Ukrainian national team wins Cerebral Palsy European Soccer Championships

From The Day in Kiev, Ukraine:

The Ukrainian national team has won the Cerebral Palsy European Soccer Championships and will thus vie in the 14th Summer Paralympics scheduled for 2012 in London, reports the press service of the National Paralympic Committee of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian national team met August 28 with its traditional Russian adversary and beat it 9:8 (with the traditional penalty kicks), winning the European Paralympic title. None of the organizers had expected this final match to last so long.

In the first half the Russian team scored only minutes before the referee’s whistle, the Ukrainians got even in the second half: 1:1, then two additional 10-minute halves didn’t change the score. Finally, penalty kicks (eight on the Ukrainian and seven on the Russian side) named the European champion.

The open Cerebral Palsy European Soccer Championships, held in Glasgow, Scotland, involved nine European Paralympic national teams from Scotland, Russia, the Netherlands, Spain, Denmark, Ireland, Ukraine, England, and the one from Australia.

Traditionally, the Russian, Ukrainian, Dutch, and Irish teams were the favorites. Most teams had new players, totaling 67.