Exactly 23 years ago, the famous midfielder, captain of Dynamo Kyiv in the 70s of the last century, Viktor Kolotov, passed away. We invite you to remember what this outstanding football player was like, who remains a role model for many former and even current Dynamo players.
Viktor KolotovDossier
Kolotov Viktor Mikhailovich (1949-2000) was born in the village. Yudino of the Tatar ASSR. Midfielder Honored Master of Sports (1975), Honored Coach of Ukraine (1986). He played for the teams "Labor reserves", "Rubin" (both Kazan), "Dynamo" Kyiv (1971-1981).
In the championships of the USSR he played 218 matches, scored 62 goals. Champion of the USSR 1971, 1974, 1975, 1977 Winner of the USSR Cup in 1974 and 1978. Captain of Dynamo in 1972-1976 and 1978-1979
He played 37 matches in European cup tournaments and scored 8 goals. Winner of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Super Cup in 1975.
He played 55 matches for the USSR national team and scored 22 goals. Silver medalist of the 1972 European Championship, bronze medalist of the 1972 and 1976 Olympic Games. Captain of the USSR national team 1975-1976 In 1976, the authoritative English publication World Soccer included the midfielder in the symbolic team of the world at the end of the season.
At the end of his career, for eight years he worked as a coach of the Dynamo double. In 1993, he switched to independent work. He headed Boryspil "Borisfen" and Ivano-Frankivsk "Prykarpattya", and his last team was the youth team of Ukraine.
About Kolotov in quotes
“Who in Soviet football is able to compare with him in terms of the amount of work performed during the game? Lev Filatov, a columnist for Soviet Sport, wrote about Kolotov. - A player of unique functionalities, he was only formally listed as a midfielder. For 90 minutes of continuous movement around the field, he managed to play both a stopper, and a center forward, and a dispatcher, and on the flanks of the attack he felt like a master.
“Viktor Kolotov's range of play is unique! He did everything so correctly and on time that the fans in the stands, who had enrolled the football player as a favorite from the first match, did not stop marveling. Having made a pass, whether short, medium, long, he flew headlong to the gate. He was stopped, shoved, pushed away, but he was unstoppable, and always strived for the maximum goal - to be the first at the ball after the transfer of a partner and score.
There were legends about Kolotov's efficiency. The pranksters argued that if necessary, he would play both the third half and the fourth, and with the same tirelessness as the first two. But I noticed one characteristic detail. If usually football players try to save at least some grains of strength, then Kolotov gave all the best for an hour and a half, without a trace, sometimes bringing himself to a state of insanity.
After the game with "Eindhoven" in Kyiv - a high-level match and great tension, when even Oleg Bazilevich and I could not stand - we could not hold our legs, Kolotov came out of the shower, looked at everyone carefully and asked in silence: "So they scored against us or not ?” One of the guys, it seems Volodya Muntyan, exclaimed: “Well, you give, Vitek! Calm down, everything remains as it was - 3:0 in our favor. Unless, of course, the referee credited them with a goal on the scoresheet.” “Understood,” Kolotov said calmly and again went to the shower room.
The captain's armband fell on him like a bolt from the blue. He used to consider himself an ordinary footballer, modestly and honestly doing his job, and suddenly... The reaction to the trust of the guys was expected. He did not shout at his partners, did not put on an important air, did not speak in a mentoring tone. Kolotov regarded the captaincy as the need to be an example in life, in training and in the game "- from the book by Valery Lobanovsky "The Endless Match".
“A terrible wound was bleeding heavily - Viktor was taken from the field on a stretcher. The thigh looked like a "chops with blood" - I barely had enough bandages to make a bandage. But blood showed through the bandages. “Hurry!” Victor urged me. No matter how I held him, barely waiting for the end of the dressing, at five minutes before the invalid jumped up and rushed into the thick of things. In bloody bandages, with burning eyes! The Germans shied away from him in horror" - Viktor Berkovsky, doctor of Kyiv "Dynamo".
“Friends remember endlessly about Kolotov’s kindness and responsiveness. Everyone who came into contact with this amazing person can give many examples when he helped not only with a word and kind attitude, but also with direct participation in solving the most desperate and seemingly insoluble problems.
About his mentor Valery Vasilyevich Lobanovsky, Viktor Kolotov spoke only in superlatives. He noted that the coach not only helped him achieve success in football, but also instilled a love for reading and theater. Viktor Mikhailovich did not miss almost a single tour in Kyiv of the famous Kote Makharadze and Sofiko Chiaureli, singled out historical literature and the work of Ilf and Petrov. It is surprising that, being a serious person, he could watch cartoons with rapture, laughing hoarsely at the adventures of Disney's Tom and Jerry.
Viktor Mikhailovich was very fond of singing. Not differing in hearing, he sang, as they say, with his soul. Moreover, being a native Russian, he preferred Ukrainian songs. In general, he always spoke about Ukraine with great love, was interested in its culture and history, learned the language, although it was given to him with great difficulty ”- excerpts from the book“ Legends of National Football ”.
“There were no football secrets for him either. In his field, he was a real pro. And he greatly valued what was connected with his favorite team. Back in the early 1990s, when Grigory Surkis became the president of Dynamo, the club gave Viktor a car - a Mercedes assigned to him. Vitya was happy with the present, like a boy. Later, when he bought himself a new car, I asked him to sell me a Mercedes. But he didn’t say anything: “Antonych, ask for anything, but I won’t part with this car. After all, this is a Dynamo gift.”
