On Wednesday, July 28, in Dnipro, a charity football match took place between teams of football legends and Ukrainian defenders who are protecting our country from Russia's full-scale military invasion.

Ukrainian football legends, including Olympic champions Oleksiy Cherdyntsev, Yevhen Yaremchuk, "Dnipropetrovsk" star Oleg Taran, former stars Oleksandr Hrytsay and Mladen Bartulovic, as well as representatives of the Coordination Headquarters and humanitarian hub of the Ukrainian Football Association (UFA) in Dnipro and the Football Association of Donetsk Oblast met on the football field with the "Slovyansk ATO" team.

Photos by the press service of UFA

In 2021, the "Slovyansk ATO" collective won the ATO Warriors Cup, and now seven players from this team are defending Ukraine on the front lines in the war against Russian occupiers.

The friendly match ended in a heroic draw with a score of 2-2. The first vice-president of UFA, coordinator of the Dnipropetrovsk hub Alan Plyev, second vice-president of UFA Yuriy Pochtynnyi, head of the Football Association of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Viktor Andrukhiv and first deputy chairman of the Football Association of Donetsk Oblast Oleksandr Kosevych conducted a symbolic awarding ceremony for participants in the charity match.

Photos by the press service of UFA

Each player from "Slovyansk ATO" received a ball with autographs of football legends and a personal certificate as a gift, while the team became the first winner of a football cup in honor of Ukrainian Statehood Day!