Ukraine Kicks off UEFA Nations League in Style

Ukraine vs Czech Republic
16 October at 19.00
Metalist Stadium (Kharkiv)
Ukraine came out to a flying start in their Nations League debut, knocking off both Slovakia and the Czech Republic to take the maximum points. The team stunned the Czechs with an injury-time winner to complete the comeback after falling behind 10 minutes into the encounter, while forward Andriy Yarmolenko netted an 80th-minute penalty to get past the Slovaks. UEFA’s newest tournament is designed to make ‘friendly’ encounters between nations more meaningful by adding the incentive of an additional way to qualify for EURO 2020. Ukraine currently plays in the second-tier League B, where the winner of the group will be promoted to the highest league. The winners of the four League B groups – so long as they have not already qualified for EURO 2020 – will compete in a playoff in March 2020, allowing unsuccessful squads a last-chance effort to qualify. Ukraine hosts the Czech Republic at Kharkiv’s Metalist Stadium on 16 October before travelling to Slovakia to complete the new competition on 16 November.
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