Young Boys’ End of European Campaign

Pertandingan terakhir penyisihan grup Liga Europa pada hari Kamis, 6 Desember 2012.

Jika Indonesia punya pawang hujan, entah jika Swiss juga punya pawang salju. Butiran-butiran salju yang sudah hampir seminggu berjatuhan di bumi Swiss kini seolah lenyap entah ke mana. Khusus malam ini, meskipun udara musim dingin masih menusuk tulang, namun lapangan rumput Stade de Suisse masih memungkinkan untuk dipakai dalam pelaksanaan pertandingan terakhir fase grup Liga Europa antara Bern Young Boys melawan Anzhi Makhachkala.

Padahal sehari sebelum pertandingan, kota Bern dan sebagian besar wilayah Swiss diserang badai salju. Temperatur pun sempat menyentuh angka -10 derajat Celcius, suhu yang termasuk sangat dingin untuk awal bulan Desember. Di konferensi pers menjelang pertandingan, baik pelatih Young Boys, Martin Rueda, maupun pelatih Anzhi, sang legenda Guus Hiddink, mengatakan bahwa mereka sudah mempersiapkan diri berlatih di lapangan bersalju. Untuk jaga-jaga jika rumput Stade de Suisse di hari H mengeras akibat embun beku.

Entah karena dihangatkan oleh ketatnya persaingan grup A Europa League, di petang hari-H pertandingan, salju pun berhenti. Bongkahan salju yang dikeruk masih terlihat di sisi-sisi lapangan, namun rumput lapangan sendiri masih memperoleh kehormatan menjadi panggung perjuangan para anak-anak muda Bern dalam mencetak sejarah di kompetisi Eropa. Memang, dalam keikutsertaan mereka di kompetisi Eropa sejak dekade 1950-an, Piala Champions sangat jauh menjadi mimpi bagi mereka. Di tahun 2010, mereka nyaris mencetak sejarah lolos untuk pertama kalinya ke pentas Liga Champions. Sayangnya, langkah mereka dihentikan Tottenham Hotspurs.

Maka, Piala Intertoto dan Piala UEFA alias Liga Europa menjadi playground mereka di panggung Eropa. Prestasi terbaik Young Boys hanyalah masuk 32 besar di musim 2010-2011 sebelum dihentikan Zenit St. Petersburg. Untuk musim 2012-2013 ini, mereka punya kesempatan untuk kembali melangkah jauh. Meskipun tergabung di grup neraka bersama Anzhi, Udinese dan raksasa Inggris, Liverpool, anak-anak kota Bern berhasil memberi perlawanan sengit. Terbukti, sampai pertandingan terakhir penyisihan grup, Young Boys bercokol di peringkat tiga dengan poin 7. Poin ini sama dengan Liverpool yang duduk di posisi dua.

Dengan kata lain, jika Di pertandingan ini Young Boys bisa mengalahkan Anzhi, dan Liverpool gagal menang melawan Udinese, anak-anak kota Bern akan melaju ke 32 besar, fase yang termasuk bergengsi bagi mereka.

Namun, lawan yang mereka hadapi pun tidak kalah ambisiusnya. Anzhi Makhachkala, si ‘orang kaya baru’ dari semenanjung Rusia. Dengan sokongan financial yang kuat, klub dari kota yang namanya jarang kita dengar ini menjelma menjadi kekuatan baru Liga Rusia. Anzhi juga diperkuat mantan pemain Barcelona dan Real Madrid, Samuel Eto’o dan Lassana Diarra, serta dimanajeri oleh otak Belanda dalam diri Guus Hiddink. Amunisi tersebut membuat klub yang baru berdiri di tahun 1991 ini sedang menggebu-gebu mengejar sejarah baru.

Maka, yang terjadi di Stade de Suisse malam itu adalah sebuah pertempuran di lapangan hijau yang dahsyat. Nuansa hidup-mati dan bergengsinya sejarah yang dikejar kedua tim membuat panas stadion nasional Swiss tersebut sehingga seolah membuat langit lupa menurunkan salju. Sayangnya, karena duel seru ini terjadi di Liga Europa, alias kasta kelas dua kompetisi antarklub Eropa, perhatian khalayak tidak terserap sepenuhnya. Apalagi penggila bola dunia baru sehari sebelumnya disuguhi sikut-sikutan Juventus dan Chelsea di Liga Champions. Alhasil, bagi penonton bola awam, laga Young Boys melawan Anzhi ini tidak lebih dari sekadar laporan berupa angka di situs-situs berita sepakbola.

