PICTURE: Vorkuta captain Liubomyr Halchuk and a jubilant FC Vorkuta have been presented the ProSound Cup by Filippo Cosentino of Pro Sound Hearing Services following a 4-2 penalty kick victory over Scarborough SC at Centennial Stadium Sunday. PHOTO: Michael Heuthe, Ocean Fog Productions……………………
It didn’t need goals to be a match worth watching. It was 120 minutes of Scarborough vs FC Vorkuta without a goal being scored, a thrilling event that belies the theory that to be attractive soccer the fans must see goals being scored and the more the better.
Goals were scored eventually, as penalty kicks, following the 90 minutes of regulation time and 30 minutes of extra time in an otherwise scoreless, well-played match, with good pace throughout. The ProSound Cup Final at Centennial Stadium Sunday was won by FC Vorkuta , a 4-2 penalty kick decider to add to the regular season league title won at the end of an abbreviated pandemic-restricted regular season two-month campaign.
There were a number of close calls during the 120 minutes. More from Scarborough than from Vorkuta which gave the Toronto east end team a slight edge throughout.
In the early stages, Scarborough midfielder Vladimir Zelenbaba drove the ball over the bar from 35 yards after just nine minutes, while late in the match forward Taha Ilyass struck the woodwork at 19 minutes of overtime. Scarborough had several opportunities in-between, but goalkeeper Anatoli Starushchenko, considered by some to be Vorkuta’s best player this night, was a big reason one or two Scarborough efforts failed to find the net.
After 120 minutes, Scarborough failed on the first and fourth penalty kicks, with Marco Johansen and Camaal Reid finding the net on numbers two and three. Vorkuta scorers from the spot were Liubomyr Halchuk, Sergii Ivliev, Iaroslav Solonynko and Vadym Gostiev.
The finalists have been competing fiercely with each other for top honours during the past three seasons following a period when Vorkuta held a near dominance since entering the CSL in 2017. Vorkuta has won three regular season league titles (2017, 2019 and 2021), two CSL Championship titles (2018 and 2020) and now the ProSound Cup. Vorkuta also took Second Division honours with its reserve team in 2018 and 2019. Scarborough captured the CSL Championship in 2019, the First Division title in 2020 and were CSL Championship finalists three times, 2017, 2018, 2020.
With three titles up for grabs this brief season, Vorkuta has taken two. The third title, the 2021 CSL Championship, is next.
Vorkuta coach Victor Raskov was elated following Sunday’s victory. “This was a very difficult game for us, difficult to win but we played well and I think deserved to win,” he said. A disappointed Scarborough head coach Mirko Medic was more philosophical, saying “That’s the way the game goes sometimes, we played well enough to win, but there were missed chances to score, but I think we played a good game,” he said.
FC VORKUTA: Anatoli Starushchenko (Goalkeeper), Illia Pitenko (Defender), Bogdan Borovskyi (Defender), Jesus Eduardo Compean Gonzalez (Midfielder), Liubomyr Halchuk (Defender), Oleksandr Alieksieiev (Defender), Pavlo Chornomaz (Midfielder), Sergii Ivliev (Midfielder)Serhii Melnyk (Midfielder), Serhii Ursulenko (Midfielder), Vadym Gostiev (Midfielder).
Substitutes: Andrei Clurchin (Goalkeeper), Cannes Choy (Midfielder), Hlib Kiselov (Defender), Iaroslav Solonynko (Midfielder) 61 minutes, Leonid Husak (Defender), Pavlo Shulhan (Defender), Valerii Yarmosh (Midfielder) 70 minutes..
Head Coach and Club Official: Andrei Malychenko, Assistant Coach: Viktor Raskov
SCARBOROUGH SC: Aubrey Lowe (Goalkeeper), Camaal Reid (Midfielder), Gonzalo Matias Cabrera Celis (Forward), Jordan Webb (Midfielder), Marco Johansen (Defender), Milos Scepanovic (Forward). Misel Klisara (Defender), Odein Simpson (Defender), Sven Arapovic (Defender), Taha Ilyass (Forward), Vladimir Zelenbaba (Midfielder).
Substitutes: Aleksander Zwierzynski (Forward) , Edgar Aswaldo Osorio Rios (Defender) 117 minutes, Hasan Abdul (Midfielder), Kiril Dimitrov (Forward), Lukas Risto (Defender), Marvin Morgan (Forward) 57 minutes, Moussa Limane (Midfielder), Neven Radakovic (Forward) 57 minutes, Stefan Nikolic (Midfielder) 109 minutes, Vladimir Dragicevic (Goalkeeper), Zoran Knezevic (Midfielder) 65 minutes.
Head Coach: Mirko Medic, Assistant Coach: Vladimir Dragicevic, Club Official: Kiril Dimitrov.
Match Officials: REFEREE: Timur Qayoumi; ASSISTANT REFEREES: Faris Efendic, Edward Brown; 4th OFFICIAL: Niroban Jayaakumar
Venue: Centennial Stadium, Toronto
Stan Adamson