On Thursday evening, the 12-year-old Dmytro Keda had a spontaneous moment of joy after he scored a goal for his favourite football club, Shakhtar Donetsk, during a charity match in Poland.
Keda had to flee his home in Ukraine’s Mariupol after the city came under attack from the invading Russian forces.
A video of the heart-warming moment shows Keda wearing a shirt that said “Mariupol” as other members of the Shakhtar Donetsk wore T-shirts with names of other Ukrainian cities. The jerseys of both teams also had the message “no war” written over them. In the video, after Keda scores a goal he is held up by his teammates amid much cheering from the crowd.
Dreams come true!
Dmytro Keda from #Mariupol played for his favorite @FCShakhtar and scored the winner in charity match against Lechia Gdansk ⚽“#Shakhtar Global Tour for Peace” is supported by the MFA🇺🇦, all proceeds will be donated to 🇺🇦defenders and children affected by war. pic.twitter.com/ll6X8eU9eM
— MFA of Ukraine 🇺🇦 (@MFA_Ukraine) April 15, 2022
🙏🏻 Dreams come true 🧡 A 12-year-old boy from Mariupol spent a day with Shakhtar ⚒
Dmytro Keda got acquainted with the team players, received a player kit and boots, took the field and scored the winning goal! ⚽#Shakhtar #Україна #Ukraine #StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/7y2KyEG6fh
— FC SHAKHTAR ENGLISH (@FCShakhtar_eng) April 15, 2022
After the match, the club’s official Twitter page shared a picture of Keda attending a Shakhtar Donetsk match with his father in 2014 when he was just four years old. The football club captioned the tweet, “Football is more than a game In 2014, Dmytro and his father attended Shakhtar matches at the Donbas Arena. In 2022, the boy played for #Shakhtar and scored the winning goal in a charity match.”
Football is more than a game 🧡
In 2014, Dmytro and his father attended Shakhtar matches at the Donbas Arena.
In 2022, the boy played for #Shakhtar and scored the winning goal in a charity match.https://t.co/OgSEBjUI5K pic.twitter.com/gcEQP8iELV
— FC SHAKHTAR ENGLISH (@FCShakhtar_eng) April 15, 2022
CNN reported that before the match, the Ukrainian anthem was played, which was followed by a minute of silence observed in memory of those who lost their lives in the ongoing war.
The match was a part of Shakhtar Donetsk’s Global Tour for Peace campaign in which the team was playing friendly matches with international clubs to raise money for civilians as well as armed forces in Ukraine. According to the club’s website, as of April 7, 2022, Shakhtar Donetsk managed to raise $47.2 million for their country.