Namun, bagi saya pribadi, pertandingan ini termasuk salah satu pertandingan yang paling life-changing semenjak saya menjadi penggemar sepakbola.

Penyebabnya? Karena anak-anak Young Boys bermain sepenuh hati. Mereka seolah tidak mau tahu hasil pertandingan di Stadion Friuli antara Udinese melawan Liverpool. Mereka seolah ingin menentukan sendiri nasib mereka tanpa bergantung dari hasil pertandingan lain.

Tidak ada pertandingan yang lebih pantas disaksikan daripada pemain-pemain yang bermain sepenuh hati.

Malam itu, anak-anak muda kota Bern memainkan sepakbola indah. Mereka tidak silau akan nama besar Samuel Eto’o dan Lassana Diarra. Strategi menyerang pelatih Guus Hiddink dibalas dengan strategi lebih ofensif lagi oleh pelatih Martin Rueda. Gol pemain Argentina Gonzalo Zarate memang sempat dibalas Odil Akhmedov sehingga babak pertama berakhir 1-1. Namun, di babak ke-dua, Young Boys tampil beringas. Moreno Costanzo, sang rising star tim nasional Swiss, membuat Young Boys unggul sebelum youngster asal Venezuela Alexander Gonzalez memaksa Anzhi bertekuk lutut dengan skor 3-1.

Publik Stade de Suisse pun bersorak gembira, namun berharap-harap cemas akan terjadi perubahan situasi di Stadion Friuli. Maklum, sampai jeda babak pertama, Liverpool memang masih unggul 1-0 atas tuan rumah Udinese. Sayangnya, sampai peluit akhir pertandingan dibunyikan, skor akhir tetap sama. Bern Young Boys pun tersingkir. Memang sayang, karena dengan poin yang sama dengan Liverpool dan Anzhi yang menjadi juara dan runner-up grup, mereka tetap saja tersingkir.

Meski demikian, mereka tersingkir dengan terhormat. Mereka telah menunjukkan semangat juang tinggi, sebuah perjuangan yang patut diacungi jempol. Tidak ada air mata dan kekecewaan berlebihan terlihat dari wajah-wajah para pejuang kota Bern tersebut.

Saya pun menyaksikan pertandingan itu dari tribun penonton dengan berbinar-binar. Meskipun bukan merupakan pertandingan bergengsi antarklub Eropa, namun ada perasaan lain yang muncul di hati saya setelah menyaksikan pertandingan ini. Semangat juang yang tak kenal menyerah adalah yang terpenting, kemenangan bukanlah segalanya. Para pejuang saya kali ini bernama BSC Young Boys, klub sepakbola kebanggaan kota Bern, tempat saya tinggal selama hampir dua tahun terakhir.

Source: http://www.sportinglife.com

The final game of the Europa League group stage, Thursday, December 6, 2012.

If Indonesians have ‘pawang hujan’ (rain tamer), I wonder if the Swiss also have ‘snow tamer’. It had been almost a week of snow falling on Switzerland. In this particular evening, under the air of Europe’s bone-chilling winter, thankfully the grass of Stade de Suisse was still possible to be used for the final game of the group phase of the Europa League. This match was a dead-or-alive for Young Boys Bern, who would play the Russian side, Anzhi Makhachkala.

A day before the game, the city of Bern and most the Swiss cities were attacked by snowstorm. The temperature had touched the point of -10 degree Celsius, which is regarded as a very cold temperature for early days in December. In a press conference before the game, both team coaches, Young Boys’ Martin Rueda, as well as Anzhi’s, the legendary Guus Hiddink, said they were already preparing for the worst by having training sessions in a snowy fiel . As a precaution if the grass at the Stade de Suisse would be covered by frost.

However, perhaps the field was warmed by intense competition of the Group A Europa League, in the afternoon right on the day of the match, the snow had stopped. Dredged snowpack was still visible on the sides of the pitch, but the grass was still in normal condition. This condition was found as an advantage towards the struggle of Bern’s one and only football club, BSC Young Boys. They were on a mission. They wanted to make a new history in the European competition. The intention was understandable because looking at their participation in European competition since the 1950, the European success is always very much an unreachable dream for them. In 2010 , they narrowly succeeded in making history, breaking for the first time to the Champions League group stage. Unfortunately, they were knocked out by the English side, Tottenham Hotspurs.

