Ukraine v Hungary (29 April 1992)
| Event | Exhibition game | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Date | April 29, 1992 | ||||||
| Venue | Avanhard Stadium, Uzhhorod, Zakarpattia Oblast | ||||||
| Referee | Vadim Zhuk (Belarus) | ||||||
| Attendance | 13,000 | ||||||
| Weather | +22°C | ||||||
Ukraine v Hungary (29 April 1992) was the first international game for the Ukrainian national football team to be recognised by FIFA. The game took place in the city of Uzhhorod close to the border with Hungary in the spring of 1992 and saw Hungary win 3-1.
This game was organized almost by accident. The president of FFU was on vacation with his wife in Budapest. Walking the streets of the city, they ended up by the doors to the Hungarian Football Federation and decided to enter. With the help of his wife who knew English, they agreed to play a game between the two national teams.
At first they come up with the date of April 28, but because of Viktor Bannykov birthday it was agreed to postpone it to April 29. The place also was changed from the original at Olympic NSC in Kyiv to the Avanhard in Uzhhorod, because of financial difficulties. Those difficulties also contributed to the hardship of gathering the national team of the FFU because the Federation could not afford to pay a plane ticket of some of the footballers. On the other hand, Hungary also did not seem to be such a difficult opponent finishing in the fourth place of Group 3 during the UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying event. However the Hungarians managed to pull a surprising draw during the game in Moscow with József Kiprich being the major hero of the Mighty Magyars at that time. Hungarians did manage to bring their optimal team roster to the game in Uzhhorod, the central stadium of which was filled as never before. Emerich Jenei in his career as a coach effectively led his teams in the games against the Soviet national football team and had some world-class experience qualifying to the 1990 World Cup in Italy.
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