Shaktar Donetsk won the 2009 UEFA Cup final, beating German side Werder Bremen 2-1 after extra-time. They became the first Ukrainian football club to win the UEFA Cup, & the second Ukranian club to win a European competition. (Shaktar's domestic rivals Dinamo Kiev won another European competition a couple of times, but that was quite a while ago).The 2009 UEFA Cup final, held in Istanbul, was closely fought, as reflected by the fact that the match went into extra-time. In the end, the result was just about well-deserved, as Shaktar was probably slightly the better team in the final. Watching Shaktar play in their orange strips, they showed moments of enterprising football & at times I felt like I was watching the Netherlands (orange, that's why) on a good day! All the goals in the final were scored by Brazilians. Shaktar had quite a few of them. Shaktar's forward Luiz Adriano opened the scoring in the 25th minute, but Werder's defender Naldo equalised 10 minutes later via a free-kick. The half-time score was 1-1, & this remained the score at full-time as no goals were scored in the second-half. Shaktar grabbed the winner in extra-time through their midfielder Jadson. Cue celebrations at the final whistle. It looks like Werder Bremen may have missed their suspended Brazilian playmaking midfielder Diego, but that should not take anything away from Shaktar's achievement. Had Diego been available, the match would probably still be close, & Shaktar Donetsk would still have been difficult to break down.
This is a remarkable victory for Shaktar Donetsk. I believe Werder Bremen had been favourites to win the final, perhaps because they are one of Germany's strongest football clubs & the German league is rated considerably higher than the Ukrainian league. I myself tipped Bremen to win. But it's good to see Shaktar win the cup as no side from Ukraine have previously won this particular competition, while on the other hand, German club sides have won European competition far more numerously. Nothing against Bremen, though. They get to fight another day, as they play Bayer Leverkusen in the German Cup final in just a few days time. I would support Leverkusen (as I would if they play any other German side), but would certainly not begrudge Werder Bremen if they win that one.
Meantime, congratulations to Shaktar Donetsk! Their win is a reward for the investment pumped into the club by its billionaire president & business man Rinat Akhmetov. In fact, there seems to be a trend lately of club sides from Russia & Ukraine gaining an injection of wealth from their owners/presidents, which has enabled them to sign quality players to compete well with their Western European counterparts. In Shaktar Donetsk's case, they have some quality foreign players on their payroll - a handful of Brazilian footballers, a Nigerian, & national team players from other parts of Eastern Europe such as Czech Republic, Croatia, Poland, Serbia & Romania. And of course, the club also has local Ukrainian players, some of whom are regulars members of the Ukraine national football squad. The mix of local & foreign players means that Shaktar Donetsk has a capable squad which can challenge the top club sides in Europe. And perhaps win a couple of trophies here & there, as Werder Bremen just found out. Their supporters would hope that the 2009 UEFA Cup is the start of many triumphs at the European club level.
This is the last season of the UEFA Cup in its current format. From next season, the competition will be known as the Europa League & the format will be a little different.
No comments:
Post a Comment