Why did the most titled coach of the 20th century darn his suits: the "Iron Colonel" of Soviet football Valery Lobanovsky

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

For high growth - 187 centimeters - Lobanovsky-player was nicknamed "Gusak". He also had a lyrical nickname - "Red Sunflower". Later, for the habit of staggering at the coaching place, he was dubbed the "Pendulum". Wards for his excessive rigidity and exactingness behind the eyes called him "Hitler". But, be that as it may, legendary football coach Valery Lobanovsky raised more than one generation of world-famous players, raising them to the highest step of the podium. About how he walked and led others to the heights of Olympus - further, in the review.

In Ukraine he was respectfully called "master", in Italy - "colonel", in Germany - "general" … and this is not the whole list of nicknames of the outstanding coach, who, in addition to them, had many official high titles: Master of Sports of the USSR and Honored Coach of the USSR. The genius of domestic football! World class trainer! One of the founders of vertical football! Constructor of great Dynamo teams! And also the most titled coach in the history of world football in the 20th century.

But it is really difficult to name another such person who had the same significant impact on the domestic football of the Soviet period as Valery Lobanovsky. An excellent player and legendary coach, nicknamed "Loban" (as his fans called him), from a young age learned one simple truth, and having learned, remained faithful to it until the very end: only exhausting work can bring a person closer to the cherished goal.

The enviable persistence with which the lanky red-haired Valery, and later the venerable Valery Vasilyevich, achieved what was planned himself and helped, and sometimes forced others to do it, caused genuine admiration in most of those around him, and in some - unkind envy and anger.

Many young footballers regarded the prospect of becoming a Dynamo player as a sentence. Nevertheless, grueling drill, iron discipline and the inadmissibility of disobedience were the methods using which Lobanovsky literally forced his wards to acquire professional skills, he said.

However, it was not only drill that was the main guarantee of the success of the despotic coach, although it was she who gave her result, and what kind of … Sly Fox was one of the first who introduced sober calculation into the game. Still, being a player of “Dynamo”, Valery realized from his own experience the reliability of accurate mathematical calculation in the game. Lobanovskiy created a verified system that almost never failed, however, requiring full dedication to the game, the construction of the cult of football in a way of life. That is why only the best of the best remained with Lobanovsky the coach … those who were obsessed with their goal and did not spare themselves or their loved ones to achieve it.

How it all began …

The master of national football was born on January 6, 1939 in Kiev. Father worked at a flour mill, mother was engaged in housekeeping. The maternal uncle is the Ukrainian writer Alexander Boychenko. Gifted in everything, the boy from childhood was carried away by football, and so selflessly that he gave himself to it with all his mind and heart. However, disappearing for hours in the yard with the ball, he also managed to study well at school, after which he received a silver medal, a little short of the gold one.

Parents, of course, did not like their son's football hobby. Nevertheless, they did not categorically prohibit, and when they realized that football began to occupy an integral part of their son's life, and that it does not interfere at all, but rather develops Valery, they even supported him when he decided to go to a football school. then the mother and father, and Valery himself, assume that children's fun will grow for him into the meaning of his whole life and make him a first-class football player and an outstanding coach.

He became a pupil of the football school No. 1 (1952 graduation), and later of the Kiev youth football school (1955 graduation). In the same year, 1955, he was enrolled in the Dynamo club, when the indigenous people of Kiev were recruited into the team. The first coach was Nikolai Chaika, who saw the talented young man.

In 1956, Valery Lobanovsky entered the Kiev Polytechnic Institute, but soon left the university. Later he received a diploma of higher education at the Odessa Polytechnic Institute. And, what is most interesting in the biography of the master of national football is that the outstanding coach did not have higher physical education. Yes, don't be surprised …

Character is destiny

But, while still a student of the Kiev Poly, Lob, as Valery was nicknamed by his fellow students, managed to amaze both teachers and students with his mental abilities, along with sports achievements. At that time, he was already gathering dust for the Dynamo youth team, and diligently and conscientiously, despite his football employment, getting the profession of a heat and power engineer. And when he moved from Dynamo to Chernomorets, he continued his studies in Odessa. As a result, Lobanovsky was not destined to become an energy engineer, but he became, without exaggeration, the chief “engineer” of Soviet football. He was deservedly called "the constructor of victories".

