‘We feel the emotions’: Ukraine and Russia meet for place in futsal final

Russia and Ukraine will face one another on Friday in a historic Uefa futsal European championship encounter against a backdrop of political tension over the threat of renewed conflict between the nations.

The semi-final in Uefa’s showpiece five-a-side tournament will take place amid “specific security plans” implemented at Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome arena to ensure the event’s safety, Uefa told the Guardian.

It is the first men’s competitive meeting between the nations in a Uefa tournament since 2007. The last match in football was a Euro 2000 qualifier in 1999. The only competitive game since the conflict over Crimea in 2014 was in the inaugural Uefa women’s futsal Euros in 2019. Uefa has kept Russia and Ukraine and their clubs apart in draws since 2014 but accepts that cannot apply to the entire knockout stages of tournaments.

“Uefa expects fair play by the two teams, on and off the pitch,” it said in a statement to the Guardian.

Coaches and players from both sides were keen on Thursday to play down the politically sensitive nature of the match.

Petro Shoturma, the Ukraine captain, admitted the Euro 22 tournament was “the most difficult in our history” and insisted the players were focused only on the match. “We have no special secrets,” he said, when asked how Ukraine would put aside the political tensions. “But we are all together as a team. With our character and our spirit, we will try to win. The only principle for us is that this is a semi-final. This is the only thing important.”

Amid concern over the game becoming a flashpoint, Oleksandr Kosenko, Ukraine’s head coach, insisted they “fully support fair play” but accepted that interest in the match in Ukraine was fierce: “We feel the emotions and support from all