Ironically, only the most recent League Cup group stage match was nothing but futsal. Two teams of the High League of U15 Ukrainian Championship delivered a real futsal performance to those spectators who stayed to watch this match. Speedy, vivid, dynamic and technical, with uncompromising fighting on the court and clearly visible coaching strategy from both sides. Most importantly, we finally saw that very Phoenix, whose game had brought so much joy to the fans of the team in the Ukrainian Championship!
A dashingly twisted tournament plot, which before the last round gave hope to five out of six teams to get to the final. The first ticket to the final went to Valky Sports School, which had beaten the hosts in the final match of the group stage, so, Phoenix and Energia were to fight for the second ticket. Moreover, it was enough for the Kharkiv team not to lose in regulation time, while the opposition had no other option but win.
From the first minutes Energia seized the initiative, forcing Volodymyr Lazeba, who defended Phoenix goal, to join the game several times. Creative set pieces, playing outs and delivering corners - the Lviv team was happy to demonstrate the entire arsenal they had in store. Coach Nazariy Stankevich was no less active than his players, instructing them actively. Nevertheless, the first truly poignant chance occurred precisely at the goal of the Lviv team: Khodatskyi played one-two with the goalkeeper, cut the entire field with a pass to Yevsyukov, the latter giving a one-touch pass to Shevchenko, who failed to pin down Energia's goalie from one meter distance.
What did not work out then, we managed to turn into a goal scored a few minutes later: the trademark "triangle" played by Boldyzhev, Yevsyukov and Bodnar broke the match open.
What happened later was breathtaking: both teams maintained the highest pace, exchanging attacks like two fencers. In a double-edged struggle, individual skill and perseverance came to the fore. Ivan Konkov, desperate to achieve a result with the help of set pieces, did not lose his head and took over the game, surrounded by four defenders, delivering an accurate shot to the top left corner of Energia's goal doubling Phoenix's advantage.
The Lviv team resumed their attacks with increased zeal, and “fires” began to break out at Lazeba's goal. Nevertheless, having lulled the opponent with their pseudo-passive play in defense, the Kharkiv team seized the moment to explode: Danylo Khodatskyi intercepted the ball in his half and escaped from the defenders single-handedly brought the score to 3: 0. Such a result was clearly unexpected for Energia coach, who exclaimed in the heat of the moment, ‘You allowed for those three goals to happen. They cannot get out of the pressure!’
To be fair, Lazeba's throws did sometimes fly to half of the opposition (which is a violation for this age category), but our defenders played beyond all praise, controlling the ball confidently and resisting massive pressure. Before the halftime break, the score could have become 4: 0, had Bodnar's last pass in one of the final episodes of the half been a little more accurate.
In the second half, Energia players were instructed to more actively close down on Lazeba, obstructing the view, as well as to advance the ball in order to push our defensive players to their goal. The Lviv team had to score four goals, but even with great combination play, the white-greens failed to create a sufficient number of chances at our goal. A curious moment arose in the middle of the half, when in one of the episodes Maksym Berezyak decided to troll Sasha Bezruk, standing in front of him on the ball with two feet. Bezruk responded with dignity, seizing the moment and repeating the same trick in front of Berezyak. Energia coach noted 'it was their patented trick’, apparently forgetting Ricardinho - the famous Portuguese player - was not from Lviv.
Five minutes after the start of the second half, Energia switched to the game with the fifth field player, but it was noticeable that this was being done not out of self-confidence, but out of despair. In confirmation of that, almost the first touch of the ball with a bib led to a loss, and Sasha Bezruk's shot on the empty goal hit the post. What one of Phoenix' pivots failed to put through, the other one completed successfully: Maksym Dolhulia caught the next mistake of the Lviv team and fired an accurate shot into the empty goal of the opposition. The ball, having touched the goalpost, ended up in the net.
Lviv continued to attack, rather out of inertia, though. Phoenix carried on the play with pleasure: wonderful saves by Lazeba, Boldyzhev's cannon strikes, Yevsyukov's slide tackles and Dolhulia's crafty passes.
The final whistle marked not only the confident victory of Phoenix, taking the team to the final against their fellow countrymen from Valky, but also the end of the performance, which undoubtedly brought a lot of pleasure to all those who watched it in the sports centre and followed the snippets of the online broadcast. Tomorrow our team will face the main League Cup match against a more than crucial opponent.