Dynamo Stadium

Lonely Planet review

Dynamo Kyiv is one of the most recognisable names in European football and Dynamo Stadium is the team's modestly sized home. Ticket booths are out front near the statue of a young Valery Lobanovsky, the late, legendary coach of Dynamo Kyiv and the Ukrainian national team. There's also a memorial to WWII team Start.

During WWII, when Kyiv was occupied by Nazi Germany, the members of the talented Dynamo football team were challenged to a public match with a team of German soldiers. The Ukrainians formed a team called Start, and despite physical weakness brought on by the occupation, they were soon ahead in their first match. At half-time, German officers came into the dressing room and commanded them to let up. Nevertheless, Start continued to play hard, and before the game finished the referee blew the whistle and called it off (with a score of 4 to 1).

The Germans reshuffled their players, and Start was offered another chance to lose. Instead they won. Next, Start was pitted against a Hungarian team - and won again. Finally, the enraged Germans challenged Start to a match against their finest, undefeated team, Flakelf. When the ' Übermensch ' of Flakelf lost, the Nazis gave up - and proceeded to arrest most of the Start players, several of whom were executed at Babyn Yar. A monument to them still stands in Dynamo Stadium in Kyiv. Their story inspired the movie Victory, starring Sylvester Stallone and soccer legend Pele. Andy Dougan's Defending the Honour of Kyiv (2001) is a readable, well-researched account of the incident.