ISTANBUL (AP)—Shakhtar Donetsk wants to keep the UEFA Cup, and perhaps it can.

Jadson scored from about 12 yards in the seventh minute of overtime, and the Ukrainian team beat Germany’s Werder Bremen 2-1 Wednesday night to win the final edition of the tournament.

“It is bigger because it is the last, and maybe we can keep the trophy,” Shakhtar coach Mirea Lucescu said. “We don’t have to make a copy of it.”

Luiz Adriano had put Shakhtar ahead in the 25th minute of regulation, but Naldo tied the score 10 minutes later. Goalkeeper Tim Wiese got to the shot by Jadson, among five Brazilians in Shakhtar’s lineup, but let the ball slip over his own goal line.

The tournament, Europe’s No. 2 club competition behind the Champions League, is being renamed the Europa League for next season. There were stretches of empty seats as the finalists struggled to sell their ticket allocations.

“We have bigger aims. We now want to do things in the Champions League: reach the quarterfinals, maybe the semifinals,” Lucescu said.

Bremen was missing Brazilian playmaker Diego, suspended after a yellow card in the semifinal win over Hamburg. It also was without injured defender Per Mertesacker.

“We knew they were very fast, and we knew we had to deny them space but it didn’t really work out,” Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf said. “We ceded time to our opponent and gave our opponent time to prepare its attacks.”

Bremen defender Sebastian Proedl, starting only because of an injury to Per Mertesacker, failed to stop a pass by Razvan Rat’s to Luiz Adriano, who cut inside and lifted a shot over Wiese.

Shakhtar created more openings during the next 10 minutes and goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov had little to do until Naldo sent a free kick over a defensive wall following a foul on Markus Rosenberg by Fernandinho.

The ball was firmly struck almost right at Pyatov and he got both hands to it, but inexplicably punched it straight into his own net.

“We weren’t able to attack as much as we usually are able to do,” Schaaf said. “Our ball control wasn’t good enough.”

Shakhtar Donetsk:    

Pyatov- 5.5:  Produced a howler for Naldo’s free kick and looked unsure for the minutes that followed, but fortunately he was not put under too much pressure from Werder.   

Srna- 7.5:  The Croatian captain enjoyed an energetic game down the right and was more often than not seen inside the opposition half. Went down too theatrically at times, but a good overall performance.   

Kucher-  7.0:  Alongside partner Chygrynskiy, he played well and provided a solid screen in front of keeper Pyatov. The win was very much based on a solid back line.   

Chygrynskiy- 7.0:  The centre-back did all the simple things well and kept both Claudio Pizarro and Markus Rosenberg at bay. A solid display.      

Rat- 6.5:  Less impressive than Srna on the opposite flank but nonetheless a good overall display.     

Lewandowski- 7.0:  The Pole put in a good night’s work in his holding role. He had a good chance to score in the first half, but failed to capitalise.   

Fernandinho- 6.5:  Solid enough, but was eclipsed by the rather more dynamic trio of Jadson, Ilsinho and Luiz Adriano. He did though play well alongside Lewandowski.   

Ilsinho- 7.5: Highly impressive in the first 45 minutes, but faded somewhat in the second-half as the game as a whole lost some of its sparkle.   

Willian- 7.0:  A surprise inclusion, but the Brazilian played well cutting in from the flanks and didn’t disappoint coach Mircea Lucescu.

Jadson- 7.0: The match-winner with his extra-time goal. His overall performance was good and he gave the Werder defence plenty to worry about.   

Luiz Adriano- 7.0: He missed an early chance, but didn’t let it get him down and he responded excellently with a well taken opening goal.   

Substitutes:  

Gladkiy- n/a  

Gay- n/a  

Duljaj- n/a  

Werder Bremen:  

Wiese- 6.5:  The Werder keeper had a good game up until his mistake for Jadson’s winner. He pulled off a number of super saves before allowing the Brazilians extra-time effort to squirm in.   

Fritz- 6.5:  The full-back was lively although the final ball always seemed to disappoint.   

Naldo- 6.5:  The lanky centre-back was solid enough without his regular partner Per Mertesacker and got Werder back into the game with a typical Naldo free kick.      

