Yuri Andrukhovych, the Ukrainian author and football fan, explains why the world needs football.
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"Deep down, I'm always against the favorites."
Yuri Andrukhovych (centre) during a Group game in Germany. |
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You've been following the matches of Ukraine's Group as a spectator in the bleachers. Can you describe the mood in World Cup land?
Yuri Andrukhovych: Right now, Germany is synonymous with football. There's a mass euphoria, National flags everywhere. People with painted faces – it's all a bit like Carnival time. Many Ukrainian
fans are here too, and I'm amazed at how loud they can turn up the volume.
You're a writer. What fascinates you about football?
Football's the stuff of miracles – all kinds of unexpected things can happen. A real game of football is always high drama, a world of emotions. Ever since childhood, I've been a great fan of
Dynamo Kiev who were really strong in the Seventies and Eighties. When Dynamo Kiev played Spartak Moscow in Soviet times, a lot more than football was at stake. We celebrated a Dynamo Kiev victory as
a success for Ukrainian independence endeavours.
Ukraine has made it through to the World Cup finals for the first time. What implications has this had on the country's state of mind?
The social significance of football shouldn't be overestimated, but it's nevertheless been my observation that football unites people from different backgrounds and with different political
opinions under the national colours. Ukrainians from Donetsk and Lvov, people with newly acquired wealth, students and emigrants form a single football nation.
How does this sense of community express itself?
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| World Cup newcomers make it to the last sixteen: Ukraine's national team. |
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In the Ukraine versus Saudi Arabia game, I saw how apolitical Russian-speaking fans from Eastern Ukraine suddenly stood up during the game and started to sing the Ukrainian national anthem.
Football is no proof of new-found social unity, but it brings people together for the duration of the tournament.
Do Ukrainian fans also wear orange symbols?
No, we leave that to the Dutch.
What can Ukrainian footballers do better than Ukrainian politicians?
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Quarter finals
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Ukraine will be playing Italy in the quarter finals on 30 June at 9 pm in Hamburg.
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The football team is a composite of all parts of the Ukraine and represents the country in a positive way on the international stage, something Ukrainian politicians are often less successful at
doing. I receive a lot of e-mails from German publishers and friends who find the team likeable because it has a human face – in defeat as in victory.
For the past two weeks, there has been just one topic of public debate: why does the world need football?
The playful element is part of human nature – people need games. Football creates excitement, and the action on the field generates an almost Carnival-like atmosphere. Football embodies the
possibility of renewal and the reorganization of hierarchies. Deep down, I'm always against the favourites. I'd like to see the established ranking turned upside down, and I would not like to see
Brazil become World Champion.
Which team could turn this ranking upside down?
Ghana perhaps, or Ukraine ...!
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Switzerland's involvement in Ukraine
Switzerland has been providing Ukraine with bilateral and multilateral assistance since the early 1990s, the aim of this cooperation being to support the process of transition to democracy and a
market economy. Among other things, Switzerland is helping to reform the healthcare and justice systems, promote SMEs, strengthen civil society and support sustainable use of natural resources.
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