Ukraine displays ruined stadium stand in Munich as reminder of war ahead of Euro 2024 opening

MUNICH (AP) — The Ukrainian soccer federation unveiled a grandstand installation at a stadium in Munich that was destroyed in the war back home to highlight the ongoing conflict ahead of the team’s first match at the European Championship on Monday.

Parts of the stand of the Sonyachny Stadium in Kharkiv that was built for the 2012 European Championships – which Ukraine Co-hosted – It was shown in an arena in Munich before the team’s show The opening match against Romania.

The stadium was destroyed by Russian forces in May 2022 and is part of an interactive installation highlighting that 500 sports infrastructure facilities in Ukraine suffered Russian bombing and missile strikes during the war.

“Today we will start our matches,” the former Ukraine coach and striker said. Andrey ShevchenkoHe is the president of the country’s football federation. “One team is in the field but a million soldiers stay and defend Ukraine.

“We are all together. We are playing today for the country. We are playing today for the people who are defending our lives and our country.”

The stadium was the training base of the Netherlands national team during Euro 2012. Ukraine also trained there before the recent European Championship, where they reached the quarter-finals in their most successful campaign to date.

“When you learned that the stadium had been destroyed, it felt like you knew your home had been destroyed,” said Shevchenko, who coached Ukraine at Euro 2020.

The grandstand and installation will be transported to different German cities and its next stop will be Dusseldorf, where Ukraine will play its next Group E match against Slovakia on Friday.

47-year-old Shevchenko added: “It is very important to show during the war that we in the country continue our lives.” “Sports are a big part of our society. It’s a very powerful tool, but in good hands.

“The participation of the Ukrainian team today is a very important message to the rest of the world that we continue to live and we will fight, but not just fight, we will go about our normal lives and try to be part of Europe.” Society and the global community who share with us the same values of freedom and democracy.