Ukraine get grounded quickly
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
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"There was some turbulence during landing but I hope the tournament itself will be smoother for us," said Yevhen Konoplyanka as Ukraine arrived at their Aix-en-Provence base.
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"There was some turbulence during landing but I hope the tournament itself will be smoother for us," said Yevhen Konoplyanka as Ukraine arrived in France for UEFA EURO 2016.
The squad were greeted warmly by local dignitaries after landing at Marseille Provence airport on Tuesday afternoon before heading to their base in beautiful Aix-en-Provence.
Speaking immediately after touchdown, winger Konoplyanka said: "Our training camps in Italy and Switzerland were great and we are eager to kick off UEFA EURO 2016. We know we have a very tough first opponent [Germany] but I'm not nervous at all. For now we're just glad to be here."
Mykhailo Fomenko has brought a mix of talent and experience, with Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, Ruslan Rotan and Andriy Pyatov veterans of UEFA EURO 2012 and the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the only previous major finals Ukraine have appeared in. Andriy Shevchenko, a scorer at both tournaments, is now an assistant coach.
After shaking hands with dignitaries and posing for photograph, the players and staff boarded the bus to their hotel in Aix, a town of 143,000 north of Marseille. The team train today at 18:30 at Carcassonne Stadium, home to Aix FC and American football club the Argonauts, with their first open session planned for Wednesday.
With Ukrainian national flags visible throughout town, Aix-en-Provence has been thrilled to join the UEFA EURO 2016 party at the last moment: Ukraine, one of four play-offs winners, chose their camp later than the rest. The locals, who also hosted New Zealand during the 2007 Rugby World Cup, will hope their guests can at least match the All Blacks' quarter-final run.
"We are happy and proud to welcome the Ukrainian side and hope they have a great stay," Victor Tonin, president of the Aix tourist office, told UEFA.com. "The players and fans will be able to discover the richness of our cultural heritage, the variety of our Provençal cuisine and the sweetness of this town with its 100 fountains. Our people want to see Ukraine train and to meet the players."
"We've already had that special sense of being in France and we can see it's a beautiful city we are staying in," Ukraine captain Ruslan Rotan said. "We are pleased with our preparations and the two wins in our last friendlies, but it will only matter if we win in France. All our thoughts are on that first game against Germany."
Football Federation of Ukraine (FFU) president Andriy Pavelko added: "We've had a great reception in France and we can already see the great work done by this country and UEFA in terms of security, which was a very important issue for us. We are expecting a wonderful tournament."