Rough Play Halts Final Tune-Up

As tempers flared between Kiev’s Badr El Kaddouri and Moscow’s Dmitri Kombarov, manager Yuri Semin made the wise decision to take the ball (and his team) and go home. The match between the two Dynamos, longtime rivals from the Soviet days, was called after 67 minutes with the score level at 1-1. The final ten minutes of the “friendly” saw the referee hand out six cautions, four of them for the Russian club. With the players from both teams exchanges pleasantries following the final confrontation, Semin saw fit to pull his squad off the field rather than risk injuries ahead of Tuesday’s showdown with Valencia in the UEFA Cup.

It has been an unpleasant week for Semin with regard to his former clubs. Semin has announced he will pursue legal action against Lokomotiv Moscow and its board for attempting to devalue his 15 percent stake in the club. Semin spent 20 years in charge of Lokomotiv, lifting the side from obscurity to win the league twice and the cup four times. The 61 year old manager seems genuinely hurt by the treatment he is receiving from Lokomotiv’s current management, stating in a press release that all he wants is “to be treated fairly” by a club to which he gave his best years.

Semin’s time at Dinamo Moscow was both unsuccessful and short lived, and Saturday’s events will do little to replace those bad memories. Perhaps the only positive to be had from the contest was Serhiy Kravchenko’s free kick from 25 meters out that gave Dynamo the lead. Aleksandr Kerzhakov evened matters for the Russian side shortly before the break. Semin fielded a first choice eleven for the match, having previously hinted he would select a lineup that would closely resemble the team that will face Valencia. As expected Betao, normally the right fullback, started in the center of defense. With Ismael Bangoura unavailable, Artem Milevskiy was alone up top until the 60th minute, when Semin brought on young striker Artem Kravetz for midfielder Tiberiu Ghioane. It remains to be seen whether Semin trusts Kravets enough to use him against the Spaniards. Another question is who will start between the posts for Dynamo. Oleksandr Shovkovskiy started the match, with regular keeper Stanyslav Bohush, still testing an abdominal injury, coming on at halftime.

Also on Saturday Valencia were held 1-1 at home in La Liga action by a surprising Málaga side. Despite the requisite goal from David Villa, Los Che cannot claim to have been the best team on the pitch and were perhaps lucky to hold on to a point. I watched this match and I have to say the defensive deficiencies of Valencia left me feeling rather optimistic about our chances on Tuesday. Stay tuned for a full preview as Dynamo gets ready to play for keeps for the first time in 2009.

Dynamo K 1 – 1 Dinamo M

Category: Dynamo Kyiv Team News

Tags: Aleksandr Kerzhakov, Artem Kravets, Artem Milevskiy, Badr El Kaddouri, David Villa, Dinamo Moscow, Dmitri Kombarov, Dynamo Kyiv Dinamo Kiev, Dynamo Kyiv Team News, Ismael Bangoura, La Liga, Lokomotiv Moscow, Málaga, Oleksandr Shovkovskiy, Serhiy Kravchenko, Stanyslav Bohush, Tiberiu Ghioane, UEFA Cup, Valencia, Yuri Semin

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