In quite an adventurous manner Phoenix beat KIVS Futsal of Lviv and finished in second place in Ukrainian U15 Super Cup. The organizers, who put this meeting as the final one in the large tournament program (note that Super Cup matches were held in parallel in three age categories) seemed to foresee that in terms of entertainment, it definitely would not be a disappointment. Why, with such worthy rivals: out of five head-to-heads, three ended in a penalty shootout.
Moreover, one of the most memorable was the January match in Lutsk, as part of the third round of the Ukrainian Championship. Phoenix was loosing 0:3 and still managed to level the score in the final 6 minutes of the match, with its five outfielders, to then fail with their spot-kicks.
Today's match mirrored the Lutsk one in that respect. The Lvivians managed a three-goal handicap at the end of the game to then lose in the penalty shootout. But let's go into the course of events.
The match between Phoenix of Kharkiv and KIVS Futsal of Lviv rounded off the three-day program Super Cup. The trophy winner had been determined even before the starting whistle was blown: the players of Rivne Sports School No4 secured the first prize for themselves the day before. It would do for Phoenix not to lose in regulation time (what an enchanted task it was!) to win silver. The defeat sent the team to the fourth position in the standings. KIVS Futsal closed the standings and could only count on bronze, provided it won in regulation time. Yurii Shukatka's team lost their chances for second prize after Chorne More beat Rivne in the penalty shootout.
Phoenix seized the initiative right from the start of the match. The team swapped the four-players squads in such a way that fast Olexandr Bezruk would play personally with Maksym Berezyak, one of the leaders of the Lviv team. Moreover, Yurii Yaremchuk, the goalkeeper of the Lviv team, had managed to return from the training camp of the Ukrainian U19 national team. Bezruk had a chance to score in the first attack, but he decided to send the ball to the far post instead of turning an excellent pass home. Just in a minute Bodnar could have opened the scoring, if it wasn't for Yaremchuk's confident play.
A wake-up call for the Kharkiv team was the goal of Lukyan Sibirtsev, who took advantage of the Demyd Yevsyukov’s inaccurate pass. Phoenix ginned up and the number of dangerous moments increased. One of Kharkiv's counterattacks ended in three-to-two, Khodatsky gave it to Konkov, and Konkov's cross at the far post was turned home by Maksym Dolhulia.
After the score was leveled, both teams did not stop attacking. The greatest danger was coming from Yaremchuk, the goalie of KIVS Futsal, who would accelerate the team's attacks, beating the defenders single-handedly in one of the episodes and almost succeeded in his goal attempt against Lazeba. At the end of the half, Phoenix clearly gave rein to the opposition. The half was tending to a draw when Mykhailo Soldatenko stepped in, having implemented a set piece in a great manner, to end up face-to-face with the goalkeeper and outplay Yaremchuk cold-bloodedly.
In the second half Phoenix dumbfounded Lviv with a quick goal. Mykyta Bodnar's long-range and surprisingly accurate shot caught the opponent's goalie by surprise and the score got to 3:1. Danylo Boldyzhev was the most notable player in the Phoenix lineup at that moment. First, the Kharkiv captain failed to score from a perfect scoring spot, then he missed a couple of promising chances, and finally, after a corner kick, he took advantage of Artem Shevchenko's, the pivot's, large frame and sloted an accurate shot past Yaremchuk.
When the score got to 4:1, Phoenix coaches made adjustments to the squad to bring out Vlad Khrypchuk and Eldar Bratchuk. At the same time, Vlad Bekar, one of KIVS players, received two yellow cards for unsporting behaviour. It would seem that the numerical advantage should have played into the hands of the Kharkiv team, but in fact the Lviv team managed to turn the tide of the match. First, Yaremchuk was knocked down by Ivan Konkov, earning a fre kick in addition to a yellow card. The “double-penalty” was implemented by Maksym Berezyak with an accurate shot in the top corner.
Yaremchuk and Berezyak continued to disperse the attacks of the Lviv team, while Bratchuk's play was flawless. A few minutes before the end of the match, though, Phoenix's goalie made a gross mistake, making it possible for Shevchik to make the difference in score slimmer. The coach of the Kharkiv team made a return substitution, bringing Lazeba back to play, but Volodymyr failed to keep the goal safe. The referee awarded another free kick, which was yet again implemented by Berezyak.
The wrap up took place in the attacks of the hosts and was rather nervous. Phoenix, with its self-created problems, made no more mistakes, though.
The final whistle recorded a 4:4 draw on the scoreboard, which brought Phoenix its silver medals.
The penalty shootout had no longer any tournament value. The first three kicks of each of the teams were implemented flawlessly. The players that distinguished themselves in the KIVS Futsal team were Berezyak, Paslavskyi and Yaremchuk and in Phoenix those were Konkov, Shevchenko and Bodnar. When the fourth kick of Lvivians, curled by Shevchik, missed the goal, the win might have seemed Phoenix's, but KIVS' goalie saved his team once again, just as Dolhulia's kick. The fifth kick of the hosts went directly into Lazeba, and Mykhailo Soldatenko implemented his goal attempt accurately, which brought Phoenix a win in the series.
The final result of the team may be regarded in two ways. Of course, going to Lviv we were seeking a win. One could analyze forever the first match we failed, which actually put an end to those hopes. There’s something else to remark on, though. It’s on the team that found the strength after such a “slap in the face” to recover both physically and morally, the very next day showing an amazing play with the brilliant Chorne More. In today's match the boys played three quarters of the match beyond praise. So, this season the main lesson learned in theory is still to be learned in practice: if we want to go higher than the second place, we cannot go below our level in any of the matches.
Good job, Vova Lazeba! He played with a serious hand injury. Good job, Danylo Boldyzhev! He, to put it mildly, was not spared in any of the games. Good job, Ivan Konkov! He played with a microtrauma. There was a high level of dedication, commitment and maximum devotion in all the players of the team.
It is great both four-player squads played equally well. The previous season they got the team out of the soup in turns.
Congratulations to Danylo Khodatskyi, who was recognized by the organizers as the best player in the Super Cup. It was rightfully so.
Let's thank the team and now focus on preparations for the Futsal Fair, which starts in Lutsk in 8 days.