Today is the 49th birthday of Dynamo Kyiv midfielder of the late 90s and early 2000s, 6-time champion of Ukraine, 4-time winner of the Cup of Ukraine and semi-finalist of the Champions League in 1999 in the "White and Blue" team Vitaly Kosovsky .
Vitaly KosovskyFor football fans of the 90s, our today's hero is an integral part of Lobanowski's epic third great team. These are the young guys, Ukrainians and a few legionnaires from neighboring countries, who in a short period after the return of Metra made a real breakthrough in their careers - after battles in the domestic arena, failed matches with Rapid, Xamax, insecurity in their own forces, they learned to play on an equal footing with "Real", "Barcelona", "Bavaria" and for several years in a row they gave "Dynamo" fans Eurospring and worthy confrontations with the world's leading football clubs.
Moreover, if on the right we lacked a breakthrough, stable midfielder - since the days of Pokhlebaev, then on the left we could be sure - Kosovsky would work both for himself and for Kaladze with Dmytrulin. "Irons" the edge from the flag to the flag and has time both in defense and in attack. Even after ending his performances early due to injuries, today's birthday boy was remembered as a player of the entire decade. And his personal level has been tested by matches against the giants of European football and the top national teams.
Vitaly Kosovsky was born on August 11, 1973 in the city of Ostrog, Rivne region. It was there that he started playing football - Mykola Leonidovych Pugach became his first coach, who noticed the boy during yard battles and suggested that he practice seriously. Not far away - 10 kilometers away - is Netishyn, the city of atomic workers of the Khmelnytsky NPP. Vitaly's father, a driver, moved there for work, the family got an apartment, and coach Mykhailo Telebey invited the talented young football player to the Netishyn sports school. The future player of "Dynamo" and the national team of Ukraine studied at the local secondary school for 10 years. Moreover, at first he started going to another city in the neighboring region without his parents' knowledge - the coaches even had to talk with them to make sure that his son was doing the right thing and could reach serious heights in it.
From a young age, Kosovsky was indeed one of the most promising players. He was on the radar not only in the youth national teams of the Khmelnytskyi region and Ukrainian SSR, but also among his peers throughout the Soviet Union. So, at the age of 16, Vitalik was taken to a republican sports boarding school. In Kyiv, he was trained by the legendary Volodymyr Kiyanchenko. At that time Kosovsky's important matches in the youth national team of the USSR fell. In 1990, he was a participant in the selection tournament of the European Championship among youths under 16 years of age - a strong, promising Soviet national team led by Piskarev gathered such players as Lutsenko, Lebid, Petrov, Luchkevich Sr., Parkhomenko, Hnativ, Bezruchko, Beketov, Alexander Khatskevich and Vita Tsygankova's father, but did not make it to the finals. The Czechoslovak national team with Berger, Penksa, Rzepka won the competition. Some of them had previously played against Dynamo, the future vice-champions of Euro-96 among adults were also here.
In the same year, Kosovsky took part in the Granatkin Memorial, and the USSR youth national team also qualified for the final tournament of the European Under-18 Championship. The CIS national team already went to the competition hosted by Germany - it lost the match on penalties to the Norwegians to reach the semi-finals, so it shared 5-6 places with the hosts of the competition - already united Germany. Experienced Piskarev noted his speed, efficiency and goal-setting. For some time, it was even believed that the best position for Vitaliy is forward.
The collapse of the USSR put Soviet football in a transitional period. A few years earlier, the elders were allowed to go across the border, followed by others - with the effect of a dam breached by a raging mountain river. But such a youth as Kosovsky got into adult football faster and more smoothly. They were expected because the average age of the teams was rapidly decreasing and yesterday's favorites were going to Morocco, Czechoslovakia, Abakan - and anywhere else to provide for their families.
After RSHI, Kosovsky got into the second league "Podillya". The Khmelnytskyi team was a middle peasant of the "Ukrainian" sixth zone - and a year before that, Myron Markevich was replaced by Istvan Sekech. Hryhoriy Ishchenko arrived when he headed the money-hungry Shepetivsk "Temp". "Podillya" took 14th place in its zone for two years in a row, but, by the way, another future Dynamo player Serhii Kovalets graduated from there. For two incomplete seasons, Kosovsky played 22 matches (1 goal) in the Second Union League. With one more scored goal, he won the cup, scoring "Kryvbasa".
"Social elevators" then worked quickly - in all areas of life. And already after the first successful matches, other clubs began to show interest in Kosovsky. Right in the middle of the 1991 season, offers came from various clubs, but the most persistent was "Niva" from Vinnytsia. At the time, the team was led by the experienced Oleksandr Tomak - he would reveal this years later in Chernihiv "Desna" Yarmolenko. Having seen prospects in the fast left-footed player, he insisted that they fight for Vitaliy.
