No shirt but an autograph

05-09-10 09:18:07

The Pitmen’s encounter with Rapid caused decent excitement among the football fans of Bucharest. Despite the friendly status, five thousand spectators decided to attend the stadium to watch this fixture. Besides, match was broadcasted live on Romanian television.

It was obvious that the Rapid’s fans were not accustomed to caring about their vocal chords. Songs and "charges" of the fans’ sector were equally passionately supported by the rest of the crowd, which created a feeling of being at the stadium with a much larger audience than it actually was.

The tunnel, from which the players came on the pitch, named after Valentine Stanesku, was located behind the goal. Therefore, in order to get to the subs bench, Shakhtar head coach Mircea Lucescu had to stride more than half of a football field. So, as soon as Mister came out of the tunnel, he was immediately given a dollop of applause by the Bucharest crowd. And the coach of Rapid made an impression of a very impulsive person. The whole match Marius Shumudike spent on his feet being in a very emotional mood while suggesting something to his players. It was obvious that this gentleman wanted to beat the legendary personality of the Romanian football, who, without doubt, is Mircea Lucescu but he just did not succeed in fulfilling that.

All the details of ups and downs of the match you can read in our min-by-min report. We should note that after the final whistle the players of FC Shakhtar faced a difficult choice – whom to give away their playing shirts. The problem was that the ammunition was unique for each player, but there were too many people who wanted to get it including opponent players, fans and even the security guards of the stadium! Our guys, of course, tried not to offend anyone, acting on the principle "did not get the shirt get an autograph".

Immediately after the match the Donetsk team boarded the bus and went to the local airport. Everyone except Mircea Lucescu, he said good-bye and remained at home for the weekend. By the way, Shakhtar’s rest will not last long. Sunday declared a holiday, but on Monday The Pitmen will begin preparations for an away fixture against Obolon Kiev.

FC Shakhtar
Press Office