Ukraine have roused themselves in the nick of time to salvage their Euro 2024 hopes, behind substitute Roman Yaremchuk's late strike, after falling a goal behind to beat Slovakia 2-1 in a lively Group E clash.
Trailing at halftime to an early header by Ivan Schranz, Ukraine's hopes of reaching the knockout stage were in peril, but they stormed back in front of their joyous fans.
Slovakia, who produced the shock of the tournament so far to beat Belgium in their opener, would have sealed a last-16 berth with a win, but sat back after a dream start and were punished.
Man of the Match Mykola Shaparenko equalised in the 54th minute with a close-range finish, before his pass sent Yaremchuk clear to prod the winner, and spark ecstatic celebrations from the ranks of yellow and blue inside the Duesseldorf Stadium.
The win has been celebrated at Kyiv too, not least by Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who praised the team in his nightly video address in the war-torn country.
"Today we are grateful to our national team," said Zelenskiy. "Every time our boys press, keep trying and strive for victory, everything works out.
"I spoke before the match with both [manager] Serhiy Rebrov and [former coach] Andriy Shevchenko, and with the boys. I was truly hoping for a good outcome for Ukraine, for our people, to lift everyone up.
"On our road to victory, every victory is needed and we got just such a result from our national team today."
The result moved Ukraine level on three points with Slovakia and Romania, who next face Belgium.
"Today we conceded a goal and reacted very well," said former Ukraine striker Rebrov, who made five changes to the side that started the 3-0 drubbing by Romania.
"I can't say this was a different team, but it was a different spirit - the spirit of Ukraine. Today this was a very important win for Ukraine, for our country."
Slovakia will kick themselves at failing to take at least a point, which would have all but guaranteed them matching their journey to the last-16 in 2016.
Instead, they will fear a repeat of Euro 2020, when they also won their opening game, before defeats by Sweden and Spain left them packing their bags for home.
"I'm happy with the team's performance and proud of my lads," said coach Francesco Calzona. "We allowed the opposition half an hour when they punished us."
Reuters
