Opinion – The World is a Ball: Goal by a 12-year-old refugee boy is a symbol in the Ukrainian War

The Ukrainian War, an insanity in a world that should be in another fight, the one for peace, is going to last two months.

Attempts at an agreement and a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, which would bring some hope of an armistice between the two former Soviet republics, were in vain, and the deaths, injuries and destruction only increase in Ukrainian territory.

One of the places hardest hit by Vladimir Putin’s army offensive is Mariupol, in eastern Ukraine.

With the port city bombed, residents, for survival, fled westward. Hundreds of them fled the country, taking shelter in neighboring nations such as Poland, Romania and Hungary.

A boy named Dmytro Keda, aged 12, is among the Mariupol refugees.

And this week, on Thursday (14), he became one of the symbols of war – or rather, against war –, leading a message of civility and friendship.

To raise funds to help Ukrainian migrants, a charity match was held in Gdansk, Poland, between Shakhtar Donetsk, one of the most famous Ukrainian teams, and the home team, Lechia, fourth in the Polish Championship.

The match took place in a friendly atmosphere, with both teams wearing shirts with the inscription “Stop War”.

The 2-2 score at Polsat Plus Arena, which has a capacity for almost 44,000 fans, would take the game to extra time.

Only Dmytro didn’t allow it.

He left Shakhtar’s bench to invade the area and, with a precise shot with his right foot, score the winning goal. Lechia’s athletes did nothing in the face of the pre-adolescent’s fearless advance.

The people in the stands, draped with Ukrainian flags, were at first surprised; then they smiled and were moved.

Dmytro, who played with glasses and wearing the number 21 shirt, with the inscription “Mariupol” above the number, celebrated the goal effusively, being applauded by opponents and raised by teammates until he received a greeting from Shakhtar captain, veteran goalkeeper Pyatov, 37 .

The move, everyone noticed, was clearly agreed, not least because Lechia’s goalkeeper Mikulko was not even under the goal at the time of the finalization.

And here is a more than necessary combination, so that this image could, and can, travel the world and perhaps help to sensitize those responsible for the horrors of war.

After all, Dmytro is a child who, like so many others, found himself far from home, from the neighborhood, from the city. From school and friends.

He, like so many other boys and girls, certainly wants to return to his origins, as long as it is safe, without fear of dying.

So that the game of football between them can be, as before, a customary recreational activity, and not, as seen in Poland, a messenger of common sense.