account of it not yet being admitted to FIFA. Meanwhile, some of the best Ukrainian players of the beginning of the 1990s (including Andrei Kanchelskis, Viktor Onopko, Sergei Yuran, Yuriy Nikiforov, Ilya Tsymbalar and Oleg Salenko) chose to play for Russia. At that time Vyacheslav Koloskov was the only top official from the former Soviet Union and later the Russia who served as a vice-president of UEFA in 1980–1996 and represented the Soviet Union and later the Commonwealth of Independent States. The Soviet Union's five-year UEFA coefficient, despite being earned in part by Ukrainian players (for example, in the final of the last successful event, Euro 1988, under the direction of Valery Lobanovsky, 7 out of the 11 starting players were Ukrainians), were transferred to the Russia national team. As a result, a crisis was created for both the national team and the domestic league. Another reason for the occurred harsh crisis in the Ukrainian football was lack of adequate funding of teams, due to the general economic crisis that has affected all of the CIS countries. There also was a reverse influx of players; Viktor Leonenko agreed on transfer from Dynamo Moscow to Dynamo Kyiv. The Russian club did not want to release him, but Leonenko did not want to continue to play in Moscow. In the following years, the Ukrainian team improved, showcasing talents like Andriy Shevchenko, Serhiy Rebrov and Oleksandr Shovkovskyi. First official games (Prokopenko) Soon after being accepted to FIFA and UEFA as a full member in 1992, Ukraine selected its first manager by members of a coaching council which consisted of Anatoliy Puzach (manager of Dynamo Kyiv), Yevhen Kucherevskyi (FC Dnipro), Yevhen Lemeshko (Torpedo Zaporizhzhia), Yukhym Shkolnykov (Bukovyna Chernivtsi) and Viktor Prokopenko (Chornomorets Odesa). Later, they were joined by Valeriy Yaremchenko (Shakhtar Donetsk). The circle was narrowed to three specialists; Prokopenko eventually became the manager. Ukraine played their first match on 29 April 1992 against Hungary in Uzhhorod at the Avanhard Stadium, losing 3–1 with the sole Ukrainian goal scored by Ivan Hetsko. With the creation of "fantom" (transitional) CIS team in place of the Soviet Union playing its own friendly against the England in Moscow in preparation to the UEFA Euro 1992, the Ukrainian team lost some notable players to the that team. Following a couple of losses to Hungary and a tie to United States, Prokopenko resigned and the last season game that