Proedl- 6.0:  He played well enough alongside Naldo, but the Austrian lacked the dominance that Per Mertesacker enjoys.   

Boenisch- 6.0:  Boenisch was given a tough time in the first-half by Dario Srna and Ilsinho in particular.   

Niemeyer- 5.5:  Only playing because of injuries and suspensions, Niedermeyer did well enough without ever taking anyone’s breath away.      

Baumann- 6.0:  Captain Baumann did well enough in the centre of the park for Werder, but was left to watch Dario Srna lift the trophy.   

Frings- 6.0:  The engine of the Werder midfield was combative enough, but with his competitive edge will be devastated at the loss in the final.  

Oezil- 6.5:  Was a bit out of it in the first-half, but came more into the game in the second period. He was meant to take on the mantle of Diego, but was stuck out wide for large periods.   

Pizarro- 7.0:  The Peruvian led the line well, but never really received the service he desired. He certainly missed the delivery from the absent Diego.   

Rosenberg- 5.0:  Not a good game from the Swede. No chances, little of merit and easily forgettable. Substituted in the second-half.   

Substitutes:  

Hunt- n/a  

Pasanen- n/a  

Tziolis- n/a    

Mathew Burt, Goal.com

The last UEFA Cup final will be a clash of German brawn and Ukrainian technique, Shakhtar Donetsk coach Mircea Lucescu said ahead of their clash with Werder Bremen in Istanbul on Wednesday.

“We’ll watch a game performed in two very different styles. Bremen are an attacking side with very good physique. They have some very strong athletes on the team,” he said.

“Shakhtar Donetsk’s style is based on the good technique of our players and we will try and control the game,” the Romanian told a news conference on Tuesday.

The Ukrainian side, who have reached their first European final, have no injury worries but will be without suspended midfielder Tomas Huebschman.

By contrast Werder Bremen, Cup Winners’ Cup winners in 1992, have been hit with a host of suspension and injury problems.

Playmaker Diego is banned but would have probably missed the final anyway having torn his thigh muscle in training. Fellow Brazilian Naldo faces a race to be fit after a groin injury.

“I would like to have seen how the Brazilian players would have faced each other,” said Lucescu, whose squad features five Brazilians.

Lucescu said he would wait until after a training session later on Tuesday before deciding his final lineup.

Shakhtar, who beat Barcelona 3-2 at the Nou Camp in the Champions League last December, have helped boost the level of Ukrainian football, he added, building on the country’s profile before it co-hosts Euro 2012 with Poland.

This will be the 38th and last UEFA Cup final, having been first contested in 1971-72 after replacing the Fairs Cup.

From next season UEFA’s second-tier competition becomes the Europa League, a rebranded and expanded affair that European soccer’s governing body hopes will give it renewed impetus.

The final will be staged at the Sukru Saracoglu stadium (capacity 53,586), which is home to Fenerbahce.

The venue is familiar to Lucescu who had spells in charge of Fenerbahce’s Istanbul rivals Galatasaray and Besiktas.

“This is a city I love a lot,” he said. “I was here for four years and those years brought me a lot of happiness. They were good years in my professional career.”

Meanwhile, Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf has warned his side they have achieved nothing yet this season despite reaching the finals of both the UEFA Cup and DFB-Pokal.

Success on the European stage would greatly improve what has been a disappointing Bundesliga campaign for Bremen - they will finish in 10th place - but Schaaf has warned against complacency.

”We don’t have anything in our hands yet, apart from the tickets to Istanbul,” he said before departure.

However, director of sport Klaus Allofs believes his side have what it takes to win, having proven their cup pedigree this season.

”For finals like this, you need to have a special mentality,” he said. ”The team have shown that they have this recently against Hamburg.”

ESPN

BREMEN, Germany (AP)—Hamburg won 1-0 at Werder Bremen on a 29th-minute goal by Piotr Trochowski on Thursday night in the first leg of an all-German UEFA Cup semifinal.

