Ukraine won the battle of the top two nations in the Deaflympics medal table in the men’s soccer final at Taipei Municipal Stadium yesterday afternoon.
The team in yellow won a great contest 3-2 to pick up their 20th gold of the Games, a total only bettered by opponents Russia, who were prevented from adding to their 29 golds and had to settle for their 41st silver.
Germany claimed the bronze medal on Monday with a 4-0 victory over France.
PHOTO: CNA
Ukraine fashioned the first chance of yesterday’s match when Makar Bukin was fouled about 30m from the Russian goal. Oleksandr Chalenko hit a bullet free-kick that beat Russia keeper Dmitry Ivanov, hit the bar, bounced down onto the goal-line and out. If the assistant referee rather than the opposition had been Russian, it might have been given.
Four minutes later, another free-kick, this time on the right touchline, gave Russia their first chance. Pavel Istrashkin got to the cross ahead of the Ukraine defense, but his header flew wide.
Ukraine were on top in terms of possession and territory, but the opening goal came against the run of play. In the 30th minute, Nikolay Afanasyev picked up the ball on the left and went on a mazy run into the middle of the Ukraine defense, beating five men before dinking his shot over Ukraine keeper Dmytro Ukrayinets to score a memorable goal.
Five minutes later Ukraine were level, Ivanov spilled Bukin’s speculative shot from 25m and Volodymyr Riy pounced on the loose ball to poke home the easiest of chances.
Bukin should have put Ukraine in front in the 41st minute when played through with only the keeper to beat, but his tame shot was easily saved by Ivanov. Four minutes later, though, he made amends when he was again played in after some good work on the right by Myroslav Tanchyk, and this time Bukin made no mistake with the finish low in into the corner of the net to put Ukraine 2-1 up at halftime.
Russia came out for the second half looking to put pressure on the Ukraine defense, with Dmytro Puchkov having to make some good blocks and tackles to keep Afanasyev at bay. It was all Russian pressure, but the next goal came from a Ukraine break in the 61st minute.
Chalenko got the ball on the left, beat the defender and cut the ball back for substitute Vitaliy Solovey to sweep into the unguarded net.
In the 71st minute, Russia got themselves back in the game when Vladimir Ivanov’s free-kick from the right was headed in by Istrashkin to make it 3-2 with the best part of 20 minutes to play.
Afanasyev had a chance to equalize a minute later when he got free on the left of the penalty area, but his shot flew just wide of the far post.
Bukin had a chance to seal the win in the 81st minute when he met Myroslav Tanchyk’s cross from the right, but his header was saved by the keeper.
Russia were pressuring the Ukraine goal, and in the 84th minute Vladimir Ivanov had their best chance with a shot from the edge of the penalty area that was palmed away by Ukrayinets. From the resulting corner, Alexander Sedov’s shot flew over the bar and with it Russia’s chances of forcing extra-time.
TO THE TOP: After securing the international title on Saturday, Team Taiwan were to face Las Vegas to potentially win their 18th Little League World Series championship A team from Taipei’s Dong Yuan Elementary School won the Little League Baseball World Series’ international title on Saturday by defeating Aruba 1-0 in the annual baseball tournament held in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The Taiwan team, competing under the name Chinese Taipei, were after press time last night to face a team from Las Vegas, Nevada, which beat a team from Fairfield, Connecticut, in the US championship 8-2. Taiwan are seeking to win their first Little League Baseball World Series title since 1996. “Really haven’t taken a moment to data dump right now on Taiwan,” Nevada manager T.J. Fescher said. “They’re a
‘CATASTROPHE’: Despite losing several key forwards in the summer transfer window, Bayern were up 3-0 in the first half before Harry Kane scored a hat-trick in the second Harry Kane hit a hat-trick, Michael Olise a double and newcomer Luis Diaz also scored as Bayern Munich made a “statement” against RB Leipzig 6-0 at home in the Bundesliga season opener on Friday. Bayern’s big-money arrivals, all brought in from the Premier League across the past three seasons, were dominant as the Bavarians begun their title defense in style. Olise scored twice in the first half, either side of a Diaz strike. Not to be outdone, Kane scored three goals in the second half — with two assists coming from Diaz, to bring Bayern’s total to 6-0. Kane told the Bundesliga
Kevin de Bruyne is to lead SSC Napoli’s Serie A title defense today when he makes his full debut at promoted US Sassuolo, but the champions head into the new season rocked by a long-term injury to star striker Romelu Lukaku. De Bruyne was, alongside aging icon Luka Modric, the big new name to arrive in Italy this summer and fans were hoping his linkup with Belgium teammate Lukaku would push Napoli to success both at home and in their return to the UEFA Champions League. The 34-year-old has suffered from hamstring injuries which caused him to miss significant chunks of the
Marc Marquez continued his winning streak as he cruised to victory in the Hungarian GP sprint by two seconds on Saturday night to pad his championship lead. It was a seventh straight Sprint victory for the Spaniard, who has also won the last six longer Sunday grand prix races on his factory Ducati. Fabio Di Giannantonio, an Italian with the VR46 Ducati satellite team was a distant second at Balaton Park, followed by his team-mate and compatriot Franco Morbidelli third. Marquez, a six-time world champion, started the race from pole position. “I felt someone really close on the first corner, from there I