Dynamo wins Ukrainian championship five minutes before last meet’s end

Kyiv soccer fans had a real feast last Tuesday, after Dynamo won the national championship’s gold. The Dynamo vs. Dnipro of Dnipropetrovsk match proved emotionally saturated, reaching dramatic peaks surpassing everything experienced by local fans. Looking for similar duels, one has to dig up archives dating from the 1970s and 1980s. We will not. The subject on hand is exciting enough.

Before the last round on the Ukrainian soccer championships, Kyiv Dynamo was one point ahead of Shakhtar (Donetsk) and had to beat Dnipro, because the latter’s victory over Metalurh (also of Donetsk) was quite certain. The alignment of forces before the crucial match was in Dynamo’s favor; tit was on its home turf and could finally break free of the vicious circle of defeats starting last fall. Dnipro had no tournament incentive, having previously booked third place at the table. Still, the remarkable dedication of almost every team vying the champion this spring made one expect a Herculean effort.

The starting team membership lacked Khatskevych and Yashkin; Dnipro did not have Herashchenko, Yezersky, and Maziar. The absence of the latter two would have been an unpleasant surprise, except that both were Dynamo players leased by Dnipro.

Dynamo Stadium was packed without thousands of Donetsk fans arriving by train, plane, or bus, perhaps for the first time in the history of Ukrainian soccer championships. The capital’s fans arrived in force to watch a domestic meet (heretofore mostly ignored in favor of European cups).

Describing the game is not easy, perhaps because the main thing was not the coaches’ tactics and strategies but the players’ mood. They fought for every pass until the last second. Once again Dynamo showed its inability to overpower saturated defense. Belkevych was perhaps the only one to keep the field in full view and send accurate passes. The rest of the capital’s boys simply did their best to act out the scenario, each in his place, standing little chance against the visiting adversary that showed as much diligence and did not have to launch an offensive.

The intrigue was started by Dmytrulin, seen by the Dynamo club trainers as a mid-field of late. The newly formed halfback gave Dnipro’s forward Spevakov an accurate pass and all the latter had to do was race past gaping Dynamo central forwards and send the ball flying smack into Shovkovsky’s goal. Over forty minutes remained till the end of the match. Big-time soccer was shown during that time, with coaches’ schemes and instructions remaining just the frame for the players’ best individual performance.

Dynamo seemed to be playing on its toes. All passes were intercepted by the other team’s well- organized defense. And the penalties generously dispensed by the referee Melnychuk were all bungled. The outcome seemed anyone’s guess but for Dnipro’s central forward having to pull out after an injury. He was replaced Yezersky and from then on Dynamo gained easy access to Dnipro’s penalty area, even though no one could score.

Dnipro’s counteroffensive proved so strong it almost ended with Poltavets facing Shovkovsky alone. The situation was saved by Vashchuk who broke the rules yet received the yellow card. Everything pointed to a shattering finale for Dynamo and then Nesmachny (he had been trying to execute an accurate pass forward from the start of game) shot at the enemy goal from almost the end line. And he scored! This had the boxer’s knockdown effect on the Dnipro defenses and as they were coming to the senses Dynamo waged another attack, with Melashchenko executing a perfect header, assisted by Yashchenko: 2:1 five minutes before the referee’s whistle.

Suppose we return to the beginning. All at the stadium, witnessing Dynamo’s triumph, no matter who they cheered for, had an experience they would remember years after. Legends would be composed about Nesmachny’s and Melashchenko’s gold shots. Quite normal for a normal soccer life to which we seem to have finally returned after a decade of constant and painful failures and searching for soccer fortunes abroad. No need to travel far, the fortune was right here. At long last Ukrainian soccer has proved that it can be better than all those imported standards, attractively wrapped as they are but already trying on home territory.

Without doubt, there would have been no such emotionally packed intrigue in the championship finals but the for money that came to our soccer, along with Donetsk Shakhtar leadership’s ambitions. On the other hand, it has transpired that hard cash can and should be invested in our soccer. Symbolically, the crucial goals were scored by players originating from Ukrainian soccer and such — not just imported up-and- coming stars — deserve conditions according to European standards. Future soccer attainments should be sought here in Ukraine, among our own talented people, lest someone else do it instead. This approach is certain to pay back quicker and better. Although it is too early to discuss Ukrainian soccer, a packed stadium seems a signal clear enough for those with money and influence to realize that competition can be put to good use, that advertising and commercials commemorating soccer events should be effusively utilized by domestic television companies, and that Ukrainian soccer championships can be made a highly salable television product. In a word, Ukrainian soccer fans should be attracted to domestic stadiums to cheer on their teams.