Jose Mourinho’s bad luck

Milan–Kyiv — The debate about whose soccer championship, Ukrainian or Russian, is more powerful, has been raging since both countries’ teams stopped playing in the USSR championship. Within the framework of the Champions League group tournament, Ukraine’s champion Dynamo Kyiv played Rubin (Kazan), the champion of Russia. The argument was thus transferred from a purely theoretical plane into a practical one and will see continuation in Kazan in late November.

At the same time, for some obscure reason no one has considered the championships of Spain and Italy and how strong they are, despite the fact that their teams are in the same group with Dynamo and Rubin. Over the years we have developed the habit of thinking that the Spanish and Italian soccer leagues are some of the world’s best, and there is no way their level can be compared with that of the Ukrainian or Russian leagues.

This was the status quo until the most recent games in the third round of Champions League group tournament were played.

Arriving in Milan on the eve of the game, Ukraine’s champions hardly noticed any attention on the part of the local mass media, which were engaged in a discussion over the last round of their championship, where Inter Milan defeated Genoa 5:0 in an away game.

Even the presence of Dynamo’s Andrii Shevchenko, who scored 18 (!) goals against Inter while playing for another local team, failed to arouse any genuine interest in the city of Milan. Jose Mourinho, our rivals’ coach, had expressed absolute certainty that his squad could win hands down both at home and in Kyiv, thus securing a safe position in the group. The fact that Inter found itself on slippery ground after nearly losing to Rubin in Kazan did not alert anyone in Milan: the tie was taken as merely an unfortunate glitch.

As a result, late night on October 20 the grand Stadio Giuseppe Meazza was barely half-full. Some 30,000 fans came to see Inter’s guaranteed victory over Dynamo. True, several hundred of them were supporting the champions of Ukraine — and not in vain.

By building a flexible defense that involved four backs and two holding midfielders, Dynamo’s coach stalled the hosts’ offense. In their turn, they were extremely astonished at being unable to cross the center line and attack Dynamo’s goal. Ognjen Vukojevic and Taras Mykhalyk played against Inter’s halfbacks so efficiently that the ball virtually never reached the hosts’ sole forward, the famed Samuel Eto’o. Instead, it reached Julio Cesar’s goal: into the second minute, after a corner kick Andrii Yarmolenko shot and nearly scored. The next standard play near Inter’s goal ended with a goal scored by Taras Mykhalyk.

The Kyiv squad might have increased their advantage and had several opportunities to do so, but they made a mistake, and Dejan Stankovic tied the game after a counter-attack. Yet the first half ended in Dynamo’s favor: under their pressure the host’s fullback Lucio scored own goal. Walter Samuel, an Inter fullback, had the final say by tying the game early in the second half after a corner kick.

Both squads spent the rest of the game attacking and counter-attacking. The most dangerous attack was led by Shevchenko, who missed in a duel with Inter’s goalie. Thus, the final score is 2:2.

It is hardly possible to predict the final outcome in this group. If anyone had said before the start of the tournament that the champions of Ukraine and Russia would draw with Barcelona, Spain’s best soccer club, and overtake the equally glorious champion of Italy, no one would have believed. Barcelona’s sensational defeat at the hands of Rubin can also be taken as a stroke of bad luck, of course, while Dynamo’s tie in Milan can be explained by underestimation on the part of the hosts. Still, aren’t there a bit too many coincidences in such a short while? It might perhaps be wiser to take a different look at the situation.

The exact and impartial records testify to the fact that in the battles with the champions of European leading soccer nations Ukrainians and Russians looked more than decent. At this stage one can say with confidence that the best participants of the Ukrainian championship meet the highest international standards. The same can be said of the Russian championship in which Dynamo’s present coach, Valerii Gazzaev, made a name for himself.

Everyone could see that the champions of Ukraine equaled the leading European teams. What remains to be done is switching from the Champions League to Ukraine’s national championship. Exceptionally intriguing matches are ahead, and I am sure they will make us forget about the Champions League for some time. Let Mourinho ponder this: a defeat in Kyiv on November 4 will mean a farewell to the Champions League for his team. If this does happen (and we feel we have some reasons to hope for it), it will be no accident, but a regularity. This will prove that the Ukrainian soccer championship on the whole and Dynamo Kyiv in particular are maturing.

UEFA Champions League. Group tournament. Inter Milan (Italy) – Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine) 2:2. Barcelona (Spain) – Rubin (Russia) 1:2.