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The population of Mariupol, Ukraine, numbered more than 425,000 before the Russian army attacked in February 2022. Twenty months later, Ukranian authorities estimate that the population is around 100,000. Those who did not flee the city, or couldn’t get out, or didn’t want to leave their homes, are subject to the daily terror of Russian occupation.

Yevhen Cheberko was lucky. He was playing professional soccer in Croatia when the Russians invaded. Three months after the tanks rolled in, he managed to get his mother from Melitopol to Osijek, Croatia. But his grandmother didn’t want to leave.

“A lot of my friends moved from the city because it’s Russian now,” Cheberko said. “People don’t want to be with Russian side. The Russians want to destroy everything about the Ukranian story and language. I don’t want this, and my friends don’t want this, so they go away from this.”

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Around the time of the invasion, Crew scouts were scouring the earth for a left-footed center back with attributes that would fit into the system implemented by their new coach, Wilfried Nancy. Nancy’s rear defenders must be able to withstand pressure with the ball on their feet, must be dynamic enough to join the attack and must be savvy enough to know when to stay back. They must be brave.

Although Crew president/general manager Tim Bezbatchenko swung an April trade with New York City FC for another left-footed back, Malte Amundsen, he liked Cheberko’s “tactical flexibility” enough to press on with the recruitment of the Ukranian. The Crew bought Cheberko from NK Osijek for an undisclosed sum (probably more than $1 million, given Cheberko’s estimated value) and signed him to a contract in June. A month later, the international transfer window opened and Cheberko 25, was officially added to the Crew’s roster.

“It’s my choice,” Cheberko said. “Nobody said, ‘You must move somewhere.’ I moved from Melitopol to Croatia, to Austria, (and back) to Croatia. I moved here. I want to be a big football player.”

Cheberko said this during an extended interview at the Crew’s gleaming headquarters, which is part of a state-of-the-art training facility connected to the old Crew stadium. Cheberko is a lithe 6 feet and 150 pounds. His English is heavily accented but it is fluent. There are times when he struggles with some of the idiomatic eccentricities of the language, but such is English. He wants to express himself properly, to be understood, and he brims with earnestness. There is a puppy-like innocence to him which belies his worldliness.

There is probably some guilt laced within, as well. How does a young man in a strange land feel when his country, 5,000 miles away, is at war?

“When you move away from your city, you feel more (of) your culture,” Cheberko said. “First, I feel like it’s normal. Everywhere is the same. But (later) I feel this, how I miss my city, I miss my country. We must be strong. Life continues.”

Recent estimates are that more than 21,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed and more than 8 million refugees have dispersed throughout Europe.

Nobody punches the clock before Columbus Crew’s Yevhen Cheberko

When Cheberko says, “I want to be a big football player,” he doesn’t mean “I want to be remembered like Pele or Johan Cruyff or Lionel Messi.” Although that would be nice, what he really means is he wants to wring out every drop of his talent.

“He’s very demanding of himself,” Nancy said. “He wants to do well. Sometimes – and this is going to sound crazy – but he wants to do too well. What does that mean? It means that as soon as he was making a mistake, he didn’t have the right attitude.”

Like Cucho Hernandez, the Crew star striker, who tended to beat himself up when he missed on scoring chances?

“Yes, kind of like Cucho,” Nancy said. “But deeper. Deeper.”

Nancy conjured a game in Orlando, played last month, when the Crew blew a 3-1 lead in the final 20 minutes and lost in stoppage time. Cheberko, in the process of failing to clear a service into the penalty area, set up the opponent for the game-tying goal. It was a garish error.

“He was not lucky,” Nancy said. “I know something like this can happen. We took time to explain to him that this is part of the process, and he is better with it. But what I like about him is he has a really good work ethic. He comes early. Before anybody. Including the staff.”

Nancy laughed.

Nobody punches the clock before Cheba.

“(Cheberko is doing) what he can to improve,” Nancy said. “So, this is the mind of Cheba. As a person – great person. He connects with everyone. Good spirit. Good mentality.”

Here, it should be noted (again) that Nancy’s system – which requires positional flexibility, a constant reading of the opponent’s shape, real-time adjustments and unceasing communication – takes time to digest. The theme is attack. The three center backs must not only be bold in going forward, but also cool and calculating in the face of counterattacks.

It took time for Cheberko to rewire his game to synch with the system.

“Everyone is different,” Cheberko said. “Maybe I’m this type that takes more time. Because inside of me, I’m shy, I don’t want to be in front, with all eyes on me. I always want to be perfect, always, when I do something. Sometimes I’m too tough on myself, and sometimes it has not helped. But it’s how I am.”

