It was a terrible year for Ukraine and the whole world
“More than 3,000 athletes and coaches are defending Ukraine with weapons in their hands. At least 189 athletes died, ”commented the consequences of a large-scale war unleashed by Russia for Ukrainian sports, an ex-athlete, and now a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Olga Saladukha. These are terrible figures of a terrible year. Therefore, one should not be surprised that the war did not pass Ukrainian football by. And now we are not talking about transfers, games in foreign cities and air raid matches, but about the defenders of our country who gave their lives for Ukraine and were included in the list of football losses of a terrible year for the country and the world.
Heroes of Ukrainian football
On the second day of the Russian invasion, a graduate of the Lviv Carpathians died in a battle near Kyiv Vitaly Sapylo. The 21-year-old military man was the commander of a tank platoon and neutralized three dozen pieces of enemy equipment. Killed during an airstrike. Sapylo was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine.
Sergey Balanchuk – A pupil of Dynamo, who also played for several Ukrainian clubs and Israeli Maccabi, died in July 2022 as a result of artillery shelling during the battles for Bakhmut.
Alexander Yatsenko – the former goalkeeper of the youth team of Ukraine, who received the call sign “Goalkeeper”, served in the 204th battalion, was seconded to the 58th brigade of the 13th battalion in a consolidated company. Yatsenko fought near Bakhmut in the village of Pokrovsk. Considered missing since May 27.
Arthur Gritsenko – a graduate of the Lviv Karpaty, who played at a professional level for FC Lviv, Karpaty-2, Galicia-Karpaty, Gazovik-Skala and other teams, died in a battle with Russian invaders.
Dmitry Piven – A pupil of the Dynamo Youth Sports School from the very beginning of the full-scale invasion, the former football player signed up for the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Having no combat experience, Dmitry with the call sign “Ptah” went through training camps, after which he went to the Donetsk direction as part of a motorized rifle battalion, where he died.
Petr Gavryliv – a graduate of the PFC Lviv, who played for amateur teams from the Lviv region, in particular, Niva-Kordia (Zhovtantsy), Dynamo-Sokol (Ryasnoe-Russkoye) and Kamulu (Romanov), died at the age of 22 in the combat zone.
Oleg Timchenko – sports rehabilitation specialist, before the full-scale invasion of the Russian army, worked for a long time with football players and staff of Dynamo Kyiv. He died in the battles near Bakhmut on December 20.
This is not the whole or complete list of representatives of Ukrainian football who gave their lives for our country. We deliberately did not include in it representatives of the fan movement, thousands of whom defend our country, and many died. Let us just remind you once again about the Tribune of Heroes initiative, a unique charitable foundation created to provide systemic financial support to the families of football fans who died in the war from all over Ukraine. The project has already received support from football players, clubs, federations and famous personalities.
World football legends
Pele – The king of football, the only three-time world champion in history, a football player who has played about one and a half thousand matches and scored more than 1000 goals. The man who was football left the world on December 29 at the age of 82.
Jurgen Grabowski – the former midfielder of the German national team, one of the seven players who were the owners of the full set of world championship awards (gold, silver, bronze), died before he reached his 78th birthday.
Francisco Gento – the representative of Spanish football, the world record holder for the number of victories in the Champions Cup (six) has died at the age of 88.
Sinisa Mihajlovic – A charismatic defender who has become an equally bright coach. He won the European Cup and the Cup Winners’ Cup, won the championships of Yugoslavia and Italy, but could not defeat leukemia, which he fought for three years. He died at the age of 53.
Andy Goram – An outstanding Scottish goalkeeper who played more than 250 matches for the Rangers and was recognized by the fans of the team as the best goalkeeper in the history of the club, died at the age of 58.
Fernando Chalan – twice recognized as the footballer of the year in Portugal, one of the brightest players of the mid-1980s, died at the age of 62.
Mino Raiola – the only non-football player on our sad list. But he definitely entered the history of world football. Mino was the agent of many world stars, including Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Erling Haaland, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Marco Verati. Raiola was the main “enemy” of the clubs, knocking out incredible contracts for his clients. He died at the age of 54.
Legends of Ukrainian football
Yuri Degtyarev – an outstanding goalkeeper of Shakhtar, awarded a star on the Club’s Walk of Fame. He was invited to the USSR national team, won the country’s cups. He died at the age of 74.
Vasily Turyanchik – ex-defender of Dynamo, 4-time champion and two-time winner of the USSR Cup. He died at the age of 76.
Rostislav Potochnyak – the legend of the Lviv Carpathians, who won the USSR Cup with the Lviv club. He died at the age of 74.
Viktor Zvyagintsev – a well-known Dynamo and Shakhtar player in the past, who won championship medals and the USSR Cup, and also became the bronze medalist of the Olympic Games.
Vladimir Rogovsky – the author of the first European Cup goal of Shakhtar, the winner of the championship and the owner of the USSR Cup. Died at the age of 68.
Of course, this list is far from complete. We just highlighted perhaps the most famous representatives of the world of football who passed away in 2022. The names of each of them are inscribed in the history of the game of millions, in which they all left their mark..
Source: Sportarena
I’m Scott Moore, a professional writer and journalist based in the US. I’ve been writing for various publications for over 8 years now, and have been working as an author at athletistic for the past five years. My work has been featured by some of the leading sports websites and magazines across Europe.
