Despite the missile and drone terror of the aggressor country, the sports life of our state is in full swing. So, on Sunday, May 28, a fierce and incredibly exciting match for the football championship among the youth teams of Ukraine took place.

Looking ahead, we state that the well-deserved laurels of the winner went to Lviv FC Ruh U19, whose players in yesterday’s decisive away match against Chernomorets Odessa showed an incredibly fantastic team game.

Thus, the yellow-black juniors became the champions of Ukraine among youth teams for the second season in a row. As the honorary president of FC Ruh, a well-known Lviv businessman and philanthropist Hryhoriy Kozlovskyy, aptly noted in the hot pursuit of the historic match, after congratulating the coaching staff and all the players, the victorious pendulum should not stop moving, and the Ruh football club will continue to do everything to progress towards the highest goals.

Victory Match

As for the fight, it should first of all be noted that at its start, the guests from Lviv took the ball under control and tried to put pressure on the opponent as much as possible, but they managed to sign at the Chornomorets goal only at the 35th minute, when ruhovtsy, having taken away the ball on the right flank, carried out a brilliant combination, leaving no chance for the opponent’s goalkeeper.

Thus, the first half ended with a score of 0:1.

But at the same time, which should also be emphasized separately, immediately before the whistle for a break, the Odessans got the right to a promising free kick and tried to use this opportunity, but in vain: after a direct shot on goal, the Ruh goalkeeper Ledviy demonstrated incredible skill, brilliantly eliminating the threat.

The second half, if we talk about the whole picture, was also accompanied by the dominance of Lviv players, so the owners of the Odessa field were forced to systematically extinguish the fire at their own gates. And at the end of injury time, the defender of the yellow-blacks Andriу Kitela with a confident shot from the penalty spot set the final score of the game – 2:0 in favor of Ruh.

A penalty was earned by Kasard, who, after a long pass from the Ruh penalty area, dodged the defender, who, out of emotion, threw him onto the lawn. Thus, having won with a score of 2:0, the wards of Mykhailo Dyachuk-Stavytsky kept a five-point lead over Dynamo and became the champions of Ukraine a round before the end of the youth league.

Following the results of a well-deserved victory, the penalty shooter Andrіу Kitela spoke about his emotions:

– It’s always nice to win, and even more so to become two-time champions. These feelings are extremely difficult to describe in words, because their extravaganza is limitless. To be honest, before today’s championship game, in terms of mood, there were no such feelings that someone was very worried or nervous. We calmly entered the field, knowing that we had to win. That is, we can state that calmness multiplied by self-confidence has become the formula for our success.

In turn, the honorary president of Ruh, Hryhoriy Kozlovskyy, after the triumph of the yellow-blacks on the Odessa field, shared his own thoughts on the background of the success of FC:

– I would like to say a few words about the work of our Academy (FC Ruh – ed.). Last year, when we became champions, there was a lot of talk, saying that the championship was inferior, that it was an accident. After that, we had a change of generations – this season new players came to the team and we again became the champions of Ukraine. True, already in a full-fledged championship a round before its completion!

Unique record of FC Ruh

It should be noted that on the way to their nationwide encore leadership, Ruh U-19 set a unique record by going through a series of 40 matches without defeat in the Championship of Ukraine. This season, the yellow-blacks defeated both Dynamo U-19 and Shakhtar U-19.

Without a doubt, this is a very, very significant indicator, since playing forty matches without defeat in the time dimension means for almost a year and a half to keep the professional bar high. Therefore, this is indeed the most serious statistical achievement, which will certainly be inscribed in the country’s football history.

By the way, about the history and prospects. Ruh sports director Vladimir Lapitsky, calling yesterday’s match historic, noted:

– This is an extremely important victory, which greatly stimulates those guys who study at our Academy to work, train and prove – first of all to themselves – that the impossible is possible. It is extremely pleasant that at the same time we are also setting records, surpassing statistical achievements. All this remains in history. But, on the other hand, of course, I want the players not to stop at the U-19 team, but to progress in the Premier League, preferably in our team, as well as in the Ukrainian national team – this is better than any record.

Victory Academy

If we talk about the Football Academy of FC Ruh mentioned by Mr. Lapitsky, then it must be stated that this is, without exaggeration, a unique phenomenon in the sports life of our country.

The Academy, created at the suggestion and with the unshakable support of Hryhoriy Kozlovskyy, has a high-class infrastructure.

In particular, the sports complex on the outskirts of Lviv near Vinnikovsky Lake includes as many as eight training fields of the latest generation: three fields with artificial turf, five with hybrid, as well as a gym.

Here, in fact, the necessary infrastructure works 24/7 to search for and support football players, their further professional training and comprehensive development.

At the same time, commenting on the duel with Chornomorets, which brought the Yellow-Blacks a second triumph in a row, the honorary president of FC Ruh noted that the development of infrastructure constantly continues and improves.

– We do not stop at our achievements. We are again waiting for a generational change. We are again waiting for participation in the UEFA Youth League. There is a difficult path ahead, but it is very nice that the path is champion. I would like to express special and special thanks to our defenders, the Armed Forces of Ukraine and everyone who every day defends our land from Russian invaders. We believe that very soon our heroes will give us the most important victory for Ukraine, Hryhoriy Kozlovskyy summed up.