As a player, Lobanovsky was peculiar and wayward, very trained and enduring. Thousands of strikes a week, in any weather - before and after training - this is how "Red" acquired his exceptional skill and professionalism, which later became his main achievements. Teammates noted Valery's non-standard thinking on the football field, the ability to use dribbling, which was very unusual for tall players.

By the way, Lobanovsky was never distinguished by the presence of speed, but this did not prevent him from showing enchanting football. He seemed to be dribbling the ball behind his leg on a rope, for which he received the fans nickname - "Cord". And his deadly twisted shots and corner kicks, which he practiced to exhaustion while still at the institute, more than once puzzled the goalkeepers of the enemy teams.

First success

Demonstrating to the stunned players and fans the fusion of mathematical calculation and long training - the trademark blow "dry sheet" - “Loban” scored goal after goal. Thanks to this skill, the footballer became famous throughout the Soviet Union. And since the 1960 season, he became a full-fledged footballer of the main team of Dynamo.

The first success for Lobanovsky as a player came in 1961, when Dynamo Kiev became the champions of the USSR. And everyone associated this victory with the newcomer Lobanovsky, who had recently appeared in the team. It was then that the Dynamo team went down in history, becoming the first Ukrainian champion team, and striker Lobanovskiy scored 10 goals in the championship.

Completion of playing career and results

Valeriy Vasilyevich finished his playing career in Odessa “Chornomorets” (1965-1966) and Donetsk “Shakhtar” (1967-1968, in 1968 - as the team captain). In total, as a player, Valery Lobanovsky played in the Major League in different teams - 253 matches and scored 71 goals.

Coaching activities and achievements

Valery Vasilyevich began his coaching career at the age of 29 in Dnipropetrovsk “Dnipro”, a year after the end of his playing career. A popular footballer in the past became a popular coach overnight. In three years he managed, using effective training methods, to bring the team to the Major League. Then, at the personal invitation of the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine Shcherbytsky, he moved to his former club Dynamo Kiev, where, since 1974, he was a coach for 17 years.

Under his leadership, Dynamo Kiev became the champion of the USSR 8 times and the USSR Cup 6 times. The club has won the European Cup Winners' Cup twice, as well as the European Super Cup in 1975. Then the whole world started talking about Lobanovsky - the Kievites won the Cup Winners' Cup, becoming the first Soviet club to conquer such a peak.

Along with coaching at Dynamo, Lobanovsky became the coach of the USSR national team three times. As a result: for the first time - the national team won the bronze medal at the Olympic Games (1976). However, Lobanovsky achieved his greatest success at the world championships during his third time as coach of the Soviet national team. It was then that the composition of the team was assembled exclusively from Dynamo Kiev players.

And it should be noted that victories were not easy for the great master and his wards. They were the result of daily hard work. He invented a completely new, revolutionary method of training athletes and new tactics in the game - "vertical football". By the way, now the best teams in the world play it.

Nevertheless, during his coaching career, the Iron Colonel has experienced more than once, both dizzying rises and painful falls. Like any mentor, Valery Vasilyevich made mistakes and mistakes, although he always analyzed and corrected them. He always followed the well-known football principle: Lobanovsky, nicknamed the "accountant" for his prudence, understood this like no other.

Belief in superstitions, omens and prejudices

Valery Vasilievich, being a model of the great rationalist, was terrified of defeat. Sometimes he was astonishingly suspicious: stepping on white marking lines, cracks in the ground or on paving slabs - a bad sign, a woman in a command bus - to trouble. And sometimes he would cover his costumes to the holes, without changing them on purpose, thus linking wardrobe items with well-run games.

