Shevchenko Scores a Lobanovsky-Style Goal of His Own

Many were inclined to consider the friendly match between Valery Lobanovsky’s pupils and one of the strongest Italian clubs as a dress-rehearsal for Kyiv Dynamo before the official start in the 2000 season: the Champions League game versus the Norway’s Rosenborg.

The Kyivans went to Italy with a far from its strongest lineup: first-string players Rebrov, Vashchuk, Kosovsky, Yashkin, Dmytrulin, and Konovalov were off the pitch due to various injuries. After a very hard Sunday match against Lazio, Milan in fact put rookies on the pitch, reinforcing them — only in the first half — with Boban, Leonardo, and Shevchenko. In the eleventh minute, Shevchenko scored a goal for Milan after neat dribbling, which strikingly resembles Oleh Blokhin’s second goal against Atletico in the Cup Winners’ Cup final in 1986. Dynamo came even in the 41st minute after Khatskevych’s brilliant volley (incidentally, Andriy Shevchenko was the first to congratulate the Belarusian transfer). In the second half, when Milan put out its second or third string, the Kyivans took the initiative and Demetradze logically ended a three-move combination, also with a volley shot: 2:1.

Wednesday night Dynamo played its final pre-season friendly match against Varese, an Italian third-division team. We can say so far that Dynamo will be able this year to beat Prykarpattia and Milan-2. However, we hope Lobanovsky’s pupils will overcome the unyielding Rosenborg on February 29. On the other hand, who says Dynamo cannot outplay Bayern or Real?