Bremen goalkeeper Tim Wiese, who stopped three penalty kicks when Werder eliminated Hamburg in the semifinals of the German Cup last week, made good saves, including one from Ivica Olic early in the game. The goalkeeper also turned away striker Paolo Guerrero’s low shot in the 22nd.

The second leg of the total-goals series will be in Hamburg on May 7, and the winner will advance to the final on May 20 in Istanbul. Hamburg has not be in a European final since winning the 1983 Champions Cup.

In the other semifinal, Shakhtar Donetsk played a 1-1 tie at Dynamo Kiev.

Dynamo took the lead in the 22nd minute when Shakhtar defender Dmytro Chygrynskiy put Oleksandr Aliyev’s powerful free kick into his own net while struggling with Artem Milevskiy at the far post. Fernandinho tied the score in the 68th for Shakhtar, which hosts the second leg May 7.

With a final eight that might leave s number of fans, casual and serious alike, reeling for something a bit more exciting, the fates have officially chosen the Champions League quarter final matchups.  Pulling from their lottery like bowl in Nyon, Switzerland, FIFA and UEFA officials were on hand for the random drawing.

As in the past years, the dominance of the Premiership sides has been somewhat overwhelming and the underperformance of the Serie A clubs was equally uninspiring.  As noted in the graphic above, two of the four pairings, namely quarter final 3 and 4 are without a doubt the most enticing as two of England’s Big Four face off in the home and away leg.  Chelsea, who currently sit second in the EPL, tied on 61 points with Liverpool and four behind leaders Manchester United have a massively daunting task ahead of them. 

As many might well remember, it was Liverpool’s Fernando Torres who hit two very late braces to see the Mercyside club through 2-1 earlier in the year.  Chelsea will hope that a number lady luck might well be on their side after Salomon Kalou made his intentions to stay in London known after it was reported that he was approached by Arsene Wenger last summer. 

Though it would seem that despite Guus Hiddink’s recent success, it was Liverpool’s resounding 4-1 win over Man United that might add the little extra boost to the Reds’ step towards the EPL crown and possibly success in Europe.

The other top matchup features current German champions Bayern Munich and La Liga leaders Barcelona.  Barca, who have seen their lead slip in recent weeks due to a string of poor performances and a number of Real Madrid wins, are heavy favourites in the tournament.  That, combined with a poor run of form by Bayern under embattled coach Juergen Klinsmann might give the Catalans an edge, though no one can discount the 12-1 massacre of Sporting Lisbon at the hands of the Germans last round.

In the UEFA Cup, the stage has also been set for their next round matches.  Like the Champions League, the UEFA Cup draw was also quite random as the quarter final winners were paired in the semi finals of the junior tournament.

Of the four groupings, Udinese will face Werder Bremen, Hamburg will play man City, Paris St. Germain are apired with Dynamo Kiev and Shakhtar Donetsk have been paired with Marseilles.

Peter Herrnreiter

Having won the first match of the two legged affair, Olympique Marseilles traveled to Holland in hopes of outsing their Dutch counterparts and reach the next round of the 2009 UEFA Cup- the last of the annual tournaments to be named such as the 2010 cup will be rebranded as the Europa Liga.

Eyong Enoh opened the scoring on 33 minutes to give the home side the 1-0 advantage and a much needed goal towards their aggregate.  But the oddly nicknamed “Jews” would only have a full two minutes in which to celebrate, asMarseilles soon drew level through Mamadou Niang.  Miralem Sulejmani put the Dutch side ahead again in the 74th, effectively forcing extra time with a three all aggregate scoreline.

In the end however it was Tyrone Mears who headed the southern France side into the next round.

In the cup’s other matches, Werder Bremen, who sent AC Milan home in the third round, played the other French side, Saint-Etienne to a 2-2 draw, which allowed the Germans to advance 3-2 on aggregate.  Bremen got their account started quite early with a 6th minute Sebastian Prodl goal and doubled the lead on 27 through Claudio Pizzaro. 

Goals by Yohan Benalouane in the 64th and Sebastien Grax in stoppage time leveled the scoreline, however it was too little too late for the home side.

