Former Ajax CT Talent Wins Historic Title In Europe

Former Ajax Cape Town striker Lassina Traore has won a historic title in Europe, helping Shakhtar to win a historic Ukraine Premier League title.

It was Shakhtar’s 14th domestic league title but a historic one after the club lost over 15 players and their former coaches when the war in Ukraine broke out.

The entire season has been played in war-hit Ukraine with games regularly interrupted by air raid sirens, with the country being invaded by Russia.

While many of the club’s foreign players left at the beginning of the campaign, Traore was one of the few who stayed with the club.

The 22-year-old joined Shakhtar from Ajax Amsterdam in July 2021 in a deal worth €10 million (R210 million) and has since made 45 appearances for the club.

He made 31 appearances in 2022/23, with 25 of them coming in the league, where Traore has scored five goals and set up four more.

At the age of 16, Troare joined former Ajax Cape Town and spent two years in the club’s MultiChoice Diski Challenge team before leaving to join Ajax Amsterdam after turning 18.

Meanwhile, Shakhtar’s CEO described league title win as a “historic” achievement, amid the ongoing war and the struggles the club had to go through as a consequence.

“A historic title, a historic victory, because it was achieved during the full-scale war,” CEO Serhii Palkin told the club’s media team.

“Therefore, it is very important for us. I believe that this title, this victory will be remembered for years.

“Another reason why it is important: if you remember how it all started, when there was no coaching staff, when all the foreign players left the club, we started to build a team from scratch – and we built it.”