Ukraine celebrates 'Football Day'

Ukraine is one of the few countries in the world to celebrate its very own Football Day - and that day is today, 29 April. Hence across the country thousands of youth, veteran and amateur players took the field to celebrate the occasion.

Ten-year anniversary
Ukraine's Football Day commemorates the country's first official international game against Hungary, on this day in 1992. Although Ukraine went down 3-1 in that inaugural match, the date is still marked as the starting point of Ukrainian football.

Street football tournament
According to the Ukrainian press, about 500,000 players were involved in celebrations across the country. In Kharkiv, a tournament involving 1000 teams was played while the capital, Kyiv, staged a special street football tournament.

Part of curriculum
In 2000, football became an official part of the academic curriculum in Ukrainian schools, and over one million schoolboys play the sport in 22,000 schools nationwide.