Earlier this month, when Amundsen had to sit because of yellow-card accumulation, Cheberko got his first Crew start in Atlanta. The game ended in a 1-1 draw, which was bittersweet for the visitors. It was a precious road point, yes, but the Crew conceded a goal in second-half stoppage time and let two more points slip through their fingers. If you are a Crew fan and you kept an eye on Cheberko during the 89 minutes he was on the field, you had to be pleased. You might’ve said, “He’s starting to get it.” He’s beginning to showcase his considerable talent on both sides of the ball.

“Europe is more tactical,” said center back Steven Moreira, a Frenchman who arrived in Columbus two years ago. “You don’t have to run a lot over there. Sometimes you can sit in the mid-block. Here, the game is more open. You have to be physically ready. For me, I feel very surprised at the quality of the players here. When you come here, it’s working hard, and a lot of players, they come here and go “aww,” and they go back to Europe because it’s too hard.

“Cheba is doing very, very good. He trains very well. He comes early to training – very, very early.”

Nobody punches the clock before Cheba.

Melitopol: A strategic objective in wartime

Melitopol is a crossroads of major highways and railroad lines, with access to the Sea of Azov and from there the Black Sea. It is also known for its industry, including high-tech.

For reasons and more, Melitopol is a strategic target. In World War II, it was the site of a pivotal battle between German forces and the Soviet Red Army. In 2022, it was the first target of the Russian invasion. Now, it is a major objective of a Ukranian counter offensive.

Recent estimates are that more than 21,000 civilians have been killed and more than 8 million refugees have dispersed throughout Europe.

Cheberko does not dive deep into the news on a daily basis because, he said, “it makes me want to cry.” He stays in touch with friends who are still in Melitopol and they have presented a vivid picture of life under occupation: Children must speak Russian in schools; names of streets and buildings have been changed; local merchants who insist on speaking Ukrainian, or who decline to do business with Russians, are taken away for a few days of forceful reeducation; some of them return battered and bruised, and others don’t return at all.

Cheberko’s wife of three years, Darina, has been visiting her family in Kamianske, which is in a safer region to the north, in a part of the country Ukraine still controls.

“You cannot say it is normal situation, but (compared to Melitopol), it’s normal,” Cheberko said. “Before, when my wife heard rockets or bombs, she was afraid. But after a month, two months, she’s just, ‘OK, this is what happens.’ It’s so difficult for me to feel this.”

Cheberko welcomed a move to MLS because he felt like he had stopped growing as a player in the Croatia’s top league. He wanted to challenge himself. Also, Darina wanted to expand her horizons and hone her English skills.

Not long after the Cheberkos arrived in June, the Crew arranged a meet-and-greet with members of Columbus’ Ukrainian community. It was like a taste of home, Cheberko said. Rustam Sharipov, a Kharkiv, Ukraine, native and a wrestling coach at Ohio State, has reached out to offer any kind of support. Small blessings abound.

The soccer field remains Cheberko’s refuge. The Crew are a tight-knit group. Cheberko is fighting for playing time at Amundsen’s position, but the two have become close. It speaks to the culture created by Nancy, who does not scroll through his players’ phones or bite their heads off when the cameras are rolling or throw them under the bus after a loss.

When Cheberko was struggling to adjust, Nancy said, “we had a deep conversation, to understand why he was reacting the way he was, why he was doing the things he was doing. And I understood why. Because this is the background that he had – this was not easy. That’s why sometimes he’s so emotional in the way he wants to succeed. At the same time, there are things in his mind that are not so easy. But he’s so strong to go over this, he’s so strong to use this to get better.”

Nancy added “You know, sometimes I talk about how pressure is a privilege, but that is in the context for us (as a team).”

It is not in the context of people who have real problems.

“Everything is perspective,” Nancy said. “Everything. So, massive respect for Cheba.”

The massive mission ahead

Cheberko took note when Nikita Zadorov, a Russian defenseman who plays for the NHL Calgary Flames, spoke out against the war last month. He doesn’t understand why Zadorov has to be among a distinct minority.

“For me, I’m a little bit mad about this, how Russian (athletes) or Russian people cannot say something about this,” Cheberko said. “I understand they’re afraid about their lives, family, children. But if you all together say this, they cannot kill everyone”

In our conversation, Cheberko twice made a point of thanking the United States and its government for supporting Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression. Alas, as the U.S. House of Representatives has ground to a halt without a duly elected Speaker, aid to Ukraine has been suspended and another war has broken out in the Middle East.

Cheberko finds solace in his team and their mission. The Crew will soon begin a playoff chase for the MLS Cup for the first time since they won it all in 2020. The roster has been overhauled by Bezbatchenko and his staff. The high-octane attacking system installed by Nancy is closing in on breaking a 25-year-old franchise record for scoring. These are heady times for the Black & Gold.

“I feel something inside of me, like we can do some big things together, this team,” Cheberko said. “I feel this. We have young players and experienced players, and we have good bonds with each other, so I feel like we can do something big. I don’t want to say we’ll do it, but we can do it. Yeah.”

This is the mind of Cheba.

marace@dispatch.com

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