11.07.2015 Views

Golden Jubilee celebrations in Cyprus 03 XXVIII UEFA Congress 06 ...

Golden Jubilee celebrations in Cyprus 03 XXVIII UEFA Congress 06 ...

Golden Jubilee celebrations in Cyprus 03 XXVIII UEFA Congress 06 ...

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS
  • No tags were found...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

NZSSLOVENIABorut Semlerwas ableto show offhis talent dur<strong>in</strong>gthe Under-19qualify<strong>in</strong>gtourament.PHOTOS: FFUUKRAINEThe Ukra<strong>in</strong>ianhouse offootball anda co<strong>in</strong> commemorat<strong>in</strong>gthe 20<strong>06</strong> WorldCup f<strong>in</strong>als.Results and records like these areall help<strong>in</strong>g to build up and strengthen theconfidence of the team, which shouldstand them <strong>in</strong> good stead when thequalify<strong>in</strong>g games for the 20<strong>06</strong> World Cupbeg<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong> the autumn.Brendan McKennaROMANIAPlaces <strong>in</strong> Europeat stakeIn the race for the 2004title, the two biggestclubs are neck and neck as the championshipreaches its climax. After the23rd match day (out of 30) FC D<strong>in</strong>amoBucarest (now coached by Ioan Andone)are just two po<strong>in</strong>ts ahead of FC SteauaBucarest (coached by Victor Piturca) butthe results of their direct encounters are <strong>in</strong>FC Steaua’s favour, thanks to an away w<strong>in</strong>(1-0 at home and 2-1 on D<strong>in</strong>amo’s turf).At the halfway po<strong>in</strong>t, three teamswere <strong>in</strong> the runn<strong>in</strong>g for the title, but aftera few unexpected defeats, reign<strong>in</strong>g championsFC Rapid Bucarest lost any chanceof reta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g their crown. Rapid, who dispensedwith the services of coach MirceaRednic <strong>in</strong> January, even risk los<strong>in</strong>g their currentthird place to FC Universitatea Craiova,now be<strong>in</strong>g coached successfully by…Mircea Rednic (s<strong>in</strong>ce the 19th match day).Rednic’s replacement at FC Rapid– former <strong>in</strong>ternational and Chelsea playerDan Petrescu – lasted only six match daysbefore hand<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> his notice. FC Rapidbrought <strong>in</strong> Viorel Hizo to help them out oftheir crisis, but success is still elud<strong>in</strong>gthem.On 6 June, the 20<strong>03</strong>/04 cup f<strong>in</strong>alwill be played out between FC D<strong>in</strong>amoBucarest and Otelul Galati (coached by Sor<strong>in</strong>Cartu), who are hop<strong>in</strong>g that FC D<strong>in</strong>amowill w<strong>in</strong> the championship and leave thema place <strong>in</strong> the 2004/05 <strong>UEFA</strong> Cup.The possible comb<strong>in</strong>ationsfor <strong>UEFA</strong> club competition places arenumerous, but it is likely that outgo<strong>in</strong>gchampions FC Rapid Bucarest will notbe <strong>in</strong> the picture.Dan CristeaSLOVENIASuccessful Under-19 qualify<strong>in</strong>gtournamentWhile Slovenia was becom<strong>in</strong>g a fullysigned-up member of the EU (on 1 May),the Football Association of Slovenia wasbusy organis<strong>in</strong>g another <strong>in</strong>ternationaltournament, this time the second-roundqualify<strong>in</strong>g m<strong>in</strong>i-tournament for the2004 European Under-19 Championship.Together with Slovenian football clubsNK CMC Publikum, Nk Rudar Velenje,NK Maribor PL and NK Alum<strong>in</strong>ij Kidricevo,<strong>in</strong> whose stadiums the six tournamentmatches took place, and with the helpof the perfect accommodation facilitiesof the Hotel Sava <strong>in</strong> Rogaska Slat<strong>in</strong>a, whereall the teams stayed, the host associationensured that everyth<strong>in</strong>g ran smoothly.The draw set Slovenia a verydifficult task, putt<strong>in</strong>g them <strong>in</strong> the samegroup as England, Ukra<strong>in</strong>e and Denmark,all of whose teams are highly rated <strong>in</strong> thatage group. However, the young Slovenianswere determ<strong>in</strong>ed to put on good performancesand f<strong>in</strong>ish <strong>in</strong> a good position,although it was clear from the beg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>gthat their chances of qualify<strong>in</strong>g for thef<strong>in</strong>al tournament were small (only groupw<strong>in</strong>ners would qualify).Th<strong>in</strong>gs got off to a very goodstart. In their very first match, the Slovenianyouth players, under the guidance ofcoach Branko Zupan, showed that theyknew how to play. Aga<strong>in</strong>st the muchrespected England they showed no fear –on the contrary – Bayern striker BorutSemler scored two goals and decidedthe w<strong>in</strong>ner already <strong>in</strong> the first half. Theenthusiastic atmosphere <strong>in</strong> the new stadium<strong>in</strong> Celje rose to an undreamed-of level.Although Slovenia then lost theirsecond match aga<strong>in</strong>st the best team andfuture w<strong>in</strong>ners of the tournament,Ukra<strong>in</strong>e, they managed to f<strong>in</strong>ish <strong>in</strong> secondplace, after a draw aga<strong>in</strong>st Denmark.Irena Ilesic CujovicUKRAINEMedia meet<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong> KievThe first all-Ukra<strong>in</strong>ianmeet<strong>in</strong>g for media andpress officers of the top league professional clubs was organised by theFootball Federation of Ukra<strong>in</strong>e on24/25 April. The two-hour meet<strong>in</strong>gtook place <strong>in</strong> the press centre ofFC Dynamo Kyiv, where the presidentof the FFU, Grigoriy Surkis, addressed75 guests from all regions of our countryand then answered numerous questions.FFU Executive Director OlexandrBandurko, First Vice-President SergiyStorozhenko and the Head of Referees’Committee, Viktor Derdo, took part<strong>in</strong> the forum as well.The participants put flowersat the monument to ValeriyLobanovskyi and on the graveof legendary player and the firstFFU president, Viktor Bannikov.A vist to the children’s/youthfootball school of FC Dynamo Kyiv<strong>in</strong> Koncha-Zaspa was also on theprogramme. The participantssaw the modern artificialm<strong>in</strong>i-pitch and heardabout the Ukra<strong>in</strong>ianfootball centre project. The m<strong>in</strong>i-pitch,which was built with a grant from <strong>UEFA</strong>,was opened by journalists, who took part<strong>in</strong> an exhibition match on it afterwards.At the beg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g of April, theFFU, jo<strong>in</strong>tly with the national bank ofUkra<strong>in</strong>e, issued two co<strong>in</strong>s commemorat<strong>in</strong>gthe 20<strong>06</strong> FIFA World Cup.To mark the anniversary of thedeath of Yuriy Voynov, the FFU, <strong>in</strong> cooperationwith the professional league ofUkra<strong>in</strong>e, unveiled a monument to thelegendary footballer on his grave <strong>in</strong> theBaikove cemetery.On 16 April, a time capsule wasput <strong>in</strong>to the foundations of the Ukra<strong>in</strong>ianhouse of football. The ceremony wasattended by <strong>UEFA</strong> Executive Committeemember Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder, <strong>UEFA</strong>Treasurer Mathieu Sprengers and thehead of <strong>UEFA</strong>’s Assistance Programmes,Andreas Kuhn.Valeriy NykonenkoREPUBLICOF IRELANDA deferred returnto the nationalteam forRoy Keane.EMPICS21

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!