Bayern 2, Dynamo 1

The blind draw of European tournaments has brought together, for the fifth time, Dynamo Kyiv and Bayern Munich. A match against Germany’s leading club has always been for the Kyivans not only a sport competition but also a landmark that determines Dynamo’s place in European soccer.

The rival that came out on the snow-cleared Munich grass to take on our leader could and was to be defeated.

I do not think there is much need to retell the course of the game televised live all over Ukraine. It would be more advisable to ponder over what caused yet another fiasco for our soccer leader. What we seemed to see on the pitch was a team of Dynamo-uniformed players trained by a high-class coach, but not a team of personalities. The fullbacks and the goalie no longer trust each other, each trying instinctively to take up the functions of a partner who could make a mistake.

On their eight-month-long way from Munich to Munich, our side has lost not only Andriy Shevchenko but also the good soccer spirit which used to help them win over the capricious soccer luck.

The team did not look like a single body. For instance, Holovko did not obey Shovkovsky and struck the ball as far off as possible, instead of letting it go. Or take Shovkovsky and Dmytrulin telling each other words before the eyes of a millions-strong TV audience. Now the second goal into our net because the above-mentioned players failed to coordinate their actions. Now the final whistle, fixing Dynamo’s defeat in the last match of 1999.

Winter has set in. The players and coaches have enough time to think over their mistakes and get things straightened. In the spring, we will see a new Dynamo Kyiv, while Dynamo-99 has gone down in history for good, leaving us the results they gained. Let us thank the team and the coaches for their performance, let us remember not the defeats but victories, also quite numerous on the long road of tournaments.