6 months after upsetting Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League, Sheriff Tiraspol’s coach Yuriy Vernydub joins the Ukrainian forces in the fight against Russia. In September last year, Sheriff Tiraspol scripted one of the biggest upsets in Champions League history when his lowly side beat 13-time UCL winners Real Madrid. The Moldovan minnow, founded in 1997, clinched a 2-1 win at the Bernabéu thanks to Sebastien Thill’s last-minute stunner, which propelled them to the top of Group D that also had Inter Milan, Shakhtar Donetsk.
Six months later, with his country reeling in war after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine last week, Yuriy Vernydub has thrown the coaching suit to the back-burner for military fatigue. Joining the Ukrainian forces was on Vernydub’s mind even when he was plotting tactics in the club’s boardroom.
“I have a wife, two children, two grandchildren, brothers, and sisters, I wish them health and that this war does not touch them,” he had said last week to Sheriff media.
“When I arrive in Moldova, I will ask to go to my family, if they need my help I will always be there. ‘I want to leave a few words of support for the people in Ukraine, who suffered an attack from Russia. I am proud of the people who are defending the country,” Vernydub added.
The 56-year-old was born and raised in Zhytomyr, a northern city in Ukraine. As a youngster, he started as a defender and midfielder and his career kicked off with Ukrainian club Spartak Zhytomyr.
He would then go on to play for several clubs including Russian heavyweights Zenit Saint Petersburg. His managerial career began in 2002 when he became the assistant manager of another Ukrainian club — Metalurh Zaporizhzhia. In 2011 he was appointed as the full-time manager of Zorya Luhansk, where he gained a lot of success with his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation. In December 2020, he was given charge of Sheriff Tiraspol. He won the Moldovan National Division in his first season at the club and then led the team to the Champions League group stage for the first time in their history.
His wild celebration after beating over Real Madrid had gone viral but on Tuesday another picture posted on social media revealed Vernydub in his army attire ready to fight a different battle.
Fraternal support
Sheriff player Gustavo Dulanto took to Twitter to send a message of support to his coach. “May God protect my DT Yuriy, who went to Ukraine,” wrote the Peruvian defender.
Que Dios proteja a mi DT Yury que se fue para Ucrania… 🙏🏻
— Gustavo Dulanto Sanguinetti (@GDulanto) February 28, 2022
The war has seen the sporting fraternity standing united for the country’s cause.
Vernydub joins the likes of the Klitschko brothers and Oleksandr Usyk, one of the best boxers around, who had held WBA/WBO/IBF heavyweight belts, to join Kyiv territorial defence. So has boxer Vasiliy Lomachenko, who has been photographed with a machine gun slung over his shoulder. Retired tennis player Sergiy Stakhovsky too has thrown himself into the battlefield, and said he is not reluctant to use the gun. “I know how to use the gun. If I’ll have to, I’ll have to,” he was quoted as saying.
Stakhovsky has left his wife Anfisa and children at their home in Hungary. “I’m still not sure how I’ve done it. I know that it’s extremely hard on my wife. My kids don’t know that I’m here. They don’t understand war. They’re too little to understand what’s going on,” he said.
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