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