Ukraine’s national soccer team departed to France to prepare to, and participate in, the final stage of Euro 2016. At the Mykhailivska Square in Kyiv hundreds of fans with slogans, posters, shirts and scarves in national colors came to see the players off.
“Twenty-four teams, the strongest national soccer teams of Europe, will have the honor to fight for the championship. And we, Ukrainians, are hugely thrilled and pleased that our national team is one of them,” emphasized President Petro Poroshenko at the ceremony. The ceremony was also attended by functionaries of the Soccer Federation of Ukraine and ambassadors of the national team to Euro 2016.
The president presented the players with the Ukrainian flag he had received from the youngest participants of the Cup of Hope: a tournament that took place in Kyiv past fall. This flag was displayed during the play-off match in which Ukraine defeated Slovenia and won the ticket to Euro 2016.
To support the national team, our newspaper initiates a temporary column “Cheering with The Day,” in which we will cover not only the athletic successes of our players, but also interesting soccer-related news, interviews with the most devoted supporters who followed their team to France. We will also offer our readers a special reportage from Lille, where on June 12 our team is playing a tough opening game with Germans. In what kind of mood did the national team leave for France? Will it get to the following round? How much does a trip to Euro 2016 cost? Who is he, the fanatical fan, willing to go to the ends of the earth following his team?
Let us remind: Ukraine will play its first game in the tournament against Germany in Lille on June 12. Four days later they are playing against Northern Ireland in Lyon, and on June 21, against Poland in Marseilles.
