I love this news article about Ukraine's World Cup team.

Suddenly, all the old divisions don't seem so important. Ukrainians _ bitterly split over language, politics and whether they belong in the West or with Russia _ have been savoring a rare taste of unity with their country's gritty advancement to the quarterfinals of the World Cup.

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Politicians are salivating over how to capitalize on the unusual sense of unity, but also grumbling that it took a soccer team to do what they could not. For others, it's another chance to show the world that Ukraine is more than just the location of the world's worst nuclear accident or home to the president whose face was badly scarred in a still-unsolved poisoning.

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"Such [soccer] victories unite people and lay the groundwork to create a normal nation," said Yevhen Kushnaryov, a former regional governor who was accused last year of encouraging eastern Ukraine toward separatism.

The timing is also good. Ukraine's political life remains unsettled, three months after a parliamentary election ended indecisively; a majority coalition was formed only last week.

From: Ukraine Soccer Unites Divided Nation

Building a sense of unity is very important for Ukraine right now. It does seem odd that it took World Cup soccer (AKA football). And how long can the winning afterglow last?


The coalition government is just barely built (just last week). And it took them 3 months after the elections to pull the coalition together. Can soccer really be used to try and find common ground among Ukrainian citizens.... in politics.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko's pro-Western Our Ukraine party, the Bloc of Yulia Timoshenko and the Socialist Party agreed on the formation of a coalition government.

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However, the newly formed government is unlikely to last. Yushchenko and prime ministerial nominee Timoshenko have fundamentally different visions for Ukraine, and the two politicians have a prior record of friction -- though one would think that previous failures would come with lessons learned.

From: Ukraine's Government: Everything Old is New Again

The Ukrainian government seems to believe so. Back on June 13 the Ukrainian government said.

ITAR-TASS, Russia - Jun 13, 2006
KIEV, June 14 (Itar-Tass) -- The cabinet recommended employers provide Ukrainians with the possibility to watch the World Cup game

From: Ukraine government says watching WC match important