Without a Good Game the Needed Result is Hard to Come by

After the game Hryhory Surkis could heave a sigh of relief; he had shown Leonid Kuchma, who attended the Dynamo vs. Alborg match, his skills as a campaign agent: an 80,000- seat stadium packed, millions of fans watching the Dynamo's endeavors in the Champion's League (a total of four games scheduled) make up very fertile ground for publicity. True, the same scenario was played out before the parliamentary elections, but Dynamo's mediocre performance with Juventus in the quarterfinals reduced to nil the effect of the United Social Democrats' involvement with the national team, and the party had a hard time surmounting the 4% barrier.

Even though Dynamo's games are getting political, this time soccer, rather than politics, was in the limelight. Quite honestly, what the Kyiv lads did on their home turf could be described as soccer with many reservations. Not only because 20 minutes before the end of the match the Ukrainian champion (winning its first game outside the country, 2:1) had a real chance to trade this year's most prestigious European Champion's League Cup for that of UEFA, or because many passes were bungled, the defense inadequate, and the whole play lacked stamina. Three quarters of the time Dynamo could hardly be described as a team, let alone one seeking the Champion's League trophy.

Of course, one can console oneself by remembering that two years ago, in 1998 Dynamo literally crawled into the League, but then showed a brilliant performance. Pragmatic coach Lobanovsky put the team in top shape toward the end of the group tournament. He did the right thing, but there was the reverse of the medal, meaning that Dynamo was actually oriented toward several meets a year, a luxury the team not only had to reject, but which was also highly damaging. In an interview with Prosport, Dynamo's legionnaire from Belarus, Khartsevich, said point blank that playing 8-10 serious games a year is not interesting.

Indeed, this tactic meant throwing a damper on the team, gradually killing its team spirit, for the stronger players would always want to vie in stronger championships, and not only because this paid better; a good soccer player needs a real game. Can you picture Manchester United just walking over the field at the start of the season, saving strength for a crucial Champion's League meet? Apart from the fact that the rival teams would take advantage of this passivity at domestic championships, MU would lose its fans and suffer serious financial damage. Here in Ukraine we constantly think up excuses for Dynamo's bad performance, while millions of its fans want it to play well, so that even defeats would not look so embarrassing.

Fortunately, last Wednesday the team showed its character by tying the game, 2:2, getting into the League. Without doubt, our national genius, Valery Lobanovsky, will make them do better in the group tournament, and we will happily watch not torturous ties but full-fledged, spectacular Dynamo victories.

COMMENTARY

Andriy BIBA:

The way I see it, nothing terrible has happened. Alborg has again shown that it is a very strong team. Dynamo, being scored a quick goal, started having butterflies and spent most of the game under the rival's pressure. But chickens shouldn't be counted before they hatch. I was glad to see the Dynamo players pull themselves together in the last minutes of the game and achieve a positive result.