Hypothetical XI #11 – Soviet Union

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Andy Shenk provides a modern day Soviet Union XI…

It’s been over 20 years since the Soviet Union splintered into 15 independent nations, but memories of the socialist state’s military might and vast expanse linger in the region’s consciousness. Links between Moscow and Belarus, Eastern Ukraine, Transdniestria and the controversial Georgian provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia remain strong, while anti-Russian sentiment in cities such as Lviv, Tallinn and Tbilisi may never abate.

Football, much like the other Olympic sports, the arts, science and technology, magnified the achievements and the failures of the Soviet state. From an empire struggling to rebuild following forty years of unrelenting war, famine and violent repression, the Soviet national team emerged in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics as one of the most dominant squads in the world, winning that tournament as well as the 1960 European Championships, advancing to the Euro finals in 1964 and 1972, and finishing 4th at the 1966 World Cup. Continue reading

Shakhtar Donetsk: When East Met West

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False Nine debutant, Harry Catharell-Hargreaves, charts the origins of Shakhtar Donetsk’s creation and journey that has them flourishing in the Champions League and routinely picking up the domestic honours in Ukraine…

Towards the end of the Russian Empire, vast amounts of British industrialists seized upon the unrest in the region by opening factories, mills and mines in previously hostile areas of Eastern Europe. Needing the pioneering expertise of British workers to come with them on this journey, the businessmen brought much of their workforce along. Continue reading