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Shakhtar Donetsk confirmed its advance into European soccer’s big time on March 8, routing Italian heavyweight Roma 3-0 to make the quarterfinals of the Champions League, Europe’s premier club competition, for the first time.

Shakhtar Donetsk confirmed its advance into European soccer’s big time on March 8, routing Italian heavyweight Roma 3-0 to make the quarterfinals of the Champions League, Europe’s premier club competition, for the first time.

The progress of the stylish Pitmen from the unstylish town in Ukraine’s industrial east has been made possible in recent years by massive investment from the country’s richest man, Rinat Akhmetov, who has helped legendary coach Mircea Lucescu put together a team full of Brazilian flair as well as Ukrainian toughness.

Now, after ending Dynamo Kyiv’s dominance of the domestic league, Shakhtar is looking to equal the capital city club’s Champions League semifinal appearance in 1999.

“Ukrainians now have one more deserving team that can represent them on the world stage,” said Ihor Miroshnychenko, a TV soccer analyst. “Shakhtar has over the years demonstrated stability in achieving its stated goals.”

The team’s billionaire owner Akhmetov has spared no expense in building an emerging European soccer powerhouse that has already taken the UEFA Cup 2009 and five Ukrainian Premier League Championships since 2000.

Four of those Ukrainian championships have come under the leadership of 65-year old Romanian Lucescu, who took the helm in 2004.

With Akhmetov’s deep pockets and Lucescu’s international expertise, Shakhtar has been transformed into a squad of speedy South American attackers and stubborn Eastern European defenders.

The price he has paid for his club’s steady rise has run at $70-$90 million annually in reported operating costs plus the $400 million for the ultramodern Donbass Arena stadium, which was completed in 2009.

The result has been what any successful European team has undergone with team composition and a globalized world economy. Shakhtar has eight players originally from Brazil on its first squad. The remainder is East Europeans with 29-year old Croat Darijo Srna as captain.

“It’s the way things are today for any football club that wants to win,” said Jonathan Wilson, an Eastern Europe soccer historian and publisher of soccer quarterly The Blizzard. “I understand the frustration of soccer traditionalists who’d like to see more Ukrainians start, but Chelsea, Man United, and others have chosen foreigners over local players in a bid to win.”

Lucescu has picked up top young Brazilian talent such as Douglas Costa, the 19-year-old attacking midfielder, and the speedy Willian. These exciting attackers are combined with a stalwart defense of Ukrainian international defenders Dmytro Chyhrynsky and Yaroslav Rakytskiy, as well as goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov.

Undefeated at home since 2008, Shakhtar’s Brazilians have not disappointed Ukrainivan soccer fans. For example, of the 38 goals recorded in 20 Ukrainian Premier League games, 32 were scored by the South Americans. They have also accounted for 13 of Shakhtar’s 17 goals in their eight European matches this term.

Fittingly, in a recent interview with the Union of European Football Associations, Lucescu described his side as “the most Brazilian team in Europe.”

Experts said Shakhtar is here to stay with only one player on the first squad aged over 30 and an emphasis on recruiting talented young players and developing a local soccer academy.

Four of the 10 Shakhtar first team players who regularly get called up to play for Ukraine’s national team are aged 25 or younger.

And some experts say the team can go even further than the quarterfinals.

“I think Western Europe is underestimating Shakhtar; they’re a fantastic team to watch and they have every chance of winning the Champions League,” soccer historian Wilson said.

Akhmetov also seems to think Shakhtar’s next opponent has their work cut out for them: “I don’t know who we will play against but I know that these clubs will be happy if they are drawn against our team, but I want Shakhtar to make them regret that afterwards.”

Kyiv Post staff writer Mark Rachkevych’s can be reached [email protected]