— We have all long been waiting for successful results from our two clubs playing in European cups — “Shakhtar” and “Dynamo”. On Wednesday, the Donetsk team was very close to winning the match against PSV or at least drawing. But, unfortunately, everything changed with the sending-off of the Brazilian Pedrinho in the middle of the second half. Now the “miners” will have to postpone their ambitious plans for “later”.
Meanwhile, “Dynamo”, after confident victories in two-legged duels with “Partizan” and “Glasgow Rangers” in the first two qualification rounds of the European tournament, which instilled hope in the hearts of fans, is now somehow stuck in Europe.
— What can you say about the match in Hamburg, where Alexander Shovkovskiy’s team faced “Victoria” (Plzen)?
— Overall, the game was even, and our team did not concede in any way to the opponent. However, in ball possession, Kyiv’s “Dynamo” had the advantage. If Vivcharenko's goal had been counted at the beginning of the second half, our team would have perked up and could have continued to dominate the game. But when immediately after the disallowed goal, the Dynamo players conceded, they were very upset. And soon they conceded a second goal...
This is some kind of fatal misfortune: in this Europa League draw, “Dynamo” can hardly score — it’s difficult, it doesn’t work. I don’t even know why this has been happening for so many games. From match to match — and nothing worked to materialize the moments. Finally, at the very end of the fifth game, Kabayev scored a wonderful goal. But given that it was the last of the added minutes before the second half of the match, it played no role. So I repeat: once again, we have to regret that having favorable moments in the game, “Dynamo” is unable to realize them. And as soon as mistakes in defense are made — you immediately suffer from conceded goals. This is always the case in football — it doesn’t forgive mistakes.
— What do you see as the reason for “Dynamo”’s defeats in this Europa League draw?
— I find it difficult to answer this question, for one must know all the nuances in the life and activities of the Dynamo team. But it seems rather paradoxical that in the Ukrainian championship “Dynamo” looks confident, yet in the main stage of the Europa League, the team is seemingly cursed.
I have already mentioned the misfortune. Yes, in football, luck also matters. This is precisely what we see in “Dynamo”’s games. Alexander Shovkovskiy’s team creates scoring opportunities, but they can’t turn them into goals, no matter how hard they try! It cannot be said that the Dinamo players completely concede to a particular opponent. This cannot be said based on yesterday's game either. It seems that our team did everything correctly in attack, but... I don’t even know what to say. I can only express hope that in the upcoming matches, “Dynamo” will readjust and do everything possible to contribute points to the UEFA coefficient table for Ukraine.
Vyacheslav Kulchytsky
Sergey Chuychenko
