When 13-year-old Nikita Semenow passed Erling Haaland at the kick-off, many of the spectators in Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion had a lump in their throats. The junior soccer player from Dynamo Kyiv fled with his mother from an air raid shelter via Poland to Berlin, where he currently lives in an SOS Children’s Village. Now he was allowed to open the benefit game between Borussia and the Ukrainian flagship club.
Blue and yellow instead of black and yellow in the stands
It was just one of many signs of peace, large and small, on a memorable evening. The result between BVB and Dynamo was just a side issue from the start. Where otherwise black and yellow ruled, the colors blue and yellow of the Ukraine determined the scenery that evening.
“stop war” was written on the boards, before the kick-off the national anthem played. Around 35,000 spectators gave BVB an income of 400,000 euros, which should benefit the victims of the Russian attack on Ukraine. The Bundesliga club should be able to do this after similar games by the 16-time Ukrainian champions from Kyiv in Warsaw, Istanbul and Cluj have contributed to the highest revenue of this mission so far.
Ukrainian help for stadium announcer Dickel
Former Bundesliga professional Andrei Voronin thanked for the support. “We hope that we’ll soon be able to play games like this again in Ukraine. I pray every day that it will be over as soon as possible. Unfortunately we see no end“said the longtime international of Ukraine.
There was great unanimity in the stands. “Stop War – Stop Putin“, “Save Mariupol” or simply “Peace” was written on posters as the players sang to the tune of the football anthem “You’ll never walk alone” entered the pitch – the guests each wrapped in a national flag. Ivan Matwijtschuk from the U17s of Shakhtar Donetsk, who fled from the Ukraine with his mother and grandfather and currently lives in Dortmund, helped stadium announcer Norbert Dickel to read out the line-ups.
Free tickets for Ukrainians
Ukrainians could book free tickets for the game, and all fans were offered solidarity bracelets. The atmosphere in the stadium affected everyone involved and differed fundamentally from that in competitive games. Contrary to other customs, the BVBfans the guest team with a similar hearty applause as the home team.
Dynamo chants even from the Dortmund south stand documented the friendly character of the game. Visiting goals by Vitaliy Buyalskiy (9th minute) and Vladyslav Vanat (11th/35th) to make it 3-2 (3-1) for Dynamo Kyiv were scored by the fans of both teams cheered together. Jamie Bynoe-Gittens (4th) and Tom Rothe (65th) contributed the goals for BVB.
For the team from Kyiv, who has been keeping fit near Bucharest since the beginning of the war on the initiative of his Romanian trainer Mircea Lucesu, the appearance in Dortmund was also a sporting endurance test, despite all the charitable backgrounds. After all, eleven professionals are in the squad of the Ukrainian national team for the upcoming World Cup qualifier in June. Tests like the one against BVB are therefore an opportunity to gain match practice.