1860 Munich crash out after goalless draw with Dnipro

They had begun their campaign in the most impressive of fashions but ended it ended with a whimper. The Under-21 boys from TSV 1860 Munich could not even score once in the must-win match against Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk.

1860 Munich’s Fabian Huerzeler (centre), who was named Man-of-the-Match, tries to get past Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk’s Oleksandr Svatok (No. 4) in the Sait Nagjee international football tournament at Kozhikode on Tuesday.

They had begun their campaign in the most impressive of fashions but ended it ended with a whimper.

The Under-21 boys from TSV 1860 Munich could not even score once in the must-win match against Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. The Mahindra & Mahindra Sait Nagjee international football tournament’s first goalless draw, in front of another enthusiastic crowd at the Corporation Stadium on Tuesday night, ensured the Ukrainians would top Group B, with seven points.

But the result must have been celebrated more by Shamrock Rovers, which became the second team to qualify for the semifinals from the group. The Irish men scored six points, while TSV ended up with four. Argentina, the other team in the group, finished at the bottom, without scoring a point, or a goal.

Dnipro, on the other hand, did not concede a goal.

So it was always going to be a tough task for the Germans to break it. They did try, as they managed to have the game in the Dnipro half for most of the first 20 minutes. But the likes of Oleksander Svatok, Olelksii Larin, Dmytro Nagiiev and Maksym Lopyronok ensured that TSV could not pose considerable trouble from inside the box.

The Germans’ first big chance came in the 24th minute, through a free-kick some 22 yards from the Dnipro goal. But the thundering strike by Florian Pieper could only hit the woodwork.

Just five minutes later, Dnipro got an opportunity to go in front but Denys Balaniuk’s shot was headed away to safety at the goal-line by Angelo Mayer. The Ukrainians, by now, had begun to press forward and was no longer too keen only to defend.

Determined Dnipro

In the 37th minute, TSV had another fine chance, as Nicholas Helmbrecht gave an excellent ball into the box, but Jimmy Marton failed to score from in front of the goal.

The Germans tried harder in the second half, but the class and the experience of Dnipro was too much for them on this night.

In the first semifinal on Thursday, Atletico Paranaense of Brazil will play Shamrock. Then on Friday, Dnipro will take on England’s Watford.

The result: Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 0 drew with TSV 1860 Munich 0.