Before Thursday night, a Ukrainian club had never reached the UEFA Cup quarter-finals, but then two – traditional powerhouses FC Dynamo Kyiv and FC Shakhtar Donetsk – made the last eight within half an hour of each other.
'Not afraid'
When Dynamo and FC Metalist Kharkiv were paired in the Round of 16, Ukraine's quarter-final duck was sure to end, but Shakhtar's effort to turn around their tie against former Soviet rivals PFC CSKA Moskva was an unexpected bonus for the country's football fans. Following Dynamo's landmark achievement, coach Yuri Semin believes there is no limit to what his side can achieve in this season's competition, saying: "After such a game we're not afraid of any other contenders."
Away goals win
It was actually the first game Dynamo had lost since 25 November, but the 3-2 defeat by their fellow Premier League outfit allowed them to progress on away goals. "I think both teams played really well today," added Semin, whose charges needed a 79th-minute own goal from Andriy Berezovchuk to seal their qualification. "Hopefully the fans enjoyed it although the home supporters won't be happy with the end result. Everything was against us tonight – we went two goals down twice but kept fighting and got there in the end."
Stoical Markevich
Metalist had to content themselves with victory on the night and the fact they were the first side to put three goals past Dynamo goalkeeper Stanislav Bogush in any match this season. "Firstly, I want to thank my players for our achievement," said coach Myron Markevich, whose side enjoyed a superb European campaign in what was only their third season in continental competition. "Nobody bet a penny on us before the [first round] match against Beşiktaş JK, but we made it this far. We were just ten minutes away from the next round, but that's football."
Team effort
Meanwhile, Shakhtar's 2-0 win against CSKA brought unequivocal praise from their coach, Mircea Lucescu. "We deserved to win today," the Romanian said, as goals from Fernandinho and Luiz Adriano helped the Pitmen overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit and reach the quarter-finals at the fourth attempt. "We prepared really well for this match. CSKA are such a talented team but didn't have a single chance tonight. Vágner Love, who is a great striker in my opinion, could do nothing. Our players deserve congratulations – the whole team played really well as a unit."
(From Website : http://www.uefa.com/competitions/uefacup/news/kind=1/newsid=812147.html)
15 years ago