A header, a goal and a sign of protest: striker Roman Yaremchuk uses the Ukraine coat of arms to refer to his homeland, which was attacked by Russia – a Russian international also protested.
Roman Yaremchuk almost couldn’t have implemented his most important request on Wednesday evening. He was stuck in the goal net after his Champions League goal. He was in a hurry, and that had nothing to do with the score. Yaremchuk wanted to show the world something.
The round of 16 first leg between his club Benfica Lisbon and Ajax Amsterdam was in the 72nd minute. Benfica were 2-1 behind. The 26-year-old Ukrainian striker from Lviv in western Ukraine had come on as a substitute ten minutes earlier. He was lurking in the center of the Ajax goal when he saw fellow player Goncalo Ramos shoot at goal from 20 yards. Amsterdam goalkeeper Remko Pasveer flew through his goal, parried the shot with a fist, the ball flew up in the air and came down again. Yaremchuk sensed his big chance: for a goal – and for his message.
With all his strength and determination, he ran towards the goal, pushed himself off the ground, jumped up for a header and foreheaded the ball in the midst of several opponents. It was the goal to make it 2-2. An important goal for Benfica and an even more important one for Yaremchuk. Not just athletic. He wore a special t-shirt under his jersey that night. He wanted to show it to the whole world. But he had flown deep into the goal with his header jump. And now he was stuck in the net.
Even Fedor Smolow, a Russian pro with Dynamo Moscow, has protested against Putin’s aggression
It took him a few seconds to free his foot from the net, then he ran away jubilantly and took off his jersey. Underneath he wore a black T-shirt on which white lines depicted the so-called trident of the Ukrainian coat of arms. Yaremchuk has scored many goals in his career for Dynamo Kyiv, FK Oleksandriya, KAA Gent, Benfica Lisbon and for the Ukrainian national team. But that goal on Wednesday in Lisbon was one of his most significant. Because on his T-shirt, an ornament illustrated a call for help to the world.
“The situation in my home country scares me,” he said after the game. “I have a lot to think about and I wanted to support my country.” He couldn’t help but show the Ukrainian coat of arms after the goal, despite receiving a legal yellow card for taking off his shirt and fearing further sanctions from the European Football Association. Because showing political messages is forbidden by Uefa.
“My country belongs to the Ukrainians,” wrote Manchester City footballer Oleksandr Zinchenko (left) on Instagram. The Russian national player Fedor Smolow (Dynamo Moscow, right) also protested on the social platform and wrote: “No to war!”
(Photo: Carl Recine/Reuters, Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP)
Meanwhile, Manchester City’s left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko was not at risk of a federation penalty when he spoke on the Internet. His club won’t play in the Champions League again until March 9th. The 25-year-old from Radomyshl west of Kiev still wanted to make his opinion public. “My country belongs to the Ukrainians and nobody will ever be able to take it,” he wrote on Instagram. Surprisingly, even the Russian international Fedor Smolow sided with Ukraine. “No to war,” wrote the Dynamo Moscow striker, illustrating the message with a torn heart and the Ukrainian flag.