Now Andriy Yarmolenko can be satisfied.
Almost a month has passed since the Ukrainian national team lost to Wales in the decisive qualifying match for the World Cup. The only ball then flew into the gates of George Bushchan from the head of his own captain Andriy Yarmolenko. Everyone had already begun to forget about that meeting, when suddenly FIFA threw it into the public field again.
The fact is that the organization has made one very important change to the protocol of the match. It all smacks of a rather brazen rewriting of history. The only question is, why does FIFA need it?
Are they really doing everything to hide the shame of Ukraine?
The Own Goal That Wasn’t There
Welsh fans have another reason to head to the pub for a glass of ale. The day before, FIFA rewrote Yarmolenko’s own goal to Gareth Bale. So to speak, from one captain to another. Surprisingly, the decision was made already a month after the match. Apparently, the procedure was accompanied by very boring bureaucratic delays.
Andrey Yarmolenko / Photo: ©
REUTERS/Matthew ChildsThe Welsh tabloid Wales Online, literally the day after the game, published an article in which it called for recording a goal on Bale. As an argument, the fact was cited that the ball, after Gareth’s cross from a free-kick, flew into the target. That is, even if Yarmolenko had not touched him, he would still be in the net. Journalists even found a video taken from an angle that was not in the broadcast. It allegedly shows that Bale sent the projectile exactly into the far corner.
However, the footage is not convincing. Firstly, Bale served from the left flank and from the left foot – that is, the ball was spinning from the gate. Secondly, the canopy was so strong that Bushchan would hardly have had any problems with it, if not for the rebound from Yarmolenko. However, the deed is done: the ball, which under normal circumstances would have been the purest own goal, is recorded on Bale. The Welshman can be congratulated: this is already his 41st goal for the national team, in which he is uncontested top scorer.
historical shame
You can also congratulate Yarmolenko, who will remain clean for future generations thanks to the extremely strange decision of FIFA. However, if you think about it, this incident fits perfectly into the general rhetoric of the football authorities and other international organizations.
If everything remained as it is, years later everyone would only remember that Ukraine lost, and its captain scored an own goal. The details of the matches are erased from memory, only the score and names remain in the protocol. From a historical perspective, such a defeat would look shameful. And there is nothing wrong with the fact that the team missed from the superstar. You can always say, “That was Wales with Bale himself.”
Another thing is that now Ukraine is not getting any better. She still flew out – and there’s nothing you can do about it. Yarmolenko or Bale, a goal or an own goal – what, in essence, is the difference? But FIFA seems to have a different opinion.
