“It was a great game to watch at the end of the year.”

On the way back from the stadium, a friend of mine, an English journalist, said in a tone of satisfaction.

The “Ukraine Charity Match” took place at Japan National Stadium on 18 December last year. It was a cold night, but the competitive spirit and high level of play between the two teams made for a very enjoyable match.

Last year, a number of big European clubs visited Japan during the summer to play “pre-season” matches against J.League clubs. However, the aim of these visiting clubs is to gain a share of the Japanese market by showcasing their star players. For this reason, it does not matter if these matches take place immediately after the off-season, when the players are not fully fit.

It is my policy not to attend these matches regardless of what star players are coming to Japan, but I was intrigued by the fact that FC Shakhtar Donetsk, the Ukrainian champions who have done well in the UEFA Champions League this season, are coming to Japan to take part in a charity event to provide housing for the war-torn people of their homeland. Their opponents was to be Avispa Fukuoka, who won their first title in the J.League YBC Levain Cup.

Shakhtar is a club from the city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. However, the region has been effectively under Russian control since 2014, and since then Shakhtar have taken refuge and trained in the capital city of Kyiv. Their home games are held in Kyiv and Lviv, a city located in western Ukraine, and in this season's Champions League, their three home games took place in Hamburg, Germany.

Four days before the match in Tokyo, the team played their final group match of the Champions League in Porto, Portugal, losing 3-5 in a hard-fought encounter. From there, they flew for almost 24 hours, arriving in Tokyo on the 15th, and taking part in events to meet Ukrainians who had sought refuge in Japan from the following day.

Apart from the speeches from politicians and others that went on for quite some time while the players from both teams stood on the pitch in the cold, the match was very competitive and extremely entertaining.

Hoping to encourage the people of Ukraine by playing at their best, Shakhtar fielded almost the same team that had faced Porto four days earlier and played with great intensity. Fukuoka, who were missing a number of key players for various reasons, also fought hard at both ends of the pitch and, despite conceding the opener, turned the game around at the end of the first half with some excellent combination play that had even Shakhtar coach Marino PUSIC clapping his hands in delight.

To everyone's surprise, Shakhtar substituted all eleven players in the second half, but still managed to maintain their high level of play and equalise through a spectacular cross-field pass that broke the Fukuoka defence. Fukuoka also made a number of substitutions and the game continued to go back and forth, but no further goals were scored, and the match ended in a 2-2 draw.

After the match, Fukuoka coach HASEBE Shigetoshi was humbled: “We were huge underdogs in terms of sheer quality, but we managed to get a draw because our opponents were tired after a long journey. Although the match taking place two weeks after the end of the Japanese season, we came prepared to give 100 per cent. I thought the players showed great spirit.”

Meanwhile, Shakhtar coach Pusic was upbeat in his comments: “I am proud that not only will we be able to help the people of our country through this charity match, but also that the players have really embodied my philosophy of showing the same quality regardless of what is at stake.”

People who had to leave their homeland, people who wanted to support them, fans from Fukuoka - the 18,114 people who attended the match came from a wide variety of people . On this night, everyone in the stadium experienced a match that lit a warm light in their hearts and made them think of the people who are suffering in the cold, without a home to live in.

Written by OSUMI Yoshiyuki (Football Journalist)

*This article was originally posted on the Japan Football Association Newsletter, “JFAnews,” January 2024 edition.

Japan Football Association Newsletter “JFAnews”

The Japan Football Association Newsletter “JFAnews” contains all the information on the Japan National Team, events hosted by JFA, tournament results, and team information throughout the nation. The official monthly magazine is a must read for coaches, referees, and all members of the football family.

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