Statistically speaking, it was indeed a “truly historic” night for Zenit St. Petersburg, as Nicolas Lombaerts told this column after the draw at Porto that saw the Russian champions through. The Belgian defender also had the class and humility to admit that his team had been bettered on the night and had been delivered to the Champions League’s last 16 for the first time by luck as much as judgment.
Group G has been an unusual struggle, with the moneyed trio of Zenit, Porto and Shakhtar Donetsk being tripped up at every turn by the relatively modest APOEL. Both Danny, Zenit’s Portuguese number 10 and team talisman, as well as Vítor Pereira, the Porto coach, had praised the Cypriots’ tactical acumen earlier this week, but the feeling lingers that Ivan Jovanovic’s side flourished as much through the shortcomings of its rivals as through its own commitment and planning.
The rearguard action of Luciano Spalletti’s side at the Dragão may have been stereotyped as defender à italiana (defending Italian-style) by the Portuguese media, but Zenit had little option – it was a reaction rather than a plan. An outstanding goalkeeping display by Vyacheslav Malafeev was all that made the difference between Porto crashing out and topping the group, as it would have with a win, given APOEL’s home defeat to Shakhtar.
Weaned in Russia
When Danny left Sporting Club in 2005, he had made 59 appearances in the Portuguese Liga, a number that's been dwarfed during his eight seasons in Russia's Premier League.
| Years | Club(s) | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001-05 | Maritimo/Sporting | 59 | 6 |
| 2005-2008 | Dinamo Moscow | 97 | 16 |
| 2008-2011 | Zenit St. Petersburg | 72 | 24 |
Porto and Shakhtar both have their challenges at present, with the former adjusting to life post-Villas-Boas and the latter’s inertia seeing coach Mircea Lucescu’s position openly called into question for the first time in his seven-plus season reign. Zenit faces a period of transition too, with 2012 representing a big step into the unknown. The Russian Premier-Liga season finished two weeks ago – or it would have normally, but with the rescheduling of the competition to a more central European winter timetable, Zenit starts a 14-game, top eight play-off round in March with a six-point lead (rather than finishing November as champion). Hitting an intense round-robin of important fixtures at the same time as a maiden Champions League knockout phase will be a huge, if exhilarating, test.
If Spalletti is the puppet master and the provider of a sanguine type of invention, Danny is the team’s pillar on the pitch. The 28-year-old’s influence is undoubted in Russia. Arriving as the all-time Russian record transfer in August 2008 for a cool €30m (US$46.7m), he went straight into the team for the following day’s European Super Cup match against Manchester United, scoring twice as Zenit lifted the trophy. Named as the Premier-Liga’s Player of the Year in 2010, he has again been in sparkling form in 2011, scoring and creating regularly as Zenit has bossed domestic matters for the second year in a row.
Yet his reputation in his home nation is considerably less gilded. Danny hardly tore up trees in his early career at Sporting and Marítimo and has been a largely peripheral figure for the Portugal national side since his August 2008 debut. Recent late withdrawals from the squad ahead of crucial Euro 2012 qualifiers against Denmark (personal reasons) and Bosnia-Herzegovina (knee injury) have also drawn extensive criticism.
Brickbats for the Denmark pull-out were unwarranted. The unfortunately prevailing assumption in soccer tends to be that ‘personal reasons’ implies some sort of cop-out. If the recent Gary Speed tragedy has shown anything, it is that there is considerable conflict between a family’s human right to privacy in difficult moments and a soccer public’s need for an explanation. In fact, Danny had discovered a potentially cancerous abdominal growth, and was understandably panicked. A subsequent operation to remove said growth kept him out for 15 days.
Still, many have already made their minds up. Danny’s character was again called into question as he prepared to face the wrath of Porto fans at the Dragão, having irked them with his goal celebration in the first match in St. Petersburg, back in September. After scoring Zenit’s third goal, he got down on all fours, imitating a dog and miming urinating – right next to where a group of Porto fans had hung their flag.
He claimed it was a dedication to his two sons, who had asked him to perform a tribute to a recently received family pet. “I dedicate every goal to my sons, and they often ask me to do a choreographed little celebration. I have to do what they ask.” Pereira this week rejected this explanation, lambasting Danny’s actions as “indefensible.”
Spalletti robustly defended his player, expressing his surprise that “a great coach like him (Pereira) doesn’t know Danny, as a great professional, a great player and a great man.” The Italian also tried to diffuse the situation, to widespread laughter in the pre-match press conference. “Look, it’s not his fault that the dog climbed onto the kids’ beds and urinated on them,” he bluffed.
Danny was defiant, claiming he was “not scared of the Dragão” and “if my sons ask me to do the celebration again, I will.” He was the recipient of deafening whistles every time he received the ball at the Dragão, and a TV producer tells us afterwards that the forward was still shaking as he reluctantly gave an interview to an international network after the match. Large headphones firmly clamped on, Danny strode past waiting journalists like an Olympic walker shortly after and onto the team bus, pausing only briefly to give a heartfelt bear hug to a Russian journalist friend.
“Champions come with strong psychological padding to withstand pressure,” wrote Nuno Vieira in Wednesday’s A Bola. “And Danny is a long way from having that.”
His resolve is certainly being tested at present. The Portuguese clique at Zenit has weakened, with the departure of the experienced Fernando Meira to Real Zaragoza and Bruno Alves’ relegation to second choice behind Spalletti’s preferred pairing of Nicolas Lombaerts and Tomas Hubocan. Alves has been coy when asked about his future, with Juventus having been extremely close to signing him at the climax of the summer transfer window.
Yet Danny has proved his mettle in Russia before and will aim to do so in Europe’s highest echelons next. The Portuguese like few things more than celebrating the success of one of their own abroad. If Danny can fire Zenit in the latter stages of the Champions League, perhaps it will see some attitudes towards him at home tempered.
