History beckons for the winners of the UEFA Cup final between Germany’s Werder Bremen and Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine in Istanbul tonight.
Both sides are appearing in the competition’s final for the first time, with Shakhtar bidding to become the first Ukrainian side to win a European trophy since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Werder are hunting for their first major European honor since the 1992 Cup Winners’ Cup, while both sides know that whoever wins will enter the record books as the last UEFA Cup champions before the tournament’s re-launch as the UEFA Europa League next term.
The German side qualified for the final by beating arch-rivals Hamburg on the away goals rule and they also eliminated their near neighbors in the semi-finals of the German Cup, setting up a meeting with Bayer Leverkusen on May 30.
Despite their cup exploits, Thomas Schaap’s side, who knocked out previous favorites AC Milan in the round of 32, have endured an underwhelming league season.
The 2004 German double winners have been the epitome of inconsistency, hitting five goals in victories over Bayern Munich, Hoffenheim, Hertha Berlin and Eintracht Frankfurt, but struggling against the league’s lesser lights.
A tame 3-1 defeat at home to bottom side Karlsruhe in their penultimate league game on Saturday confirmed a 10th-placed finish prior to a thankless trip to champions-elect Wolfsburg next weekend.
Werder will be without key players for the match in the Sukru Saracoglu stadium, with Juventus-bound playmaker Diego and Portuguese striker Hugo Almeida both suspended and German international defender Per Mertesacker injured.
Diego’s Brazilian compatriot Naldo is also a doubt for the game, having missed the defeat to Karlsruhe with an adductor muscle injury.
“If I am not completely fit than I will not play,” the center-back said. “But I will fight and give my best to be back. It would be unbelievably beautiful and important for us to win the UEFA Cup.”
Shakhtar, last season’s Ukrainian champions, go into the game after thrashing Lugansk 3-0 away from home to secure second place in this year’s championship behind runaway champions Dynamo Kiev.
A brace from forward Yevgen Seleznov and Brazilian midfielder Willian was able to clinch victory and a place in the third qualifying round of next year’s Champions League.
“We were the better side tonight and I believe the score is pretty fair,” said Shakhtar coach Mirea Lucescu, who rested a number of first-choice players.
Shakhtar are likely to be at almost full-strength tonight, with only Czech midfielder Tomas Hubschman absent after he picked up a booking during the semi-final triumph over Dynamo.
Lucescu’s side have also been boosted after the club doctor said Brazilian attacker Jadson should be able to play after shaking off a knock.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but