Dynamo, losing to Bayern 1-0, out of the UEFA Championships (04/25/99)

Coach pledges:"We will start over again"
Dynamo, losing to Bayern 1-0, out of the UEFA Championships

by Andrij Kudla Wynnyckyj
Toronto Press Bureau

TORONTO - Kyiv Dynamo Coach Valeriy Lobanovsky's claim that his player could score three goals again in the second leg of the UEFA Champions Cup semifinal proved to be nothing but hubris.

They couldn't even manage one.

On April 21 they lost 1-0 at München (Munich) Bayern's home stadium, and thus were eliminated after an impressive run that saw them improve markedly over last year's campaign and climb as high as fourth in the European club rankings.

The match began auspiciously, with a surprise chance given Oleksander Khatskevych in the first minute. On that play, Bayern netminder and team captain Oliver Kahn almost mishandled the ball. This proved to be the last time he would waver. In fact, Kahn found the form he'd clearly lacked in Kyiv, and almost singlehandedly kept the Kyivan side off the scoreboard in the first half.

At the fifth minute, Andriy Shevchenko sprung Belarusian teammate Valiantsin Bialkevich with a deft lay-off, and the midfielder sprinted through the defense for a glorious (but missed) chance. ESPN commentator Mike Hill mused that had the roles been reversed on the play, Dynamo would likely have been celebrating its first marker.

At the 11th minute, Khatskevych was left unmarked and blasted a header towards the top of the goal, but again Kahn was up to the challenge and knocked the ball over the bar.

At the 18th minute, Bayern turned the tide of pressure. Jens Jeremies was found open, but sent a shot too high. At the 22nd, Alexander Zickler set off a shoving match over Kyiv's alleged shirt-pulling, which earned him and Ukrainian defender Oleksander Holovko yellow cards.

Two minutes later, in a portent of what was to come, Mario Basler ran past Dynamo's defense and sent a shot screaming just wide of the right post. At the 34th minute, Basler made a throw in into the middle, Jeremies dribbled through Dynamo's defense, then passed it back out to Basler.

The Bayern midfielder advanced to the penalty area, faked two Kyiv defenders to the grass and, just as the clock ticked onto the 35th minute, let loose a perfect shot that hit high on the left post and went in behind goalkeeper Oleksander Shovkovskyi.

The Dynamisty mounted a furious counterattack immediately afterwards, but Serhiy Rebrov was robbed at point blank range by the fearless and focused Kahn.

In the second half's first minute, Kyiv once again raced forward, showing off the crisp short passing that has brought it admiration in Europe and into the playoffs, but was turned away by veteran free safety Lothar Matthäus.

At the 51st minute, Vitaliy Kossovskyi was brought down deep in the Bayern zone, and Shevchenko was given a chance to hook another foul shot behind Kahn as he'd done in the home leg. His effort curved just wide. Seven minutes later came another foul opportunity, but this time the superstar striker made an uncharacteristically poor choice and sent the ball right at the protective wall of Bayern players.

From that point on, Munich both clamped down defensively and began to dissolve the Dynamo defense. Basler, who had spent much of the season either injured or grousing at his teammates, set himself apart as the other star of the match.

Basler made repeated runs down the right side. At the 64th minute he fed first-match-equalizer Cristen Jancker with a perfect pass that the winger bicycled over the net. Three minutes later Basler nearly scored again himself, forcing Shovkovskyi to stretch to full length to keep a laser drive out. At the 75th minute, Basler placed a beautiful hooking cross right to Jancker substitute Ali Daei, who headed it fiercely at the Dynamo net, only to be foiled by a miraculous save from the Ukrainian keeper.

At the 80th minute came what proved to be Dynamo's last chance to score. After Matthäus was yellow carded for a dangerous tackle on Rebrov, team captain Oleh Luzhnyi found Shevchenko with a long pass. In wizardly fashion, the striker danced through two Bayern players (one of them Basler), but then let off a mundane shot that Kahn gathered in with relative ease.

In a post-match interview, Coach Lobanovsky said he was proud that his players never stopped pressing. The veteran tactician told Agence France Presse, "We played a strong team. It is not a tragedy to lose against Bayern. We are happy that we got to the semis. We will start over again."

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