Hryhoriy Kozlovsky shared the secrets of the football championship

Despite the missile and drone terror of the aggressor country Russia, the sporting life of our country is still going strong. Thus, on Sunday, May 28, a fierce and incredibly exciting match for the football championship among Ukrainian youth teams took place. Looking ahead, we would like to state that the well-deserved winner's laurels went to Lviv's FC Rukh U19, whose players showed an incredibly fantastic team performance in yesterday's decisive away match against Odesa's Chornomorets. Thus, the "yellow and black" juniors became the champions of Ukraine among youth teams for the second season in a row.

Hryhoriy Kozlovsky, Honorary President of FC Rukh, a well-known Lviv businessman and philanthropist, aptly noted that "the winning pendulum should not stop moving, and FC Rukh will continue to do everything to progress towards the highest goals." He congratulated the coaching staff and all the players on the victory.

Match of victory

As for the match itself, it should be noted that at the start of the match, the guests from Lviv took control of the ball and tried to press the opponent as much as possible, but they managed to score in the 35th minute when the Rukhiv team, having taken the ball on the right flank, made a brilliant combination, leaving the opponent's goalkeeper no chance. Thus, the first half ended with a score of 0:1. But at the same time, and this should also be emphasised, just before the half-time whistle, Odesa were awarded a promising free kick and tried to take it, but in vain: after a direct shot on goal, Rukh goalkeeper Ledviy demonstrated incredible skill, brilliantly eliminating the threat.

The second half, if we talk about the whole picture, also took place to the accompaniment of the dominance of Lviv players, so the hosts of the Odesa field were forced to systematically extinguish the "fire" at their own goal. And at the end of the stoppage time, the defender of the Yellow and Blacks Andriy Kitela confidently scored the final score of the game - 2-0 in favour of Rukh. Kasarda earned the eleven-yard penalty, after a long pass from Rukh's penalty area evaded the defender, who emotionally knocked him to the ground. Thus, with a 2-0 win, Mykhailo Dyachuk-Stavytskyi's men maintained their five-point lead over Dynamo and became the champions of Ukraine one round before the end of the youth league.

Following the well-deserved victory, the author of the eleven-metre pitcher, Andriy Kitela, spoke about his emotions:

"It is always a pleasure to win, and even more so to become a two-time champion. It is extremely difficult to describe these feelings in words, because their extravaganza is boundless. To be honest, before today's championship game, in terms of mood, there were no feelings that anyone was very worried or nervous. We went out on the pitch knowing that we had to win. So, we can say that calmness multiplied by self-confidence was the formula for our success."

In turn, Rukh's honorary president, Hryhoriy Kozlovskyi, shared his thoughts on the background of the club's success after the Yellow and Blacks' triumph on the Odesa pitch: "I would like to say a few words about the work of our Academy (FC Rukh - ed.). Last year, when we became the champions, there was a lot of talk that the championship was inferior, that it was a fluke. After that, we had a generational change - this season, new players joined the team and we became the champions of Ukraine again. However, this time in a full-fledged championship with one round to go!"

FC Rukh's unique record

It is worth noting that on the way to its national leadership encore, Rukh U-19 set a unique record by going 40 matches without defeat in the Ukrainian Championship. This season, the Yellow and Blacks defeated both Dynamo U-19 and Shakhtar U-19. Undoubtedly, this is a very, very significant indicator, as playing forty matches without defeat in time means keeping the professional standard at a high level for almost more than a year and a half. So this is indeed a very serious statistical achievement that will certainly be written down in the country's football history.

Speaking of history and prospects. Volodymyr Lapytskyi, Rukh's sporting director, called yesterday's match historic and said:

"This is an extremely important victory, which greatly encourages those guys who study at our Academy to work, train and prove - first of all, to themselves - that the impossible is possible. It is extremely gratifying that we are also setting records and surpassing statistical achievements. All this will remain in history. But, on the other hand, of course, I want the players not to stop at the U-19 team, but to progress in the Premier League, preferably in our team, as well as in the national team of Ukraine - this is better than any record."

Academy of Victory

Speaking of the FC Rukh Football Academy mentioned by Mr Lapytskyi, it is, without exaggeration, a unique phenomenon in the sporting life of our country. The Academy, created at the suggestion and with the unwavering support of Hryhoriy Kozlovsky, has a top-class infrastructure.

In particular, the sports complex on the outskirts of Lviv near Vynnyky Lake includes eight training fields of the latest generation: three fields with artificial turf, five with hybrid turf, and a gym. The necessary infrastructure for finding and supporting football players, their further training and comprehensive development is available 24/7.

At the same time, commenting on the match against Chornomorets, which brought the Yellow and Blacks their second consecutive triumph, the honorary president of FC Rukh stressed that infrastructure development is "constantly ongoing and improving".

"We are not resting on our laurels. We are facing another generation change. We will once again participate in the UEFA Youth League. The road ahead is difficult, but it is very pleasant that it is a championship one. I would like to express my special thanks to our defenders, the Armed Forces of Ukraine and all those who defend our land from Russian invaders every day. We believe that very soon our heroes will give us the most important victory for Ukraine," summed up Hryhoriy Kozlovsky.