Today is the 80th anniversary of the birth of the famous Dynamo Kyiv player Ferenc Medvidy. The most interesting milestones in the biography of the prominent Transcarpathian were described by Semen Sluchevskyi and Volodymyr Kuleba in the book "Pioneers".
Ferenc Medvid (left)If a football fan with experience, and even more so a specialist, asks himself the question: which of the "Dynamo" football players of the Maslov era most vividly demonstrated the style of play developed by Did, one of the first names that will come to mind will be that of Ferenc Medvidy.
#1 Universal Soldier
Ferenc Medvid is a worthy successor of the Transcarpathian constellation of Dynamo players of the late 40s and early 50s.
He was born on January 5, 1943 in the village of Nove Davydkovo, Mukachevo district. At that time, the population of this village was almost entirely Hungarian. Therefore, it is correct to call the full name of our hero Medvigy Ferenc (Medvigy Ferenc with an emphasis on the first syllable of the surname and to be consistent with Hungarian spelling rules, in which the surname is always placed before the first name).
But what can Ferenc be like in Soviet Transcarpathia? Here he went through the documents as Fedir, and the officials shifted the accent to the second syllable in the surname. Similarly, Transcarpathian Slovak Michal Koman became Mykhailo, and Hungarians Jozef Szabo and later Laszlo Rats, respectively, Joseph and Vasyl.
Medvid made his debut quite early - at the age of 15 - in the football team of masters - Uzhgorod "Spartak", which was soon renamed "Verkhovyna". He played there for three seasons, and at the age of 19 he was invited to Dynamo Kyiv. Then, in 1962, he made his debut in the main team of white and blue in a match against CSKA.
Who better than anyone can describe the game of young Medvidy? Of course, Andriy Biba, one of the leaders of the people of Kyiv at that time: "Fyodor came to us from Transcarpathia. Its distinguishing feature is amazing performance. Previously, he mainly "worked" on the field, and now this work has transformed into a game. Acts at a high pace, very mobile. Fedor knows how to disrupt the order of the opponent's game, breaks the game ties of opponents. He himself plays outwardly inconspicuously, while he is not yet distinguished by high performance skills, so no matter how he lulls the vigilance of his opponents, they clearly underestimate him.".
These traits - unusual diligence, thirst for struggle, excellent physical training - the football player showed throughout his career. He was even called a man with two hearts. After hard training and games, it always seemed that he was not tired at all and that he could play a couple more matches.
However, the partners did not always feel a surge of joy from Medvid's amazing efficiency. Somehow the people of Dynamo ran cross country. Fedor took such a pace that the others finished "because they can't". They all have red tongues on their beards, hands to their knees... Colleagues here made a "presentation" to the enthusiast: "What do you need most? Then go from football to athletics, and there run with Borzov himself".
However, he took a permanent place in the base after three seasons, when Maslov on all pairs was building his universal game model in Kyiv.
Fedor did not have to play any position. He started his career as a forward. But in adult football, he mastered all the roles in the middle of the field - he was both a central midfielder and played on both flanks. The connection on the left edge of the field was especially interesting: Vitaly Khmelnytskyi in front, Medvid behind him.
Vitaly Hryhorovych recalls his partner's game: "While carrying out a huge amount of work, Fedya played excellently with the head, was a universally recognized master of tackling - he always collected the ball cleanly, trying not to cause injury to the opponent. Well, his "crown" was dashes of 50-60 meters, which he made several dozen per match. In short, a real breakwater. Perhaps the only thing he wasn't always good at was long passes. But he fully compensated for his mistakes with self-sacrifice, which was rare even for those times."
Life and coach Maslov set new and new tasks for the football player. Due to his age, the cool right defender of "Dynamo" Volodymyr Shchegolkov ended his playing career. Here, Grandfather came up with the idea of "transferring" Fedor to this position.
Medvid faced a difficult task: to master a new role - the right defender. At the start of the season, he did not feel very comfortable in this position. There were mistakes. However, he played better and better from match to match. Moreover, with his high-speed raids, endurance and aggressiveness, he greatly helped the attack. There were even times when the team won matches thanks to his powerful shots. For example, with "Ararat".
