Eastern Ukrainian club Dnipro are unexpectedly poised for possible European soccer glory, lifting the gloom in their war-weary country, at least for a while.
With fighting raging on the doorstep of its hometown of Dnipropetrovsk, the club had to travel 500 kilometres to play their Europa League home matches in the capital, Kiev, away from their fans and often at near-empty stadiums.
That sapped morale early on, they say.
But despite the odds, they have fought their way to the Europa League final against Spain’s Sevilla, and when they run onto the pitch in Warsaw tonight they say they will have their compat-riots on the front line in mind.
“These are hard times for our state and for us too. We are hoping our sporting achievement will inspire our heroes who are defending our country from the enemy,” Dnipro defender Artem Fedetsky told Reuters.
“We know that the whole of Ukraine will be with us at the stadium. We will be playing for them,” head coach Myron Mar-kevych said.
The team had to fly back and forth to Kiev for qualifying matches after a ruling by UEFA that the Dnipro Arena stadium was too dangerous.
“We had to play all our home matches in Kiev and the stands were practically empty and without the Eurocup feel that there should be,” Fedetsky, 30, said.
“But we gritted our teeth, fought on and eventually people got interested. At the game with Napoli there was a full stadium.”
The war has added an edge to the support Dnipropetrovsk has shown for the team.
“I have friends and friends of friends who are fighting. They have been drafted into the army or are in volunteer battalions. We and our fanatical fans help them as best as we can,” Fedetsky said.
Football pundits say it is unlikely that Dnipro will triumph against Sevilla, who captured the Europa League trophy last year against Portugal’s Benfica and have won 10 of their 14 Europa League matches this season.
By contrast, Dnipro’s record en route to the final has been seven victories and four defeats, with five matches drawn.
No matter what happens in Warsaw, the club will celebrate triumph over adversity.
“We (have) understood that, since things are not easy for our country just now, we should strive to do better in European Cup matches so that people can see in Europe and elsewhere that, though things are difficult for us now, football is still alive in Ukraine,” Markevych said.