LNZ Cherkasy: from Ukraine's fourth tier to European debut despite the war

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Ukrainian club were in fourth tier in 2021 but, despite war with Russia, will contest European qualifiers for first time

It is time for set-piece training at LNZ Cherkasy’s smart, shiny training facility. “Arsenal!” one player says with a laugh as the grappling at a corner begins, the joke spreading among others clustered in the six-yard box. That is a level everyone here must aspire to but they are edging nearer. This week a club from what used to be one of Ukraine’s football backwaters will make its European debut in a wartime success story with few modern-day parallels.

“We are making history,” the LNZ striker Mark Assinor says after the jostling has stopped and the session wound down. “But there’s been a change in mentality here and I think this is only a starting point for the club.”

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