Soon he was appreciated by no less famous rivals. Valery Voronin, the pride of Torpedo Moscow and the USSR national team, said: "It was very difficult to play against Medvyd. You never know where Fedor will appear. I just saw him 20 meters away, didn't have time to look around, and he's already in front of you, caustic to the point of impossibility. Sometimes I was even afraid that he would grab my leg. The surname is binding."
You have already understood that the words "universal soldier No. 1" about Medvyd are not a literary image at all, but reality. And No. 1 - first of all, the chronological moment is taken into account. And in order to completely kill the reader, I will add a quote from Fedor's own memories: "In 1963, CSKA backups played with us. And I, in the interests of the team, stood for 70 minutes... in the goal. And then he couldn't stand it and went on the attack. Literally before the end of the match, I twice managed to force the goalkeeper of the army to "pull" the ball out of the goal net". Like this!
This Transcarpathian spent a total of 11 football seasons in Dynamo. He is a 4-time champion (1966-1968 and 1971) and a two-time winner of the USSR Cup (1964 and 1966). Played 12 matches in European Cups (KEC - 8 games, KOK - 4). Played 243 matches in the top league and scored 19 goals. In the lists of "33 greatest players" his name appeared twice (1966 and 1967).
"You saw?!"
Fedor was famous for his cheerful and non-aggressive character. Until they get him. Here is an example that perfectly illustrates such features of Medvyd.
In 1967, the national team of the former Union was preparing for the European Championship-68. Head coach Mykhailo Yakushyn invited two Kyiv-Transcarpathians - midfielders Sabo and Medvidy - to a friendly match with the Scots.
And the meeting at the famous Hampden Park stadium in Glasgow ended with a score of 2:0 in favor of the Soviet football players. Medvid was admired for how he competently "closed" the great scorer Denis Low from Manchester United, the winner of the Ballon d'Or for the best football player in Europe in 1964. But that was not enough, Fedir also scored a cannonball into Simpson's goal from 30 meters into his own nine. This goal had its own unique continuation...
The fact is that in those days Levchenko's namesakes played in Kyiv "Dynamo" - Volodymyr was the left defender, and Valentyn was in the center of the field, whom both the fans in the stands and the players themselves did not call Smyk differently. Why such a strange nickname Smyk? Perhaps because of the once popular due to Leonid Utyosov's performance of the rogue song "Hop with a bow".
So, Smyk, excuse me, Valentin Levchenko, to put it mildly, was jealous of Fedor. Jealously, obviously, because Maslov constantly declared Medvyd in the starting line-up, and at best kept him in the reserve, or even did not include him in the match report at all. Levchenko was loudly indignant at what he thought was injustice. There was no aggressive reaction from Fedi. In response, Fedya behaved as usual cheerfully, was calm, as if pretending to be.
And when the famous "Cunning Mikhay" (this "call sign" was preserved for a decade by Mikhail Yosypovich Yakushin) began to attract Fedor to the first team of the Union, Valentin could only snort with envy.
Medvid's magnificent goal against the Scots in Glasgow would not have become so famous if not for the continuation in his own performance of our hero. Fedya did not wait to return to Kyiv, as soon as the team flew from Glasgow to Moscow, he dialed Levchenko's phone number from the hotel at night. And shouting to him only: "Did you see ?!", immediately put the phone on the lever.
Bear is the trainer
Ferenc (Fedir) Yozhefovich, after the end of his career as a player, worked for a short time as a coach of an adult team - in 1974-75, he headed Chernivtsi "Bukovyna". But his talent as a mentor was more revealed in his work with the younger generation.
He had the opportunity to be a mentor of children and young men at the school of his native club, at the Republican sports boarding school, and at the national team of Ukraine.
During his work as a senior coach of the youth national team of Ukraine, his wards won the prestigious "Youth" Cup in 1985. Many of his students became good football players and successfully continued to play in the teams of our country and abroad. And in 1987, the national team of the former Union among 16-year-olds became the world champion. It included four students of Ferenc Yozhefovich: Mykola Rusyn from Transcarpathia, Yuriy Makarov from Kyiv, Valeriy Vysokos and Yuriy Moroz.
