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Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

Kyiv Dynamo 1, Madrid Real 2

30 November, 1999 - 00:00

Dynamo’s most devout admirers were watching this game standing
on the stadium grandstand. It was worth watching on one’s feet. Not because
it was very frosty outside but because on that day we were bidding farewell
to a soccer year that may be repeated nobody knows when. The sensational
victory of Dynamo over the same Real in March and the ensuing well- earned
draw between the teams of Ukraine and France in Paris allowed us to enter
the family of great European soccer nations for a solid year. The finish
of the soccer year has implacably proved that we, as one politician said,
are neither No. 1 nor No. 2 in this family. Nor are we even Nos. 3 and
4.

Almost nobody expected in a miracle on the eve of the match
against Real. Even if the outside temperature had been plus 18 Centigrade,
the stadium would hardly have been full. There was no question of ticket
scalping, although interest in soccer has begun to revive in Kyiv as Dynamo
has been regaining its European fame. One of the bosses of our leading
club told the press about the courage with which the Kyivans lost to Lazio.
He was quite right. Our boys are capable of displaying courage in the game
against any rival, for which we thank them. But to win a match is something
else.

Whatever we say, Dynamo had only one European-class star,
Andriy Shevchenko. It is he who brought us victory over Real in the spring
and whom the Dynamo attack line will be missing for so long to come. The
Madrid club’s attack line in turn misses the Balkan duet of forwards Mijatovic
and Suker. Also missing on the Kyiv pitch were goalie Ilgner, fullback
Hierro, and halfback Redondo, who have formed Real’s central axis of game
in the past few seasons. But while the Spanish club’s stars, who have quitted
temporarily or for good, have been replaced by players from the national
teams of France, Brazil and Holland, Dynamo’s closest reserve is made up
of players from the teams of Belarus and Uzbekistan. This underscores yet
again the courage of Dynamo, which only could and did offer teamwork and
discipline, in execution of coach Valery Lobanovsky’s plan, to counter
the virtuosos of world soccer. Moreover, the Spaniards put on the pitch
two brilliant flank fullbacks Carlos and Salgado who seem to have inherited
the play manner of Kyivans Matviyenko, Troshkin, Lozynsky, Demyanenko,
Luzhny and others, i.e., they are able to handle the ball across the whole
pitch and then pass it on or score themselves. This is the kind of play
that could bring Dynamo success. However, the injured Kosovsky did not
play on the left, while the role of Mamedov on the right flank must be
a closely-guarded secret of our coaches. In any case, our side failed to
launch its customary flank attacks, while an accurate pass was made from
the pitch area entrusted to Mamedov, which allowed the Real forward Morientes,
looking like the pop star Ricky Martin, to score the first goal for his
team. Having surrendered the flanks, our players concentrated their efforts
on the center, where a very active game was shown by Husin, Belkevych,
Yashkin, and especially Khatskevych, who seemed to have been missing big
time soccer, recovering his best shape in Dynamo-2. He was the best Kyivan
player on that frosty night.

The Spanish goal was followed by open and cheerful play
resembling the recent Kyiv match versus Bayer. The guests played and let
our side play. But even the appearance of well-known Madrid loser Campo,
who will at least once each match let the ball rebound from a rival’s shooting
foot, did not bring the Kyivans luck. After referee Elleray cut short rough
play on a slippery and hard pitch by a series of warnings, Seedorf, Savio,
Karembeu, Guti, and other Real players vividly showed unquestionable superiority
in their ball handling. It is their carefree manner of handling the ball
that allowed the guests to pick up, when counterattacking, high collective
speed, which Lobanovsky thinks is important. By the same token, every other
movement one of our players, when he stopped or tried to dribble the ball,
let the rivals defuse the impending threat. This time the Kyivans failed
in making long shots on goal and passes to forwards. The guests seemed
to know in advance all our actions, and only when the ball bounced in an
unexpected direction, the Real defense line showed a gap or two. The wonderful
goal of Raul, who lobbed the ball miraculously and even playfully behind
Shovkovsky’s back, allowed all the spectators to rid themselves of any
unnecessary worry over the result. The persistent and careful running to
and fro by Dynamo caused not a ripple in the Real defense. What may have
caused a ripple was the mandatory penalty shot: Dynamo has mostly been
scoring from the penalty spot in this fall’s international matches. It
is not to be excluded that the referee wanted to correct the mistake he
had made in the nineteenth minute of the first half, when the ball flew
into the Real goal but was disallowed because of a nonexistent offside.
Had the referee awarded one more penalty shot, Dynamo would have had a
chance to get even, and if he had awarded a third one, they could even
have won. Jokes apart, it is possible. Aficionados remember the Kyiv match
between Dynamo and Neftchi (Baku) in the spring of 1987, when referee Zhuk
awarded three penalties for the Kyivans, who thus came even and then won.
This is not yet common practice on the international arena, while our side
has been failing for many months to score a non-penalty goal in critical
moments.

The defeat at the hands of Real is not a disaster like
the one Ukraine suffered in the match against Slovenia. Our boys played
well, even very well. But the opponent was stronger. Humiliating as it
is, our Dynamo was beaten calmly and without fuss by a European superclub
for the second time in this fall. Real repeated what Lazio had done earlier.
The next Champions League game versus Bayern in December is unlikely to
change anything. Then a long winter will set in, when Dynamo will be additionally
manned by players from Russia, Georgia, and other countries of our former
boundless fatherland, while Real and Bayern will be marshaling Brazilians,
Argentineans, and Uruguayans. This is the prospective reality shown again
by the match versus Real.

Vicente del BOSQUE: “It was the hardest match”

The guests’ coach was the first to come for the post-match
press conference. To be more exact, this was Vicente del BOSQUE ,
acting chief coach after John Toshack was dismissed a week ago:

“It was the hardest match in my life. I have never seen
soccer played in an outdoor temperature of -11 Centigrade. And I think
it is just a miracle that my boys won today.”

“Does this win make Real a favorite in the group, in
terms of tournament strategy?”

“This is only the first match. Although we were, of course,
trying to win in this game. And we are very happy we did. But, still, I
repeat, this is only the first match.”

“Do you think Real president Lorenzo Sanz will need
a new coach after this game?”

“We had a very good coach in John Toshack. It so happened
that now I lead the team. But the post of coach is transient. So everything
is in Sanz’s hands.”

Dynamo coach Oleksiy MYKHAILYCHENKO:

“In my opinion, the team showed itself in its best light
despite the result. Yes, the players made some mistakes. But this is inevitable
in any match. In general, the team played well.”

“Do you agree that the blame for the first and second
goals must be put on the Dynamo goalie Shovkovsky?”

“A goalkeeper always feels guilty when he cedes a goal.
But I don’t think he did anything wrong in these instances. Yes, there
were some slips and mistakes. But the goalie is as much a player as the
others. The point is his mistakes, thanks to his position, are more visible.”

“To make a slow start in a tournament has become a tradition
for Dynamo.”

“Of course, we did not intend beforehand to lose the match.
I am not adventurous enough to predict a sure victory in Madrid. But in
any case we’ll fight to the end.”

By Kyrylo STADNYCHENKO, The Day

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