On Sunday, October 1st, on the occasion of Defender's Day in Ukraine, a friendly match took place at NTK named after V. Bannikov in Kyiv between teams composed of legends of Ukrainian football and the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

At the beginning of the sports event, first vice-presidents of the Ukrainian Football Association Anatoliy Demianenko, Oleh Protasov, and Vadim Kostyuchenko greeted our defenders. They presented medals from the UFA, football kits, and souvenirs to soldiers who have defended their homeland and are currently recovering after injuries sustained on the front.

Photo by the press service of UFA

The medals were received by ZSU soldier Pavlo Kovalytskyi, junior sergeants Mykita Dovbnya and Artem Lukashuk, and Major Oleksandr Dziubenko. The leaders of the UFA also presented football equipment to the Separate Presidential Brigade named after Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytskyi. The right to take the first kick during the coin toss was given to a soldier from the special purpose company "Kraken," junior sergeant Oleksandr Dashku.

Photo by the press service of UFA

"We congratulate you on this special day! We thank the Armed Forces and the leaders of our country for football being available to us in these difficult times: Premier League, Professional Football League of Ukraine, children's football tournaments. All of this is possible only thanks to you! I am convinced that thanks to the hard work of our soldiers and all of society, we will celebrate a great victory together," — Vadim Kostyuchenko addressed the participants of the match, also conveying greetings from the national team players.

Photo by the press service of UFA

The participants in the friendly match, which lasted two halves of 35 minutes each, included well-known former football players such as Serhiy Fedorov, Taras Luzhnyi, Mykola Morozuyk, Volodymyr Yezersky, Edmar, Vitaliy Kosiuk, and Oleksandr Alyev. Also joining the football meeting with Ukrainian soldiers were People's Artist of Ukraine, former Minister of Culture of Ukraine Yevhen Nyshchuk, and showman, producer, and volunteer Oleksandr Pedan.

Photo by the press service of UFA

In the first half, spectators did not see any goals. The game on the field was even, and neither team managed to turn dangerous attacks into scored goals. Morozuyk missed the best chance for the Ukrainian football legends' team by hitting the crossbar from 30 meters. Several sharp counterattacks by the ZSU team also ended in failure.

Photo by the press service of UFA

The fate of the match was decided after halftime: on Edmar's goal, the ZSU team responded with two successful shots (scored by Kostyantyn Kalysetskyi and Artem Lukashuk), securing a final score of 2-1. Interestingly, just before the final whistle, Alyev could have secured a draw in this match, but his shot from the former national team player hit the post.

Photo by the press service of UFA

After the friendly match, leaders of the national association honored the best players with individual awards.

Best goalkeeper — Oleksiy Gonta (ZSU team).

Best defender — Vadym Hatsanyuk (ZSU team).

Best forward — Artem Cherepovskyy (ZSU team).

Best player — Serhiy Kolomiets (ZSU team).

Photo by the press service of UFA