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A team split in two – will the Shakhtar-Dynamo divisions tear Ukraine apart at Euro 2016?

Tensions between players from Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk, Ukraine's two most successful clubs, could damage their chances

COMMENT

Most squad announcements for Euro 2016 came in fairly regular fashion, with a press release or a media conference delivered by the coach. Ukraine’s was different. Mykhaylo Fomenko, Ukraine’s head coach, revealed his preliminary squad in the usual manner but then Andriy Yarmolenko and Taras Stepnaneko stepped forward.

Yarmolenko, Dynamo Kyiv’s star man, and Stepanenko, the engine at the heart of Shakhtar’s midfield, used the press conference to apologise to each-other. Their dispute, one which threatens to divide the Ukraine team, came after Shakhtar’s 3-0 win over Dynamo ended in violence in May.