Passion and prudence blend perfectly for Semin
Thursday, April 16, 2009
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FC Dynamo Kyiv coach Yuri Semin hailed the impact of both the home fans and his "unbeatable" centre-halves as the Ukrainian outfit galloped into the UEFA Cup semi-finals with a 3-0 win against Paris Saint-Germain FC.
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FC Dynamo Kyiv coach Yuri Semin hailed the contribution of the Valeriy Lobanovskiy Stadium crowd and his unyielding central defensive partnership after a 3-0 victory secured a UEFA Cup quarter-final triumph over Paris Saint-Germain FC. Recalled after missing the 0-0 first leg, Ismaël Bangoura opened the scoring in Kiev and after visting goalkeeper Mickaël Landreau made two decisive mistakes, there was no way back for PSG. The French club's coach, Paul Le Guen, said his side "lacked aggression and determination", admitting the Ukrainian club were the better team on the day.
Yuri Semin, Dynamo coach
First of all, I have to thank all the fans for creating a fantastic atmosphere inside the stadium. It helped us a lot; the players were motivated to the limit. We played some great football and now we look forward to the future with optimism. It doesn't matter who I want to face in the semi-final as you never choose your opponents. We played at home tonight, that's why we were more adventurous than in Paris. [Artem] Kravets wasn't able to play today, but Bangoura filled in very well. I also have to mention that our central defenders [Goran] Sabljić and [Ayila] Yussuf were almost perfect – they were very solid and unbeatable in the air. I replaced the latter, because the result was decided by then, to keep him fresh for future matches.
Paul Le Guen, PSG coach
What can I say? The result says it all. It was a hard-fought game. We didn't take our scoring chances. I can't say that Dynamo totally outplayed us. Of course, two quick goals made the scenario really tough. Still, if we could have scored when it was 2-0, we would have given ourselves a chance for a semi-final place. We lacked aggression and determination today. Dynamo were stronger that us tonight, and in sport you have to be able to admit when you have been bettered. But still, I wouldn't count this as a total fiasco. Our goalkeeper made a horrible mistake, giving away the second goal, but we never considered replacing him.