Shakhtar Donetsk took the Ukraine's first European success since independence in 1991 last night after an extra time goal against Werder Bremen from Germany. For being a Ukraine against Germany European battle, it was remarkable that all the goals were scored by Brazilians! Note that this was not a game of my liking. After a bright attacking start, the game fell into a passing fest and with the game evenly poised at 1-1 there were several instances when the attacking team passed the ball from the opposing team's penalty area back to their own goalkeeper! The fear of losing seemed greater than the need to play entertaining football. Anyway, after 7 minutes of extra time, Jadson scored the decisive goal that took the last UEFA Cup to the Ukraine.

As from next season, this competition will be called the UEFA Europa League and have a 48-team group stage, replacing both the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Intertoto Cup with the final next May in Hamburg.