Peter Herrnreiter

As we presented yesterday, here is the second set of matches on this Round of 32 matchday 1.  Unlike yesterday, today’s matches featured some of the heavyweights and favourites of the cup.  While, once again there were not many surprise results, the fact that the two English sides both dropped all three points was somwhat curious, however when comparing the results to each teams’ recent run of form, neither scoreline is truly surprising.

Lech Poznan 2-2 Udinese

In one of a few snow covered matches tonight, the sole Polish side left in the tournament KKS Lech Poznan hosted Italian side Udinese.  While the majority of the match remained scoreless, it was only in the 50th minute of play that the Italians took the lead off a Fabio Quagliarella receivd the ball off of a well placed free kick.  They soon had their lead doubled after a Poznzn own goal after a Udinese striker was parried away by the keeper, only to have it strike a defender.  With a number of chances to their credit, Poznan were unlucky to hit the post twice before Portugese stiker Rengifo added their first nine minutes from time.  Only three minutes later, the hosts drew level after Arboldea headed home a corner.

Shakhtar Dontesk 2-0 Spurs

It seems as if the cold weather in eastern Europe this time of year is taking its told on some of the west’s top club, as another top seated side was victim to some late goals.  Though it would seem also that a number of changes- 9 to be exact- from the weekend’s 0-0 draw against Arsenal was also to blame.  While almost taking direct advantage of the changes, Shathkar had a number of chances though it only be until the 79th that they wouldpay dividens as Slelznov headed home a Jadson cross. Only a few minutes later, Jadson turned scorer after a well places strike doubled the home side’s lead.

FC Copenhagen 2-0 Man City

Continuing with the theme of snow and late strikes, Premier League side Manchester City seemed to have been left out in the cold after an injury time hit put the hosts on level terms.  To open the scoring on 29 minutes as Nedum Onuoha had a very weak shot go through the hands of the Copenhagen keeper, however the home side leveled in the 56th through an Almeida hit.  Stephen Ireland then hit his 10th of the season on 61 to bring the Citizens 2-1 up.  However, as stated, a late Martin Vingaard header gave the Lions a 2-2 draw as they travel to England.

Peter Herrnreiter

The first of two matchdays this week in the UEFA Cup was played today, with a few surprises, but overall it was bsuiness as usual.  Here are some selected reviews.

AC Milan 1-1 Bremen

 A strong Werder Bremen side welcomed Italian giants AC Milan as the two sides fought to a one all draw.  Milan opened the scoring on 36 minutes through Filippo Inzaghi, however it was the home side who turned out to be the spoilers as Diego level on 84 minutes.  Milan started with a surprising formation with Kaka, Gattuse, Nesta and Beckham missing out for a vaarious number of reasons.

Paris St. Germain 2-0 Wolfsburg

It was the home side that ended up on the better half of a 2-0 score line as French side PSG hosted Wolfsburg at the Parc des Princes.  With French president Nicolas Sarkozy in the stands, the Parisians were eager to impress- and did just that.  As PSG controlled most of the momentum during the match, they would have to wait until the 80th minute for the deadlock to be broken.  It was ultimately a Guillaume Hoarau header and a second soon after that solidified the win.  After the match Hoarau noted that he was, “annoyed, while I scored two goals, I missed alot.”

Valencia 1-1 Dynamo Kiev

Losing three of their last five league matches, the 2004 cup winners Valencia made the most of their chances to take an important point from their match in Kiev.  It was oft called upon David Silva who gave the visitors and early lead on 8 minutes, however after the break, a Florin Cernat free kick leveled the match.  Eventhough Kiev went down to ten men as Artem Milevskiy was sent off soon after. 

Aalborg 3-0 Deportivo

The surprise scoreline of the evening saw Danish minows Aalborg slip three goals past once dominant Spanish side Deportivo La Coruna in Denmark.  A double from Anders Due in the second half was capped off my a 90th minute penalty from Michael Jakobsen.

Peter Herrnreiter

There is absolutely no way that one could possibly consider themselves a connoisseur of all things soccer- there are just too many leagues, teams, players and just too much gossip. From the everyday whining and nagging of even the best behaved players and managers to constantly changing and growing number of world tournaments (WAFF Championship anyone?), there is just too much to know and too little brain cells to use.