And he was also a real friend. In the early 1990s, I lost my job. Victor, heading "Borisfen", invited me to be the team administrator. But the salary, as I found out later, was paid out of my own pocket. Probably few people are capable of this. Or here is another nuance that vividly characterizes Victor. One of our common hobbies was hunting. He was an excellent shot, but I assure you that he did not have a single killed boar or hare on his account. Kolotov loved animals. In his presence, even the most angry dog began to wag its tail. I remember once Vitya went into an enclosure with two terrible "Asians". He got down on all fours in front of them and began to say something. You should have seen how, in a couple of minutes, two huge shepherd dogs climbed up to kiss him! Hunting for Kolotov was just an opportunity to spend time with friends, to be in nature. Somewhere in his soul, apparently, he was a romantic. With a pack of cigarettes, he could retire to the edge of the forest and admire the surrounding beauty for a long time. So it was on his last hunt, on the eve of his death... "- friend of Viktor Kolotov, aviator Vladimir Byrsya.
“A well-established player appeared before the audience - enterprising, cold-blooded, eager to play. His efficiency on the field would be enough for two. He did not stand idle for a single minute: he put pressure on the opponent at the moment of receiving the ball on any part of the field, defended at his own goal, with long passes led Blokhin and Onishchenko into the gap, he himself completed the attacks with accurate blows. His game was extremely meaningful and rational. Nothing superfluous, everything is subordinated to a specific task: I didn’t waste time on dribble in the middle of the field, but in a difficult situation at other people’s goal I was not afraid to play individually. His constant, throughout the match, struggle for the ball was not of a destructive nature. On the contrary, having obtained the ball, he immediately started a new attack. Over the years, his role as point guard became more and more prominent. Opponents, aware of this, paid him increased attention. It was not easy to stop Kolotov without violating the rules. He fully experienced the entire arsenal of anti-football techniques: footboards, linings, kicks to the legs. He endured all this stoically, never left the field, and he himself never stooped to such retaliatory actions.
“Assessing the level of professional skills of Viktor Kolotov, it is difficult to single out anything in particular, as this skill was so diverse and balanced. But one circumstance cannot be ignored: Viktor Kolotov is a member of the Grigory Fedotov Club (a symbolic club that unites Soviet football players who have scored 100 or more goals in their careers). Midfielder! The fact is exceptional, and here you can’t do without numbers. Only in 53 matches for the national team Kolotov scored 22 goals. Moreover, he scored the first goal in the debut game for the national team against the Yugoslav team in 1970 ”- My Football magazine.
commemorative match
Two of the eight goals scored by Viktor Kolotov in European club competitions came in the first match of the 1/16 finals of the European Champions Cup in the 1975/76 season against Olympiacos of Piraeus. This was Kolotov's only double in European competition.
At that time, Dynamo had almost approved the status of the best club on the continent. A week earlier, they dealt with the formidable Bayern Munich in Munich, and a couple of weeks later they will repeat this in Kyiv.
The game with Olympiacos took place at the Toubsa Stadium in Thessaloniki. And in it, the captain of Kiev showed himself in the best light, thanks to whose goals Dynamo led by two goals already at the end of half an hour of the meeting.
At the 21st minute, Kolotov made an application for a goal after Veremeev very prudently sent a twisted ball behind the backs of the defenders, and five minutes later, when the pressure of the Greeks on Rudakov's goal seemed to have reached its climax, Kolotov opened the scoring.
The attack was started by our goalkeeper. Having taken possession of the ball, he strongly knocked it out on Blokhin, the forward, in the struggle with two defenders, went to the goal line and from there sent the ball into the goalkeeper's area. Kochubinsky was the first to rush to him and attracted the attention of the goalkeeper, and Kolotov ran a little behind him, who sent the ball into the net with his head.
Olympiacos did not back down from their plans and continued to persistently attack. Kritikopoulos and Delikaris are active in the front line, Kirastas, Argentinean Viera and left-back Angelis are in the middle. The Kievans all this time were defending calmly and unmistakably, Rudakov defended the gate well, knocking out a heavy and wet ball far beyond the penalty area with his fists.
And in the 30th minute, having received the right to a corner kick, Dynamo increased the score. Veremeev, contrary to his usual practice, tried to serve the ball to the near post and succeeded, taking the goalkeeper by surprise - Kolotov again sent the ball into the goal with his head from close range.
Lobanovsky's team failed to keep the winning score in that meeting. However, the victory in Kyiv with a minimum score brought a ticket to the second round. And Dynamo stopped its path to the European trophy only in the spring, losing to the French Saint-Etienne.
Cup of European Champions. 1/16 final. The first match.
September 17, 1975 Thessaloniki. Tubas Stadium. +22°. 45,000 viewers.
"Olympiacos» (Piraeus, Greece) - "Dynamo» (Kyiv, USSR) — 2:2 (1:2)
Goals: 0:1 Kolotov (27), 0:2 Kolotov (30), 1:2 Kritikopoulos (35), 2:2 Aizinho (63).
"Olympiacos»: Kelesidis, Angelis, Gaitandzis, Siokos, Kirastas, Viera, Glezos, Pampulis, Kritikopoulos, Delikaris, Sinetopoulos (Aizinho, 62).
"Dynamo"(Kyiv): Rudakov, Konkov, Zuev, Fomenko, Reshko, Troshkin, Buryak, Kochubinsky, Kolotov, Veremeev, Blokhin.