Thus, the Intertoto Cup and UEFA Cup Europa League were their familiar playground on the European stages. The best achievement that Young Boys had was only breaking into the last 32 in the 2010-2011 Europa League, before knocked out by Zenit St . Petersburg. For the 2012-2013 season, they had a chance to go very far. Although placed in the group of death with Anzhi, Udinese and English giants, Liverpool , Young Boys found themselves giving their rivals quite fierce resistance. Until the final game of the group stage, Young Boys was in third position with total 7 points, The same points gained by Liverpool who sat nervously in the second position.

In other words, if in this game Young Boys could beat Anzhi Young Boys and Liverpool failed to win against Udinese , the Bernese would advance to the knock-out phase of 32  for the second time in their history. That would have been a prestigious position for them.

However, they needed to face an ambitious opponent, Anzhi Makhachkala, the ‘new rich kids on the block’ from the Russian peninsula. With strong financial backing, the club of the city with a less popular name (compared to Moskow or St. Petersburg) transformed into a new force in the Russian league. Anzhi secured the services of the former Barcelona and Real Madrid starts, Samuel Eto’o and Lassana Diarra, and managed by a Dutch think-tank, Guus Hiddink. These ammunitions are more than enough to make this young club (established in 1991) in passionate pursuit of a new history.

So , what happened at the Stade de Suisse that night was a powerful battle on the gridiron. Shades of life and death and prestigious history of being pursued by both teams made the Swiss national stadium so warmed as if the sky forgot the snow. Unfortunately, as this exciting duel occurred in the Europa League, aka the second class European club competition, the public attention was not fully absorbed. Moreover, the football enthusiasts were more attracted to the previous day Juventus and Chelsea clashes in the Champions League. Too bad, the Young Boys match against Anzhi was regarded nothing more than a report or the numbers on football news websites.

However, for me personally, this game is one of the most life-changing that I have seen.

Why so? Because that day, I witnessed the Young Boys played wholeheartedly. They seemed not  wanting to know the outcome of the match between Udinese at the Stadio Friuli against Liverpool, which was played at the same time. They seemed to want to determine their own destiny without relying on the results of the other matches. 

It is always a pleasure to see a football match where the players play wholeheartedly.

That night , the Young Boys played beautiful football . They were not afraid of big names such as Samuel Eto’o and Lassana Diarra. Both sides played attacking football. The Argentine Gonzalo Zarate’s goal for Young Boys was replied by Odil Akhmedov’s, which made first half ended with a square 1-1 result. In the second half, Young Boys were more aggressive. Moreno Costanzo , a rising star of the Swiss national team , made ​​a superior Young Boys’ goal before the youngster Alexander Gonzalez from Venezuela bended Anzhi to its knees by a score of 3-1.

The public of Stade de Suisse cheered, but at the same time hoped there will be a miracle at the Friuli stadium. Until half time, Liverpool were still winning 1-0 over the host Udinese. Unfortunately, until the final whistle was blown, the final score remained the same. Young Boys Bern were tragically eliminated. It was a bad luck, because actually they have levelled the points with Liverpool and Anzhi. However, thel lost in the goal difference, and they still found themselves knocked out of the competition.

No regret needed to be kept, since they have demonstrated a high morale thorughout the whole game, a struggle that deserves everyone’s thumbs up. No excessive tears and disappointment visible on the faces of the warriors of Bern.

I was watching from the stands with a glowing face. Although it was not even a prestigious European club matches, there are other feelings that arised inside my heart after watching this match. Relentless sportmanship is the most important, and winning is not everything. This time, the fighters are known by the name BSC Young Boys, the pride of the city where I have lived for nearly two years.

Match highlight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAI_PhVDla0

BSC Young Boys Bern		Anzhi Makhachkala
Starting Lineup:
1.	Wolfli, Marco	1.	Gabulov, Vladimir
3.	Ojala, Juhani	4.	Samba, Christopher
4.	Nef, Alain	5.	Joao Carlos
8.	Farnerud, Alexander	8.	Jucilei
9.	Bobadilla, Raul	9.	Eto’o, Samuel
10.	Costanzo, Moreno	13.	Tagirbekov, Rasim
14.	Schneuwly, Christian	14.	Shatov, Oleg
16.	Raimondi, Mario	15.	Logashov, Arseniy
19.	Zarate, Gonzalo Eulogio	19.	Traore, Lacina
23.	Sutter, Scott	25.	Ahmedov, Odil
29.	Nuzzolo, Raphael	85.	Diarra, Lassana