What was the 2004/2005 season like for the 16-time Ukrainian champion Dynamo Kyiv?
Super Cup 2004 in the hands of DynamoThat season kicked off in Odessa with a match for the Super Cup of Ukraine. The strongest teams of the previous season, Dynamo and Shakhtar, competed for the trophy. The hero of the clash between the opposing sides was goalkeeper Oleksandr Shovkovskiy.
The winner was not decided in the regulation time. In the penalty shoot-out Sasho saved five (!) Don players' penalties and eventually converted the winning shot.
Dynamo players have won the Super Cup for 8 times.
Seventh Cup of Ukraine.
In this very successful season, the Kievers snatched one more prize. They also won the National Cup for the seventh time.
On 28 May, at the NSC Olimpiyskiy in Kyiv Dynamo beat Shakhtar 1-0.
On the way to the finals the Bilo-Syni beat Olkom (Melitopol) - 4:0, Yavor (Krasnopolye) - 6:0, Karpaty (Lviv) - 1:0, Volyn (Lutsk) - 4:0. In the semi-final, the Kyiv side met with Kryvbas (1-1 and 2-0).
Seven points went to the champions.
Now let's talk about the main tournament - the domestic championship. It should be noted that there are newcomers in the Dynamo squad. In the centre of defence there are Brazilians Rodolfo and Rodrigo. The Romanian Irimia and Serbian Ninkovic were also invited.
But in the championship, things did not go well for Kyivians. They finished seven points behind Shakhtar.
In the 16-team tournament, the Pitmen scored 80 points, with Dynamo netting 73, and Metalurh Donetsk, the bronze medallist, making 49.
The Brazilians are the most productive players for the vice-champions: Rincon scored 10 goals in 25 games, and Kleber - 8 (in 22 meetings).
Szabo didn't stay for long
The big surprise for the fans was Kiev's defeat at home to Trabzonspor 1-2 in their UEFA Champions League qualifier. Olexiy Mykhailychenko was dismissed, with Jozsef Szabo stepping in.
Under him, the Kyiv side won 2-0 in Trabzon and advanced to the Champions League group stage for the eighth time in a row.
Two group victories over Italy's Roma 3-0 and Germany's Bayer Leverkusen 4-2 made the Ukrainians favourites. However, in the next four games Dynamo scored only four points. They were not enough to leave the group.
The third place allowed Dynamo to play in the UEFA Cup. But our players failed to defeat Spanish Villarreal (0:2 away and 0:0 in Kyiv). At the end of the season, Jozsef Sabo handed in his resignation, which was accepted by the club management.
That was the season 2004/2005 for Dynamo.
Oleksandr LYPENKO for Dynamo.kiev.ua
