Beaten 0:1 by Borussia in Dortmund, Ukraine s champs lose last chance to play for European cups
We wanted to believe and have hope. With boundless enthusiasm we strained our eyes until they ached, peering at the Champions League group tournament charts for even the slimmest chance for Dynamo after its three consecutive losses. We also did so after the first, second, and third round, hoping that our side would this time break its run of bad luck and start to score and win. Now there is nothing to look forward to. With one point gained in five games, Dynamo will never rise from dead last, showing the worst ever result in Champions League tournaments and setting a personal worst in Eurocup games by being thrashed four times in a row.
EVERYTHING SEEMED SMOOTH
Dortmund welcomed the Ukrainian delegation with a warm fall rain which came down on Tuesday and Wednesday, as if to schedule, at exactly 8:40 p.m. Our side managed to have a dry training session at the stadium on its day of arrival. Meanwhile, German television had already made its forecast of the two teams’ starting lineups, 100% on the mark when it came to Dynamo.
This was actually quite easy because only thirteen ready to play fielders had arrived in Westphalia from Kyiv. We lacked team captain Oleksandr Holovko, suspended by the UEFA for two games for punching Liverpool’s Afro-English player Emil Heskey in the face. This happened after the match in reply to a string of what might be called English foulmouthed language. The home team did not include Marcio Amoroso, who had already scored against both Shakhtar and Dynamo this fall. Also out of play was middle fullback Juergen Kohler. For the first time in this league tournament, Dynamo coach Valery Lobanovsky fielded Andriy Husin, who seems to have recovered from an injury, as a first- stringer.
As the Ukrainians had far poorer chances for an overall success, we believed this would help the team play as boldly as it could. By all accounts, the seventh Champions League match since August is an experience that once took years to gain. There were hopes that the players would at last implement the tactics mapped out by the Dynamo coaches.
WRONG FIGURES IN OUR FAVOR
The final summary, promptly prepared by the organizers immediately after the game, recorded practically the same stats for both teams: the same amount of time in control of the ball, almost the same number of corner and free kicks awarded, goal boxes hit five times. There also are, undoubtedly, other, more detailed, conclusions about of the game to be made by experts. But laymen, i.e., tens of thousands in the grandstands and hundreds of thousands watching on television, only saw two figures, 1:0, against us. And, no matter how hard we cheered for the Kyiv players, how hard we wished them to successfully implement their coach’s tactics, it was clear that our side played worse. It is not in the will to win, boldness, endurance, or speed that Borussia players had an edge over their Dynamo counterparts. The hosts also committed a lot of mistakes in passes and defense, and launched a few muddled attacks. I use the word also because our side did this as well. The only point is that each team took different advantage of the other side’s mistakes. It is only enough to run fast and show technique in taking hold of the ball if you want to force your rival to make a mistake. But, to achieve something of your own, you have to demonstrate class, which the Ukrainian champions failed to do in Dortmund.
Well before Tomas Rosicky had elegantly outplayed all our defense line and the goalie, Jan Koller and Evanilson missed surefire opportunities to score. In fact, quantity transformed into quality. But the shots made by Oleksandr Melashchenko, Oleksandr Khatskevych, Andriy Nesmachny, Andriy Husin, and Vladyslav Vashchuk from suitable positions were far less dangerous either because it was too far from the goal or a kick was too weak or, on the contrary, too strong. The Kyivans only occasionally showed high-quality performance, which never logically culminated in a combination. The opponents quite easily found ways to parry Dynamo attacks by cementing their own defenses.
The Dortmund game was this year’s last chance for each Dynamo player to show himself in Europe. Was it again failure to achieve on time its scientifically planned peak shape? Beyond any doubt, this peak is sure to come when the postponed Ukrainian championship games are played. What is more, the competitors will by that time have a different motivation and be in a condition other than the one Borussia is in.
HITTING THE TARGET
This European failure does not yet mean the end of the season for Dynamo Kyiv this fall, with a face-saving match still to come versus Boavista in Kyiv. Still ahead are this season’s most important fixtures of the Ukrainian national team and the remaining national championship and cup matches. During these games, we will again cheer the Dynamo club and its players. But let us be honest with each other and immediately set a goal — so that the club either achieves it or is held responsible for the failure to do so. I stress that it must be held responsible rather than say that “we don’t turn defeat into a tragedy.”
