On the face of it, it’s a mystery why the fifth largest city in Ukraine has the best football team in Eastern Europe.
But money talks. And Shakhtar owner Rinat Akhmetov has plenty of it.
Speak to locals and they’ll tell you he already runs the country by virtue of it – he has no need to be in Parliament as that’s a waste of valuable time.
Continue reading Basque-busters – Shakhtar Donetsk 4 Real Sociedad 0
Slagheap City, it has to be said, hides its charms well.
Nearly a million people now live in Donetsk, which was set up by Welshman John Hughes after he came out here in 1869. In effect he sparked an industrial revolution in this part of eastern Ukraine.
The legacy of his efforts is staggering to behold when you travel out to the huge metallurgical plant in the south of the city.
Les Bleus were bleu-dy awful and this must rank as Ukraine’s greatest day in football – the moment the champion chokers beat a world power convincingly.
Ten years ago, Wales drew 0-0 in Moscow in the Euro 2004 play-off first leg. We lost the second leg 1-0 and, on the pitch, have never posed a serious threat to the opposition since.
The weekend was an extraordinary, surreal experience. At one point Cardiff hooligans were negotiating with local idiots to have a fight in Red Square. At the match, we had to barge policemen out of the way to enter the terrace. It was relentlessly crazy – just read Darren Tandy’s amazing tale below to get a sense of what life there is like. Here’s my piece which was first published on the Bobbing Along website:
Continue reading Extreme noise terror – Russia 0 Wales 0 (2003)
Second time around, and it’s still the best show in the world.
Dakh Daughters Band headed to Lviv in Western Ukraine to play two concerts in what is regarded by many as the spiritual capital of the country.
Here Ukrainian is more widely spoken than Russian than in the east, which is regarded as more Russian.
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In Bristol, in July, being a bit late to the party and having heard only the one song, I wasn’t really on the wavelength.
This time, I got it. The show was better, the audience wildly enthusiastic, the performances more intense and dynamic.
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Atletico look like a reasonable long shot for La Liga.
In some ways they are the best team in Spain. ‘Team’ in the sense of a collective effort and making the most of every talent they have.
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Not so much a football match as an outbreak of naked class war.
Rich v poor, city slickers v working class, left wing v right wing. In Spain, supporting a club is often a loaded political stance. Think of Barcelona’s ‘Mas que un club’. This was no different.
Before the match, the Rayo Ultras – known as Bukaneros – unveiled a giant banner that covered the entire Fondo Sur. It read: ‘Somos pobre como orgullo con cojones como punos’ – ‘We are poor, but proud, with testicles like fists’.
Continue reading Hasta la victoria siempre – Rayo Vallecano 2 Real Madrid 3
American band try their hand at Russian klezmer song.
Just a quick update of YouTube videos. 9Bach, the Welsh language band who offer a new take on traditional folk songs were excellent at the Womex 2013 event at the Millennium Centre in Cardiff.
Time to find out if Gareth Bale has the cojones for La Liga.
And what a game it proved. A famous stadium. A famous scoreline – same as the incredible 1960 European Cup Final – harking back to days of Di Stefano and Puskas. The sense of history celebrated and history in the making was immense.
Continue reading On the Bale trail – Real Madrid 7 Sevilla 3
Miles from Nowhere 