Ihor Gataullin, head of FC "Niva", personally arrived in Khmelnytskyi with a clear task - to return only with Kosovsky. After one of the matches, Tomakh's assistant Vyacheslav Grozny approached the young player. In the course of long negotiations, an agreement was reached - the main factor for the young football player was the opportunity to get a higher education and close the issue with the army (although he had to serve a month in a missile unit somewhere in Vinnytsia). When he and his parents promised him that he would be admitted to the Vinnytsia Pedagogical University, the transfer took place (later Vitaly graduated from the football faculty of the National University of Physical Education and Sports). "Niva" at that time was among the leaders of the western zone of the Second League - Union was collapsing, there were only guesses as to who would end up where. Vinnytsia's trick worked - finishing fifth, they got the right to play in the Higher League of the Championship of Independent Ukraine.
Vitaly Kosovsky really revealed himself in "Niva" as one of the most promising young football players. "In "Podilly" I played as a striker, already in "Niva" Tomah began to cover the left midfielder with me. It was a good decision by San Sanych," Vitaly himself said later. And later succinctly and aptly described his playing style: "My playing style is speed, passes on the flank, targeted passes that reach the players. There are episodes when the goal assist is more important than the ball I scored." But the legendary Dynamo player Volodymyr Troshkin, who traveled all over Ukraine and saw young Kosovsky in action, advised him: "You, Vitalik, are not like anyone else. There you go, use it!”
In Vinnytsia, the great Ivan Shariy spent the last successful season of his career. Young people Serhiy Popov and Yurii Solovyenko showed themselves well. Oleksiy Ryabtsev, the future long-term leader of Niva, made his debut. After Tomakh, Vyacheslav Grozny, Yuriy Kovba, Mykhailo Petrov, and Yukhym Shkolnikov worked with the team. In spite of all, Kosovsky was not just the main one, but the leader. Scored a lot, was called up to the youth national team of Ukraine, was on everyone's radar. Although "Niva" managed to be relegated, and then re-entered the Higher League, Vitaly managed to play 99 matches for it, scoring 29 goals.
At some point, a real fight broke out for the player - almost not all elite clubs applied for Kosovsky, the closest was "Chornomorets" (Leonid Buryak noticed Kosovsky while still leading the Ternopil "Niva"), it is said that the Belgian "Standard" was interested in Kosovsky and Naduda, they were circling around Dynamo Moscow and CSKA with the prospect of taking the Ukrainian to the neighboring national team, like dozens of other players stolen from us. But when "Dynamo" got involved, Kosovsky had no doubts - he had dreamed of playing for this team since childhood. In the final match of the 1993/94 season in Zaporizhzhia against Torpedo, Vitaly scored three goals and said goodbye to Vinnytsia fans. There was a new challenge ahead in his career. "Kosovsky, who also at Niva was noted for his remarkable ability to play along with his partners, the meeting with the new team did not cause any particular problems," noted the publication's columnist Valery Valerko.
On July 22, 1994, Kosovsky was in the starting line-up for a match against the same "Torpedo" already in a "Dynamo" football shirt. Moreover, in the position of the left defender, he provided the assist for Skachenko's winning goal already in his debut match. "Ukrainian Football" awarded the rookie with a rating of 6.5 - one of the best in Kyiv. And it happened - for "Dynamo" under all coaches, this player was the main one, if only his health did not fail.
In parallel, Vitaly's career in the national team developed. In his youth, he became the author of a goal in the goal of his peers from Italy - in the defensive line of Panucci, Cannavaro, Nesta, Galante and with Inzaghi in attack. Play at least a draw in that away game and the Ukrainian youth player would have qualified for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta... Kosovsky played a total of 16 matches and 4 goals in the youth national team of Ukraine in 1992-95. And in the spring of 1996, Jozef Sabo began to call Vitaliy to the national team. If he was in the reserve in the April match in Moldova, then on May 1 he made his debut in Turkey. The hosts - participants of the Euro-96 final tournament - won 3:2, but the local press noted the combativeness of the renewed Ukrainian national team. In total, in 1996-2000, Kosovsky played 25 matches for the national team, scoring 3 goals and 2 assists. And one more goal did not enter the statistics - when Pedersen did not count the goal of the Croatians after Vitali's strike in the second leg of the playoffs for the trip to the 1998 World Cup in France...
As part of Dynamo, Kosovsky experienced the level of European Cups and made his debut in the national team, becoming the 6-time champion of Ukraine (1994/95, 1995/96, 1996/97, 1997/98, 1998/99, 1999/2000) and 4-time winner of the Cup of Ukraine (1995/96, 1997/98, 1998/99, 1999/2000). He repeatedly won unofficial tournaments - say, the Commonwealth Cup in Russia or the Kings Cup in Switzerland.
