EDITORIAL: A team shows the way (07/09/06)

EDITORIAL

A team shows the way

This year's World Cup has had all the drama of a Puccini opera for Ukrainian soccer fans. Team Ukraine's potentially devastating loss (0-4) to Spain early in the group stage could have sent it home early. However, the team overcame an obstacle that would have been a challenge to any squad, let alone debutantes, and scored a pair of wins over Saudi Arabia (4-0) and Tunisia (1-0), defying expectations and pulling itself out of the group stage.

From there, it was Ukraine's exhausting win over Switzerland in a penalty kick shootout (3-0) that propelled it to the quarter-finals against Italy, a three-time World Cup champion. By that point in the tournament, Ukrainian fans were elated by their team's performance - being ranked 45th by FIFA (Federation of International Football Associations) and making it to the final eight underscored that achievement, regardless of Team Ukraine's ultimate loss to Italy (0-3).

The Ukrainian team's reception back home was indicative of public opinion, with over 3,000 screaming fans greeting the players at Boryspil Airport on their return to Kyiv on July 1. After all, in its debut performance, Ukraine showed the world that it could hold its own while rubbing elbows with powerhouse teams like Brazil, England and Argentina, who also exited in the quarter-finals though they've played in the tournament since its inception in 1930.

Ukrainians everywhere were swept up by "World Cup fever." Most notably, in Ukraine itself, a nation that is struggling with national identity issues, an east-west divide, not to mention political differences. Thus, we saw over 200 members of Parliament donning blue-and-yellow scarves and jerseys to sessions of the Verkhovna Rada in unified support of their team. Language was not an issue, nor was ethnicity or race. The universal language of soccer is understood by everyone, and Ukraine's performance briefly achieved something that the Verkhovna Rada will be struggling with in the coming months and years - unity.

The power of sports to unite a nation is nothing new. In some countries, like Brazil, this is taken to the extreme, where the country is put on hold so that everyone can cheer on the national team. Meanwhile, in Ukraine, the Parliament has come to a halt - not due to any sporting event, but the selfishness of its leadership and the childish actions of the Party of the Regions and the Communists. Ukraine's leaders would do well to follow the example of Team Ukraine.

Despite overshadowing criticism and low expectations before its performance, Team Ukraine emerged from the group stage, advanced beyond the group of 16 and made it to the quarter-finals. If Ukraine's democratic government is to have any chance at effecting permanent reform, the ruling elite will have to forgo an agenda that seems focused on lining their pockets and work as a team for a common goal: a united Ukraine and the well-being of all of its people.

Evidence of a united Ukraine during the World Cup comes from countless stories of everyday situations in various venues, for example, a crowded train car in Donetsk filled with Russian-speaking passengers listening to the radio broadcast of the Ukraine-Switzerland game. After the winning goal by Oleg Gusev, the entire car erupted with a roar so loud it shook the train's windows. At that moment, they were all Ukrainian, regardless of the language they spoke.

Perhaps timing is everything. With its aspirations of joining NATO, the WTO and the EU, Ukraine was poised to put on a good show and rekindle interest in Ukraine. For a moment, Ukraine felt as if it truly belonged with the rest of the European family of nations. Hopefully that dream will soon be realized.

As Ukrainians are reminded of the unified spirit that was so evident during the World Cup, it is our hope that someday soon - despite the most recent setbacks - they will be able to cheer on their government leaders' teamwork toward lasting progress at home.

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