That being said, the below list is the official Far Post top 20 moments in world soccer from 2008.  Admittadly a large number of events have been neglected, but that is not due to any bias or lack of research, it just because there are too many to keep track of and too many that, well, really don’t matter.

So, from number 20, here it is:

20.) Chile 1-0 Argentina
Fabián Orellana’s strike on 35 minutes was the game winner as Chile defeated Argentina for the first time in World Cup Qualifying history (apparently) at the Estadio Nacional,

19.) Italy and France’s Disappointing Euro
Once again France and Italy have proven their critics correct as neither team was able to get far out of the “Group of Death”. Italy’s only consolation was their 2-0 defeated against France, however they soon were dumped handily 4-0 by eventual winners Spain.

18.) Redknapp to Spurs
Having lead Tottenham to a miserable start to the 2008/09 campaign, Juande Ramos was sacked and replaced by surprise manager Harry Redknapp, who was at the time at the helm of Portsmouth.

17.) Egypt Wins Africa
Egypt were winners in the Africa Cup of Nations for a record sixth time, defeating Cameroon 1-0 in the final.

16.) The Beijing Olympic Soccer Tournament
While fielding almost all U23 players, the Olympic tourney tends to be subjected to the back pages of most soccer periodicals; however with Lionel Messi’s Argentina and the US women taking home gold, front page headlines had something to talk about. Argentina’s gold was its second straight.

15.) First Home Match on Palestinian Soil
Having been forced to play away from home for most of their existence, they hosted Jordan at the Faisal Al-Husseini International Stadium, resulting in a 1-1 draw.

14.) Christiano Ronaldo wins Balon d’Or
Becoming the third Portuguese player to win the award, there may need to be more room in his trophy case for a few more in the coming seasons.

13.) Terry’s Missed Champions league PK
To keep the Chelsea supporters from emailing me with hate mail and committing some egregious acts of violence towards others, I will let the title speak for itself.

12.) Turkey 3-2 Czech Republic
Nihat Kahveci was the man of the moment, scoring two goals after the 87’ minute to seal a comeback win, after Jaroslav Plašil put the Czechs up 2-0 with less than a half hour remaining.

11.) Scolari to Chelsea
While not necessarily being a massive surprise, Chelsea did need to replace Avram Grant before anyone dares criticize Abramovich’s decisions!

10.) Manchester United’s European and World Club Titles
Having done the “quadruple” (if one can count the community shield), United narrowly defeated Chelsea in Europe and had an equally tough encounter with Ecuador’s LDU Quito in Japan.

9.) Portsmouth Wins FA Cup
Probably the biggest surprise of the year, Portsmouth wins their first FA Cup since 1938. Having defeated Manchester United away, many had hoped Cardiff would prove an easy fixture.

8.) David Beckham to AC Milan
To the shagrin of MLS and Phil Anschutz, their star attraction apparently getting a bit tired of LA. If only Posh’s reality TV spot would be any good!

7.) Mourinho to Inter
Just like to Ronaldo lottery, the guessing game as to where Mourinho would go left many scrambling to place their bets. The winner- Inter.

6.) Robino to City
Quite shocking to say the least, especially since the move happened on the exact day City was purchased. Seems that a cool €42.5 million and the presence of friends sure warms the dreary Manchester winter.

5.) Ronaldo’s Apparent “Slavery”
In Sepp Blatter’s words, apparently making £2 million a month is yet another reason to shed a tear for the poor boy.

4.) Ronaldinho to AC Milan
Having become a Spanish citizen in 2007, he must have not liked the chorizo as the Brazilian maestro signs for €21 million.

3.) Zenit’s UEFA Cup Win
An unprecedented, but not quite surprising win by the dark horse from St. Petersburg gives Russian soccer its second only continental trophy.

2.) Manchester City Purchased (again)
Manchester City once again found itself with new owners. This time, the Abu Dhabi United Group Investment and Development Limited, located in the UAE, paid a hefty £200 millon to take control of the Citizens.

1.) Spain’s European Championship
David Villa had a massively important showing, netting four goals, including an impressive hattrick against Russia.

Peter Herrnreiter