In 1994, Medvyd became the senior coach of the youth national team of Ukraine (U18). Among his wards, future "stars" of Ukrainian and European football - Andriy Shevchenko, Gennadiy Zubov and goalkeeper Serhiy Perhun, who passed away so early - played in that team.
"With my rustic nature and my boisterous nature!"
These are the words of Medvid himself about himself. Very accurate self-characterization. For example, how did he meet his future wife? At a taxi stop in Uzhhorod. The student and the football player did not share whose turn it was first... and drove off together. They met on the way. Dinamivets introduced himself as a rural mechanic who had just returned from working in Cuba. On the same evening, he was at the girl's house to meet her parents, and literally a month later, the young people played a wedding.
As a person, Medvyd was tenacious, light, extremely sociable. Vitaly Khmelnytskyi fully revealed this facet in a few phrases: "During the constant deficits of the Soviet era, the Fed, as it seemed to us, had connections at every step.
And being kind and sensitive by nature, he helped his friends as much as he could - to buy a refrigerator for someone, to bring potatoes to someone, to help someone to enter the institute. Moreover, Fedya made all his connections easily and casually. For example, enters a store and says to the seller: "Hello, I'm Medvyd." They just shrug their shoulders: what kind of bear is this, they say? “How is that? I scored two goals yesterday, and you don't recognize me?!" The next time Fedya was already recognized."
Another side of Fedor's character is no less interesting. More precisely, their relationship with his wife Valerya Vasylivna. After all, what do we know about most of the wives of famous athletes? Either they, from the very beginning of their life together, limit themselves to the really necessary and honorable duties of the keepers of the hearth, or... they do the same, but at first they still show themselves in some serious profession.
Valery Vasylievna is a completely different story. She is a professional translator, and while working for "Intourist", she probably flew to no fewer countries than her famous husband. Question: is every athlete ready to put up with such a situation, because the financial condition of the family thanks to his achievements is not at all critical? Especially a great athlete with rural roots, i.e. with a centuries-old perception of who and what should be done in the family. The bear in this regard is, of course, a white crow.
And movie stars are driving again
Did the popularity of Fedor Medvidy need help from movie stars? Among the beautiful half of the audience, for sure.
In 1966, on the screens of the world, including and the USSR, a wonderful Italian film comedy "Operation Saint Januarius" was released, which is successfully shown on TV until now. There, one of the main Neapolitan gangsters is played by the famous German actor Mario Adorf, who has more than 120 films to his credit, very similar to Fedor.
And seriously, football fans will find similarities between Medvidy and the Italian "wolfdog" of the 90s - the "zero" years of Gennaro Gattuso. The similarity, both in the manner of playing, is external.
Departure…
Ferenc Jozhefovich passed away unexpectedly and at a relatively young age. It would seem that the eternal big man worked with satisfaction in his last post - manager of affairs in the newly created PFL of Ukraine, where his managerial skills and communication skills were very useful.
On that unfortunate evening, I was walking with my pet, a huge black terrier named Beria, and returned home...
It will be more appropriate if I quote my wife Valeria Vasylivna, who at that time already worked in the International Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and was on a responsible business trip to Romania. She recalls: "In the morning, I called home and talked to Fedek. His mood was excellent. Says: "Oh, my daughters will come to me for lunch today." He was more worried about me. We had very tense negotiations in Romania. Asked how I was feeling.
Then he went for a walk with the dog, bought all kinds of sweets for his grandson Valerka. Back home. He entered the apartment, took off his jacket and suddenly, in front of our girls, he began to slowly sink to the floor... It didn't last even a minute. Two "ambulances" arrived - the heart and "wake up", and an electric shock was connected... Then the doctor who performed the autopsy told me that the blood clot had literally torn his heart. His death was quick - like a dagger to the heart..."
The tragedy of the man "with two hearts" happened on November 8, 1997. Medvid was only 54. He was the first of the famous cohort of Dynamo players of the 60s to leave...
