UEFA European Conference League

In one of the venues of next year’s European Under-21 Football Championship, on Thursday, August 22 at 8:00 p.m., the opening duel of the play-off for promotion to the group stage of the League will take place Hold a conference between the Ukrainian. FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih and Spanish club Real Betis Sevilla.

In the last two seasons, Košice has become the center of Slovakia’s top football. Thanks to the Ukrainian club SC Dnipro-1, spectators in Košice were able to see matches in the preliminary rounds of the three European cup competitions with their own eyes. So the fans had a unique opportunity to see the fights for the Champions League live, as well as the group stage and even the elimination stage of the European Conference League.

In the Eastern city, fans could enjoy the matches of the world teams, when AZ Alkmaar, the main Cypriot clubs, Panathinaikos Athens, Slavia Prague presented themselves here, and fans remember Spartak Trnava followed the atmosphere there.

But the time of the Dnipro in Košice is over. The club is on the verge of bankruptcy and there is no player on the team roster. They were supposed to play against Puskás Academy in the 2nd preliminary round of the Conference League, but UEFA canceled both meetings for the Hungarian team. Dnipro was even banned from the current edition of the highest competition in Ukraine.

However, fans of European football in Slovakia need not be disappointed. The Eastern Slovakian city can look forward to more exciting games.

Continuing the established trend

After the completion of the Košice football field, it will be one of the most important meetings that took place on its turf. Important meetings like this help the organizers to fine tune the course and organization of the meetings so that nothing surprises them at next year’s European Under-21 Football Championship.

The Košice football stadium, which is the newest Slovakian stadium in UEFA category 4, was chosen this season by the Ukrainian team FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih as the venue for their home matches in the Cup of Europe.

The stellar football summer is not ending

Since its completion, the players of the big Italian club AS Rím have visited the field in Košice, or players who participated several times in the group stage of the UEFA League League, Viktoria Plzeň.

Another giant is now heading to Košice – Real Betiswho will meet FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih. The club from Seville, whose honorary members include the kings of Spain Juan Carlos I and Philip VI, is one of the rulers of the Spanish La Liga, considered one of the best league competitions in the world. -world.

About current power “green and white“ their previous preparation results also testify. They lost to FC Liverpool almost 0:1 and to Manchester United 2:3. However, they beat the star Al-Ittihad FC from Saudi Arabia 4:1 and drew 1:1 with the German champion Bayer Leverkusen.

Legendary Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini’s staff is full of stars. The current squad includes Portuguese goalkeeper Rui Silva, his midfield partner William Carvalho, also Spanish star Isco and fellow Spanish gunner Rodri.

New chapter of Ukrainian club

Real Betis will challenge Ukraine’s Kryvbas, a club that returned to the European football scene after a long break of 24 years. He is an agent of FC Hirnyk. The history of the club from the city of Dnepropetrovsk region began to be written in 1959. In its history, it became the winner of the Ukrainian league 4 times, namely in 1971, 1975, 1976 and 1981. In those years, the club was one of the strongest in the country.

However, 2013 came and the club lost its license due to financial problems and ended its activities. However, thanks to enthusiasts and fans, a new chapter of the club from the city of Kryvyi Rih began to be written in 2020. From lower competitions, in the season 2022/2023, it fought into the elite of Ukraine, and in the last season, the club took the 3rd place, promising to start in the preliminary rounds of the UEFA European League.

The club is worth more than 16 million euros and is led by 58-year-old experienced coach Yuri Vernydub, who has an interesting story behind his career.

Ukrainian football club Shakhtar Donetsk will play their home games in the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen next season. In the past year, Shakhtar found a temporary home in Warsaw and Hamburg, where they played European Cup matches, DPA recalled.

He is still a soldier

The Ukrainian coach joined the Ukrainian army immediately after the Russian invasion in February 2022. It was at this time that he signed a lucrative contract extension in Sherif Tiraspol in Moldova, but when ‘ his country needed him, he did not hesitate for a moment.

“It was my choice. The sheriff was preparing for the Europa League match in Braga when my son called me and told me what had happened. After the game, I went to my hometown Zaporozhye and started to defend my country. Yes, I was 56 years old then, but there were many people like me. The average age in our unit was about 48 years old,” he assessed in an interview for Britain’s The Guardian.

“I was responsible for providing military ammunition in the Dnepropetrovsk region. The Russians were advancing and our goal was to stop them. After completing our missions, we went to the rear and the infantry took our place. This will continue for three and a half months until June 2022,” Vernydub said.

Then he got an unexpected opportunity to return to football when Kryvyi Rih club president Konstantin Kramaric offered him the opportunity to work at the club, which at the time had been promoted to the top division. But Vernydub was very skeptical at first and told him that was not possible because he was still a soldier.

“He said the club would try to negotiate with the army chiefs. Then, out of nowhere, an official came to me and told me that I had been transferred to the city of Kryvyi Rih so that I could return to football.” he explained. Paradoxically, the war helped him get a new job.

Not many coaches are loaned out of the army to a football club, but Vernydub’s military duties are still important. “When something urgent happens, I have to go to my unit. So far it has never happened on a match day, but there have been cases where I finished training, put on a military uniform and went to the base.” assessment of the experienced coach, who had the best playing time in the Russian Zenit.