Divine intervention or willpower? Shevchenko reflects on goal that knocked Russia from EURO 2000
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Ukrainian football legend and new Ukrainian Football Federation President, Andriy Shevchenko, reflected on his iconic 88th minute strike in 1999 that knocked Russia out of EURO 2000 qualifying.
Shevchenko spoke about one of the greatest moments in Ukrainian football history in the documentary Ukraine-Russia: The Match of Life that premiered on the Television Toronto YouTube channel.
Down 1-0 at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium with just two minutes left to play in the final game of qualifying, Ukraine needed a goal to advance — at the expense of Russia.
Lining up near the touch line for a free kick, Ukraine’s captain and the world’s best player at the time surprised everyone — including Russian keeper Aleksandr Filimonov — by putting the kick on goal.
The goal knocked Russia out of qualifying and sent Ukraine into the EURO 2020 qualification playoff It remains etched in the memories of every Ukrainian football fan.
"Coach József Szabó told me to take the free kick, but I made the decision myself on how to strike it,” Shevchenko recalled.
“It was one of those matches where a strong player had to take responsibility. And I did just that.
Read also: Shevchenko ranked 31st in FourFourTwo's list of top football players of 21st century
Shevchenko wondered whether there was divine intervention.
“Was it God's will?”, he asked. “It's not right to say that. When you have a chance like that and understand that anything can happen in the penalty area... To score, you have to put it on goal — and then you always have a chance."
With Russia out of the competition, Ukraine moved on to play a home-and-away with Slovenia to qualify for EURO 2000. Unfortunately, luck wouldn’t strike twice.
Just 12 minutes away from qualifying for the team’s first major international competition since independence, Slovenia scored a 78th minute goal at Kyiv’s Olympic Stadium to qualify instead.
Ukraine would have to wait to until the 2006 World Cup for its first major international tournament. The team memorably won its group and beat Switzerland in the playoffs, before falling to Italy in the quarterfinals.
Ukraine wouldn’t qualify for the EUROs until 2012, when they hosted the event with Poland.
Shevchenko provided another iconic Ukrainian football moment at that event by scoring the team’s first two goals to beat Sweden 2-1 in Ukraine’s first EUROs game.
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
