{"id":28011,"date":"2023-11-24T16:00:08","date_gmt":"2023-11-24T16:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/nothing-will-stop-them-girls-football-near-ukraine-front-the-express-tribune\/"},"modified":"2023-11-24T16:00:08","modified_gmt":"2023-11-24T16:00:08","slug":"nothing-will-stop-them-girls-football-near-ukraine-front-the-express-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/nothing-will-stop-them-girls-football-near-ukraine-front-the-express-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Nothing will stop them’: Girls’ football near Ukraine front | The Express Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\nUKRAINE:
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

On an icy morning in southern Ukraine, football coach Vyacheslav Rol shouts to his team over the sound of distant explosions: “Everybody on the bus!”<\/p>\n

A group of girls aged between nine and 11 pile in.<\/p>\n

Krystal Kherson were headed for a competition in Mykolaiv, some 70 kilometres (43 miles) west of Kherson, their hometown near the southern frontline that is shelled by Russian forces almost daily.<\/p>\n

“The training is good for them,” the 67-year-old coach told AFP. “They forget about the bombs,” he said.<\/p>\n

Russian forces occupied Kherson city for eight months last year.<\/p>\n

It was recaptured by Ukrainian troops last November but the city still sits near the frontline.<\/p>\n

As the bus passed through war-ravaged countryside, the team intoned a popular local song to keep their spirits up: “Kherson, I dream of you at night!”.<\/p>\n

During the journey, deputy coach Igor Psurtyev recounted how he went around the empty, devastated city during the occupation looking for his players.<\/p>\n

“When this one saw me her eyes lit up,” he said, pointing to one of the children whom he calls “Messi in a skirt”.<\/p>\n

In Mykolaiv, another player, Dana, said she used to not like football but that changed during the war.<\/p>\n

“I followed the example of a friend who was doing it. I didn’t want to stay at home,” said the 11-year-old, wearing the club’s blue and green fluorescent jersey.<\/p>\n

Dana said she and her family now live in Odesa — even further to the west — ever since a missile landed near their home.<\/p>\n

“I was very afraid. My father covered me with his body,” said Dana, who continues to play in Kherson even though it is 220 kilometres away “because it’s my city”.<\/p>\n

On the pitch in Mykolaiv, the teams sing the national anthem with their hands on their hearts and Rol says a few words to motivate the players before kickoff.<\/p>\n

“I see before me girls that stayed strong during the occupation and the bombing. Nothing will stop them playing football!”<\/p>\n

The team then held a minute’s silence for the war dead, including the team’s captain, who lost her father at the front.<\/p>\n

When the whistle blew, Lyudmyla Kramarenko, Dana’s mother, cheered as if the game was a World Cup final.<\/p>\n

“Go Kherson!” the 45-year-old shouted.<\/p>\n

Kramarenko recounted how Dana would have nightmares when the city was under fire while they were still living there.<\/p>\n

“I had to sleep with her during the attacks,” she said.<\/p>\n

But her daughter would come back happy after football training.<\/p>\n

“I saw that it was important for her.”<\/p>\n

At the end of the competition, Rol took down the Ukrainian flags put up for the matches.<\/p>\n

“I used to hide them at my place during the occupation,” he said.<\/p>\n

He also described how he was approached at that time by members of Russia’s FSB security service to train a team for them.<\/p>\n

“I refused. The children thought I was going to be killed but nothing happened to me. I played the old senile guy.”<\/p>\n

At the end of the tournament, the Kherson girls placed third out of six teams.<\/p>\n

“Kherson stays strong!” the coach tells them as they return to their bombed-out city with smiles on their faces.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n