With the arrival of Lobanovskyi, the speed and endurance of the bright football player were appreciated - in a brilliant team that made a lot of noise in the European Cups, Vitaliy was the main player. It was Kosovsky who scored the memorable third goal against Silkeborg as Dynamo qualified for the Champions League and advanced to the group stage for the first time. He also provided an assist for Leonenko's double (3:2 at home with Spartak), as well as for Rebrov's well-hit shot in Eindhoven three years later. Kosovsky's goals are a separate song: it's hard to say whether he is more reminiscent of a spectacular low kick in Oliver Kahn's goal or an unrealized moment that could have "buried" Bayern in the semi-finals (they finished 3:3 in Kyiv and narrowly lost in the second leg) . The last tribute to the fans in an international match in the later years of his career was a 4th-minute goal against Bayer Leverkusen in 2000. 4:2 - with this score, the Dinamo team beat the wards of Christoph Daum with Kirsten, Neuville, Novotny, Ramelov and Schneider. The semi-final of the 1998/99 Champions League remained the pinnacle both for that team as a whole and for Kosovski personally. Could it have been better? Could Vitaly move to foreign clubs? Different names circulated in different years - the most realistic, they say, was a transfer to "Celta" - Spanish negotiators even came to Kyiv, but during the 1998/99 season the transfer did not go through and Kosovsky still played in the semi-finals.
During that glorious season, Vitaly began to be seriously troubled by injuries — primarily, inguinal rings and back. In the next three championships, Kosovsky did not even play 10 matches. No. 9 remained behind him, but in the starting lineup, fans saw the speedy player less and less often. On October 13, 2003, Dynamo's official website sadly announced the end of Kosovsky's career: "The last time Vitaliy wore a first team shirt was almost two years ago... Much to the great regret of the many supporters of Vitaliy Kosovskyi's talent, one of the best midfielders in the country in the mid-90s x never recovered from a series of serious injuries and decided to end his football career. Having hung his boots on a nail, Kosovsky did not remain without work for a long time. From now on, Vitaly will work in the selection service of the club under the leadership of Jozef Szabo."
For eight incomplete seasons in Dynamo, Vitaly Kosovsky played 195 matches, scoring 27 goals, including 131 matches (20 goals) in the Higher League of the Ukrainian Championship, 22 (3) in the Cup of Ukraine, 42 (4) in the European Cups . He last appeared on the field in the first club team on April 21, 2002, replacing Chernat in the 58th minute of the capital derby between Arsenal and Dynamo. In the future, other guys fought for the first places... On June 8, 2003, in one of his hometowns, Khmelnytskyi, Kosivskyi played 90 minutes for Dynamo-2 against his first team, Podillia. The circle closed. In his early 30s, he said goodbye to football, but could not leave it.
By the way, few people know about it, but Kosovsky still played quite a few matches at the youth and amateur levels. In 2008, Vitaly played 5 matches and scored 1 goal for "Irpin" (Horenichi), winning the Ukrainian Amateur Football Cup with the rural team from Kyiv region. His teammates were other Dynamo veterans - Kovtun, Bezsmertny, Dmytrulin, Volosyanko, Kardash, Konovalov... Also, Rebrov, Yashkin, Annenkov and Belkevich managed to play for this team. And the last match among amateurs of the All-Ukrainian level Kosovsky played in 2014 for the capital "Eurobis". And to this day, in individual games, he can be seen in the veteran national team of Ukraine.
Kosovsky's new life is selection and coaching work. As a selector, in 2003-2006, he brought a number of future national team players to Dynamo, including such a famous defender as Vitaly Mandzyuk. Few people know that Andrii Yarmolenko was also brought to DYUFSh by Kosovskyi... Then Vitaly Vladyslavovich helped Oleksandr Lysenko in the youth national team of Ukraine - he should be remembered by the boys born in 1989-90 (some of them will become the European youth champion in three years ). Then he worked at "Podilla" in Muravskyi's headquarters. He was a member of the Niva coaching staff, leading the team in the Vinnytsia match against Mykolaiv FC in the fall of 2011 (0:1). In that season, his team finished 13th in the First League. For some time he worked in a large recruiting agency, even forming a team of free agents, as the press reported at the time.
In 2012-14, he worked in the Dynamo U-19 and U-21 teams in Valentyn Belkevych's staff. He was a technical coach of the Dynamo Lobanovskyi Youth Football Association, he led the youth teams of his age categories. In the 2015/16 season, he led Dynamo to victory in the Ukrainian U-17 DUFL Championship, and a year later - in the U-14 Championship. In 2017-18, he again joined the staff of the youth club team.
From 2019 - in "Vorskla". He worked with the club's youth, and after the resignation of Vasyl Sachko, he was the acting manager for about six months. head coach, after which he returned to the post of senior coach of the youth team. On December 18, 2019, it became known that Vitaly Kosovsky won the honorary title "Honored Coach of Ukraine". And in the summer of 2022, a new chapter in his coaching work began - Kosovsky led the Kryvbas U-19 team.
Vitaliy's son Serhiy, whose namesake Rebrov became his godfather, continues the Kosov dynasty. At the youth level, he was a regular in the national teams of his age groups, scoring for the French (it seems, for them) from the center of the field. Played for "Dynamo", "Vorskla", "Agrobusiness" and "VPC-Agro", currently signed a contract with "Obolonya" of the first division.
