraine's national team has made things difficult for itself a few scant weeks after being in a comfortable lead in its qualifying group for the World Cup of Football to be held in France next year.

In mid-April, the blue-and-yellow sat atop Group Nine, thanks in part to unfocused play on the part of powerhouse Portugal and Germany, both of whom had been held to surprising ties with lesser clubs. Of course, the most important consideration was winning, which the Ukrainian side had accomplished on four out of five occasions. The most recent victory, over Northern Ireland, was among the most uplifting.

On April 2, Ukraine's Vitalii Kosovskyi surprised the visitors from Belfast with a goal only three minutes into the contest, and the 75,000 fans in the Ukrainian capital's Olympic stadium went berserk. The Irish equalized at the 15th minute after a Ukrainian defender handled the ball in the penalty area. Ian Dowie powered home the chance.

Nonetheless, Ukraine dominated play in the second half. Vasyl Kardash rang a booming shot off the goal post at 63 minutes. Eight minutes later, Andrii Shevchenko took a pass from Yurii Kalytvintsov and nudged it home past Irish goalie Tommy Wright.

Four days earlier, on March 29 Ukraine had defeated Albania 1-0, on the strength of a goal by Serhii Rebrov. This was not an impressive win, as the men from Kyiv squandered countless scoring opportunities. The poorly attended match (attendance: 250!) was held in Granada, Spain, because of the turmoil in Tirana.

At any rate, Ukraine's four wins, at three points each, were good for 12 points, three ahead of Portugal and four ahead of Germany, as they headed into the crucial match against the Teutons in Bremen on April 30.

The defending World Cup champs were hurting, as scoring spark plug Ulf Kirsten was lost to them due to suspension, while key midfielder Andreas Moeller and wingback Stefan Reuter were out with thigh strains. Ukrainian coach Joszef Sabo decided to field a team loaded with defensive players, seeking to stifle the powerful German attack and lure them into hazardously open play.

The plan backfired.

Most of the game was a standoff, as occasional Ukrainian flashes toward the German net only marginally relieved the constant pressure exerted by the home team. In the second half Germany had a power surge. Oliver Bierhoff blasted a shot past goaltender Oleksander Kosovskyi at the 63rd minute. For most of the match, the Ukrainians managed to keep the famous ace Jurgen Klinsmann off the scoreboard, but in the 72nd minute, the blond forward engineered an attack that sent in Mario Basler (Moeller's replacement) past the defense, and Basler simply looped the ball over the hapless Ukrainian keeper.

On May 7, it was back to Kyiv to face group pests Armenia who, despite their relative weakness, had four ties in five games to their credit. Things began promisingly enough, with Shevchenko potting the first marker at the sixth minute. But the hosts found themselves frustrated the rest of the way.

Their inability to finish and complacent play turned disastrous as Artur Petrosian burst in and scored at the 75th minute, robbing the Kyivans of two points they sorely needed.

Instead of a comfortable lead in the standings, Ukraine is now only within two points of Germany as they prepare for a rematch in Kyiv on June 7. If they'd beaten Armenia, they could have fought for a draw with the group favorites. Now, they must win, no easy task.

Ukraine must also bear down in its remaining matches, on August 20 against Albania in Kyiv, and on October 11 in Yerevan, the Armenian capital. First place teams from the nine groups, plus one second-place team with the best record, will qualify automatically for World Cup '98. The eight remaining second-place squads will have to play another elimination round.

Group Nine Standings
	GP	W	T	L	F	A	Pts
Ukraine	7	4	1	2	7	6	13
Germany	5	3	2	0	11	4	11
Portugal	6	2	3	1	5	2	9
North. Ireland	7	1	4	2	5	5	7
Armenia	6	0	5	1	4	8	5
Albania	5	0	1	4	3	10	1

GYMNASTICS

As a sub for the star-studded Olympic bronze medal winning Team Ukraine at the Atlanta Games, Kyivan Oleh Kosiak had already made an impression on the world. In January, he came to the University of California at Berkeley to compete at the elite U.S. collegiate level.

Mr. Kosiak quickly established himself as the strongest vaulter on the Berkeley Bears squad, winning the event at five of the eight meets his school was entered in, and set the third best score (9.80) on the apparatus in UCal gymnastics history.

When the regular season ended, Mr. Kosiak registered on the national rankings radar, checking in at sixth on the vault, 12th in the floor exercise, 15th on the pommel horse, tying for 9th over-all with four other competitors.

At the NCAA West Regionals in early April, Mr. Kosiak once again finished first in the vault, took second in the rings, finished third in the floor exercise and parallel bars and was fourth in the high bar event.

Faltering, he did not do as well at the NCAA Championships in Iowa City, Iowa, in late April, but Mr. Kosiak still managed a ninth place in the floor exercise.

The Daily Californian quoted coach Barry Weiner's praise for his new charge: "He's a great person and a great gymnast; he is the Ukraine train."

Berkeley teammate and top-10 NCAA gymnast Trent Wells said: "As a gymnast he is just unbelievably good. Sometimes it doesn't look like he is really working out [at practices], but his gymnastics [are] still at a little bit of a higher level. Having someone of that caliber raises everyone else's standards."

Mr. Kosiak also seemed to enjoy his new surroundings. He told the Daily Californian that being a member of the UCal team has been a completely different experience from competing in Ukraine. "The meets are fun here. It's different in Ukraine where the meets are a lot more intense," the Kyivan said. "Here everyone is screaming for each other. Everyone wants you to do well."

- compiled by Andrij Kudla Wynnyckyj

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, June 1, 1997, No. 22, Vol. LXV

| Home Page |