© AFP
At the end of the last century, the Kyiv "Dynamo" team shook the football world of the Old Continent.
The Ukrainians, led by young talent Andriy Shevchenko, could easily thrash the "Barcelona" club 4-0 at the "Camp Nou" stadium or knock the Madrid "Real" team out of the tournament quarterfinals as if nothing had happened. At that time, the legendary club was led by the exceptional strategist Valeriy Lobanovskis, dreaming of winning trophies he had never won before. We present an article prepared by the BBC about A. Shevchenko's contribution to his country's football.
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"Mr. Galliani, can I take the Champions League trophies to Ukraine?"
"Milan" vice president Adriano Galliani's face turned pale. The club he led with Silvio Berlusconi had just won the UEFA Champions League tournament for the eleventh time in 2003, defeating Turin's "Juventus" team in a final held at "Old Trafford" after an 11-meter penalty shootout.
Now, forward Andriy Shevchenko, who scored the winning goal, came to the manager's office with an unusual request.
"Come with me, Sheva. Quickly!"
The older man led him down a short corridor to a room with one of Europe's football giants' trophies.
"Andriy, choose which one you want. There are seven of them!"
A. Shevchenko pointed to the last one in line, which he had lifted just a few days ago at the Manchester stadium. Soon these trophies lay next to the Ukrainian's private jet, flying to Kyiv.
What was the reason for such a gesture? As the player recalls in his autobiography "My life, my football": "Promises are meant to be kept".
A. Shevchenko made this promise the moment he heard the final whistle declaring "Milan" victorious in the UEFA Champions League semifinals against the "Inter" team.
He promised his hero, for whom he was especially grateful for his successful career.
In his homeland, Andriy accumulated Champions League titles, "Serie A", the 2004 "Golden Ball" trophy, and also led Ukraine to their first World Cup as an independent state.
This man passed away a year ago. Valeriy Lobanovskis.
During his football career as a midfielder for the "Dynamo" club and the USSR national team, Lobanovskis returned to lead his former club in 1973, after a brief period at Dnipro club.
In this first phase, he developed ideas and systems that would form the basis of his career. He was the leader of a team of four coaches. Former team mate Oleh Bazylevyts led the training, Dnipro physical education institute scientist Anatoliy Zelentsov oversaw physical player preparation, and statistician Mykhailo Oshemkov collected and analyzed data.
The first excellent V. Lobanovskis team won the 1975 European Cup Winners' Cup, defeating "Ferencvaros" in the final 3-0.
That fall, Ukrainians celebrated the European Super Cup - champions of Europe (then UEFA Champions League) defeated Munich's "Bayern" 1-0 away, and 2-0 in front of 100,000 fans in Kiev.
On this day, 83 years ago, the legendary player and coach of Dynamo Kyiv Valeriy Lobanovskyi (1939-2002) was born, under whose leadership our football players achieved the greatest success in the history of the club 🏆 pic.twitter.com/Wug7lLnbo8
— FC Dynamo English (@dynamokyiven) January 6, 2022
All three goals of "Dynamo" were scored by Oleh Blokhin, who was awarded the "Golden Ball" at the end of the year.
This sniper was the only one left in the team when Lobanovskis later returned to "Dynamo". In 1986, he scored an exceptional goal, resulting in a 3-0 triumph over Madrid's "Atletico" to give the Kyiv team their second European Cup Winners' Cup trophy. O. Blokhin made an exceptional goal, which was the end of a beautiful attack that moved defenders out of their positions like chess pieces. This time, he was assisted by Ihor Belanov, who became the second of Lobanovskis' players to win the "Golden Ball", defeating Gary Lineker in the vote.
Shevchenko and Lobanovskis first met in 1997 when the coach returned to his homeland after several years abroad. The Ukrainian worked in the United Arab Emirates, then in Kuwait. This was the third and final "Dynamo" team assembled by Lobanovskis, but his legacy in the club had already been inscribed in golden letters.
"As a sign of gratitude and recognition, the club always kept his office at the stadium. When Valeriy returned, he returned home," said Shevchenko.
"The strategist was a genius. A visionary. Someone who wanted to pursue the path to perfection."
Shevchenko worked together with the historical football figure for three years, and their achievements were crowned by an impressive journey in the 1998-1999 UEFA Champions League tournament, where they narrowly missed out on reaching the final.
In the group stage, "Dynamo" surpassed the "Arsenal", "Lens", and "Panathinaikos" teams and faced the Madrid "Real" team in the quarterfinals.
The Spaniards, defending champions and with players like Roberto Carlos, Clarence Seedorf, and Raul in their lineup, were considered the clear favorites.
The first match in Spain ended in a 1-1 draw. In the return match, "Dynamo" triumphed 2-0 in front of 81,500 of their fans. A. Shevchenko led the Ukrainian team forward, scoring the only goal away and both goals at home, with the help of the elusive S. Rebrov.
The victory also meant that V. Lobanovskis led his team to the Champions League semifinals for the third time in his career.
Then, Shevchenko and the coach shared an unknown secret in the locker room: this would be their last journey in Europe. An agreement had already been made with "Milan," and a £20 million compensation had been laid out for the forward.
In the UEFA Champions League semifinals, Lobanovskis faced his former employers "Bayern".
With 12 minutes left to play in Kyiv, his proteges were leading 3-1. Shevchenko scored his seventh and eighth goals of the tournament. The hosts had opportunities to increase their advantage, but late goals from Stefano Effenberg and Carsten Jancker equalized the score. In Germany, Mario Basler`s goal meant that "Bayern," not "Dynamo," would advance to the final to face "Man Utd" fighting for the "treble."
"I didn't even want to look at Lobanovskis' face," Shevchenko said about that night in Munich. "I saw how he wanted to win those trophies."
Less than three years later, on May 13, 2002, Lobanovskis passed away during the "Dynamo" match against the Zaporizhia team. Shevchenko learned this news while in the USA, where he was participating in a post-season tournament with the "Milan" team. He immediately returned to his homeland to join nearly 200,000 people mourning the sports icon in the streets of Kyiv.
The "Dynamo" stadium, which would later be renamed in Lobanovskis' honor that year, became a place of mourning.
"Strange thoughts were flooding my mind," Shevchenko said. "I kept thinking that he would rise from this eternal sleep and publicly humiliate the doctor who gave the wrong prognosis, as well as the medic who once tried to ban training because of a slight fever."
In the spring of 2003, a statue of Lobanovskis naming a stadium was erected. At the end of the bench sits a great coach, made of bronze - a giant, watching over the city and its footballers.
And it was right there that Shevchenko, just a few months after the statue was unveiled, placed the just-won trophies on the bench and stepped back to see them together. The coach and the trophy, which Valeriy dreamed of.
"From that moment on, the memory of him in 1999 became a little dearer to me," Shevchenko said. "He smiled more, just like I did. I always carry a piece of the coach with me. And now he had become a European club champion."
17 years have passed since you left us but you are always in my heart.
— Andriy Shevchenko (@jksheva7) May 13, 2019
I’ll thank you forever for all you have done for my career and in all my life.#ValeriyLobanovskiy #Legend #Ukraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/gU3hKlgRec
