Dynamo ices out Bayer 4:2

The Olympic Stadium's grandstands were almost half empty. Our main arena looked European, for its crammed cheap seats were in contrast the center rows where most seats were vacant. The stadium and its outskirts lacked fans from other cities and villages, an irreplaceable feature of big-time international soccer. In the absence of the local equivalent of American good old boys munching sausage and fatback they brought from home, most of the audience were young Kyivans. At the mostly half-full approaches to the stadium, the numerous police guards were having their fun by blocking the road in the most unexpected places, thus artificially creating a crowd, and then carefully frisking several times every young and not so young male. Nobody had even thought of the possibility that ladies might turn up at the match, so the latter got a nice opportunity not only for an unexpected police massage but also to use men's toilets. Only youngsters and visitors from other cities can afford not to pay attention to such service. This is one of the reasons why the army of many thousand Kyiv soccer fans prefers to stay at home and watch on television, thus denying themselves the undeniable pleasure of being pawed by policemen. They hoped for Dynamo's success, but did not much believe in it. The players also needed belief in themselves: either to continue the legend of a unique super club putting a hex on Europe's best, or to begin the slow slide down to the level of pre-Lobanovsky times. Nobody could imagine before the game that Dynamo and Bayer, traditionally organized and well-disciplined teams, would display such open soccer. If the score had been 8:7 or 12:10, nobody would have said it did not fit the match. The two teams' position before the game was such that the Bayer's victory would have solved all its problems, leaving our champion to play Maribor for the right to play in the UEFA cup, while our team's victory could allow them to cling to second place and continue to play in the League of Champions. From the very first minutes, the German club's halfbacks headed by the Brazilian virtuoso Emerson seized the pitch center. Ours had nothing to do but to either retreat to the defense line and wait for a goal or to press, trying to rob their adversaries of the ball and counterattack. The Kyivans were lucky in the very first minutes: Kosovsky scored the same goal as Husin did in Leverkusen: stealing the ball from Bayer's fullbacks, Rebrov passed it from the flank to the goal area, and the score was 1:0. After that, the teams scored by turns. At first the Germans surged to Shovkovsky's goal area and held it until the indefatigable Kiersten pushed the ball home, only seconds after our goalie had miraculously deflected it. Then our boys three times pestered the goal-hungry Germans with counterattacks. By making cross-field passes, our halfbacks put Shatskikh three times in a row eye-to-eye with Matysek, and our Uzbek hit the ball home in the third attempt, making the score 2:1. The second half was also like this: the Germans scored, then ours did. It seemed Bayer was confident of scoring as many goals as they needed.

Even Novotny, who cemented the central defense line, was thinking more about organizing attacks, let alone the adventurous Heiduk who played more like a forward rather than a fullback. As a result, Kosovsky had his favorite corridor on the flank. When ours scored the third goal, I remembered the spring battle with Munich Bayern. I mean three goals in Kyiv are not enough for a victory over a Bundesleague club. It would have been exactly like this had it not been for Shovkovsky. It was his unbelievable reaction that saved Dynamo each time the rivals approached our goal area, exchanging free-striding passes. And the 11- meter penalty saved by Shovkovsky finally broke down the pretentious Leverkusen challengers. The first to stop, unable to withstand the Dynamo tempo, was Emerson. The Kyivans began to play more confidently against their now tired opponents, as if they were continuing the domestic championship match versus Tavriya they had played the day before. Belkevych and Yashkin helped our halfbacks pass mid-field. The match reached its logical culmination in a showpiece counterattack which brought Vashchuk forward to make the final shot.

The victory over Germany's number two inspires confidence. The more so that it was achieved in an open game, not typical of Dynamo. Having understood that defensive play alone would not bring success against Bayer (in any case, they would score), our players launched an offensive, much to the joy of the young spectators in the grandstands and those glued to their televisions.

Could Dynamo lose? No doubt. However, true grit and good luck helped our boys win in a beautiful, dramatic, and griping game. What kept them from playing like this against Maribor? The spectators were thanking the Dynamo players not so much for the victory as for the spectacle. You always want to go and see soccer like this.

What struck me pleasantly was the absence of political campaigning at the stadium. This might have been accidental, or perhaps we have all finally understood that soccer is dear to us as it is, without electioneering hoopla. Now we can say almost confidently that coaches will run again from other districts and oblasts to Kyiv for the match vs. Lazio, the group tournament's concluding game. The people will again believe in Dynamo, and the provinces will manage to find diesel oil for buses and fatback to weigh down the vodka and moonshine. The big-time soccer we are used to will return to Kyiv.