During tense matches, the master often held his heart. Few people knew that in his jacket pocket he wore a small icon … And when he started walking, he always stepped on his right foot.

The team players also had their own unwritten rules and traditions. So, there was a certain sequence of entering the field, and even if one of the players lingered somewhere, the whole team was waiting for him. And the goalkeeper of the team threw the ball three times and caught it before leaving the locker room.

Lobanovsky - coach of the national teams of the UAE and Kuwait

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Lobanovsky under contract coached the United Arab Emirates national team for two years, raising the team to 4th place in the tournament for the Asian Cup in 1992. However, due to disagreements, the head of the Football Federation, an Arab sheikh, unilaterally terminated the contract, without even paying compensation to the coach.

Lobanovsky was immediately invited to the Kuwait national team, which, under his leadership in 1994, took bronze medals (for the first time in history). But even here it did not work out for Valery Vasilyevich - a war broke out in the country, and the coach left Kuwait.

Return

When in January 1997 Lobanovskiy returned to Dynamo Kiev, the club was in a depressed state. That season, the team was barred from participating in European cups due to a corruption scandal, but, however, still retained its leading position in the Ukrainian league. Through the efforts of the great coach, the Kiev club returned to the elite of European football. Having assembled a new strong team, the Iron Colonel began to inflict spectacular defeats on European clubs. And already in 1999, Dynamo reached the Champions League semifinals. And over the next two years, Lobanovsky brilliantly managed to lead the Ukrainian national team to the playoffs of the qualifying round at the 2002 World Cup.

On the threshold of eternity

During the matches, Lobanovsky, sitting on the coach's bench and swinging like a pendulum, looked almost always calm and unperturbed. But, only a few knew that at these minutes the Iron Colonel was experiencing severe stress, and his pulse even reached a critical point. Of course, such a circumstance could not but affect the health of the eminent coach.

So, on May 7, 2002, Lobanovsky had a severe stroke at a match in Zaporozhye. Proud and sometimes arrogant, Lobanovsky could not afford to be taken from the stadium on a stretcher. This would mean the defeat of his whole life. Valery Vasilyevich feared this almost more than death itself. The critical condition did not prevent Lobanovsky from reaching the ambulance himself, which, most likely, aggravated his already grave condition.

Lobanovsky was taken to the hospital, and by the end of the third day he had a second stroke. The operation was performed by Leonid Yakovenko, Doctor of Medical Sciences, one of the leading specialists in vascular neurosurgery in Ukraine. However, life did not leave him a chance. His heart stopped on May 13, 2002 at 20:35. About 150 thousand people came to say goodbye to the legendary mentor. The Champions League final, which was played 2 days later, began with a minute of silence.

Everlasting memory

The Dynamo stadium in Kiev is named after Valery Lobanovsky. On the territory of the complex there is a memorial monument to the legendary coach - Valery Lobanovsky sits on the coach's bench and seems to be closely following the game at the stadium. The hands of the watch on the hand show 20 hours 35 minutes - the time when the master's heart stopped beating. Streets in Zaporozhye, Dnieper, Izmail were named after Valery Lobanovsky, and a prospect in Kiev was named after the ingenious coach. Valery Vasilyevich was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine.

Lobanovsky has not been with us for nearly eighteen years, but his daughter Svetlana still cannot talk about him in the past tense. Remembering his father every year on his birthday, he says: “On that day, dad was always at work, and perhaps that is why even now it seems to me that he just left for training. There are few such people in our time, or maybe there are no left at all …"

With the last beat of the heart of the great mentor, not only the life of the legendary man ended. Unfortunately, in the past there is the era of “Loban”, the era of great victories and great achievements, an era that ended as suddenly as it was started by Lobanovsky the footballer who played under the 11th number and the brilliant coach of the victors.

Continuing the sports theme, the story about how in 1938 the secret of the female athlete who turned out to be a man was revealed, and other gender scandals in sports.