On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the birth of Valentin Belkevich, Sport.ua blogger Oleksiy Ryzhkov made up a symbolic team of foreigners in Dynamo Kyiv.
I repeatedly asked Dynamo Kyiv fans of all ages who they consider the best legionnaire in the history of their favorite club. I won’t say that I received some super-variety of answers. There were no more than half a dozen options. However, most often in this context, fans of Kiev called the name Belkevich. Moreover, there were those who, upon hearing the word "legionnaire", began to remember strangers from distant continents, but stopped in time, slapped their foreheads and said the name of the legendary Dynamo playmaker. On January 27, Valentin would have turned 50. But, unfortunately, he is no longer with us...
In my opinion, in the symbolic team of Dynamo Kyiv legionnaires, the Belarusian midfielder (Belkevich received Ukrainian citizenship already at the end of his playing career in Dynamo Kiev) has the right to be a captain. And among Valentin's partners in this stellar company there are many interesting football personalities.
Goalkeeper: Valdemaras Martinkenas (Lithuania, 1965–2004)
The most striking episode that I remember with the participation of Martinkenas in the form of Dynamo Kyiv was his two saves in a row during a penalty kick in the UEFA Cup match in the 1992/93 season against Anderlecht. Mark Degriz powerfully shot from the spot, but the Lithuanian parried the blow, and immediately after that he also reacted to finishing off another Brussels striker, Peter van Vossen, from close range. I remember that this success of the Dynamo goalkeeper led to a revival in the stands of the Republican Stadium (40,000 spectators then gathered at the 100,000th place). It was almost the only positive in that hopeless match for the people of Kiev.
... The fate of Valdemaras was tragic: he died in Slovenia while swimming in a mountain river - he could not cope with the insidious current.
Defenders: Kakha Kaladze (Georgia, born 1978), Goran Gavrancic (Serbia, born 1978), Domagoj Vida (Croatia, born 1989), Danilo Silva (Brazil, born 1986)
Kakha Kaladze is one of the representatives of that Dynamo, which in the late 1990s was on the shortlist of the best teams in Europe. He scored against Lance and Bayern (under the commentary of the legendary Kote Makharadze on Ukrainian television), Vorskla (more than anyone for his Dynamo cadence) and Anderlecht. Undoubtedly, the main position for Kakha is in the center of defense. However, I will place him on the left flank of the defense. In this position, he also gained considerable experience. In particular, I remember playing on it in a friendly match between Georgia and Ukraine in February 2001. The current mayor of Tbilisi played most of all as a left back in Milan.
A couple of centerdefs are Serbo-Croatian. Both Goran and Domagoj were distinguished by a fierce thirst for struggle, they were extremely uncompromising. How to forget the unsurpassed beauty of Goran's goal at the Stadio Olimpico against Roma in the game, the result of which, in the end, was annulled, at the same time, the Romanists were awarded a technical defeat, and the Kievans, respectively, a technical victory! In connection with Domagoj, I remember, first of all, his bloody face during one of the tough matches: the Croat really did not know (and still does not know, although not in Dynamo) pity either for himself or for his opponents. Since last year, Vida has been a World Cup multi-medalist, and among all the players who defended the colors of Dynamo at different times, no one can compare with him in this!
With Danilo Silva (I will send him to the right flank of the defense in my version of the symbolic team), I recall an episode at the Ukrainian agricultural exhibition, which the Brazilian once looked at. A city man (a native of Campinas, a metropolis with more than a million people!), At the request of representatives of one of the Dynamo sponsoring companies, he got behind the wheel of a tractor and looked quite organic there. He was just as organic in a white and blue T-shirt. “The most Ukrainian among the Dynamo Brazilians” will not be called just anyone!
Alternatives, or, if you like, a bench? As an option for protection - Betau. This Brazilian has accumulated more than a hundred matches in a Dynamo T-shirt in his track record and at one time became the first foreigner to return to Dynamo after moving to another club. True, during the second Kyiv cadence, he could not gain a foothold in the base. In the center of the defense, the figure of Goran Sablic was also noticeable. I remember his appearance in the last minutes of the difficult away match of the Kiev team against Valencia, when the Croat took off almost all the Levantines' crosses, not allowing them to count on a saving goal for themselves.
On the left in defense for a long time, a conscientious hard worker played for Dynamo - Moroccan Badr El-Kadduri. The nickname "Duraselka" for the energy that does not weaken even at the end of the match had to be earned. True, Dynamo fans could not forgive his fateful positional miss in the European Cup semi-final against Shakhtar for a long time. On the left flank of the defense, another option is the Portuguese Vitorino Antunes (fifty games for Dynamo), who gained fame as a player who scored the fifth goals of the Kyivans (and very refined, like, for example, Everton) in effective club matches.
There are also options on the right: Rodolfo, Laszlo Bodnar. In a word, Dynamo Kyiv did not always rely on its pupils in defense, involved legionnaires, and not without success.
Midfielders: Ognjen Vukojevic (Croatia, born 1983), Valentin Belkevich (Belarus, 1973–2014), Alexander Khatskevich (Belarus, born 1973), Diogo Rincón (Brazil, born 1980)
Vukoevich is a tenacious, hardworking defensive midfielder who knew how to tightly grab an opponent, not allowing him to breathe freely. Nimble and quick-witted, he seemed to be present everywhere, on every patch of the field. He played an outstanding role in Dynamo's long-term promotion up the European Cup ladder at the turn of the 2000s - 2010s. It was in the year when the Kievans reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup that his estimated transfer fee was the largest - 8.5 million euros.
The Belarusian couple Belkevich - Khatskevich made a significant contribution to the success of Dynamo Kyiv during the last term of Valery Lobanovsky. They perfectly complemented each other: the subtle, inventive playmaker Valentin and the dashing inspired all-rounder Alexander. Belkevich (the record holder for the number of matches played for Dynamo among foreigners) could play both left and right in midfield, and under attackers. I will determine for him a place in the symbolic national team on the left flank of midfield. It was there that Lobanovsky first put him - right-handed. And for the time being, until the time (as they say, in the pre-playmaker period) Valentine played there. For Khatskevich, at the same time, I will reserve the right flank of the midfield (not the main position for him, but still he sometimes played in it).
Diogo Rincon's place is under the strikers. A Brazilian with refined technique, he played for Dynamo for seven years. He scored regularly (especially to me, yes, probably, and not only I remember his double in the Champions League against Lokomotiv Moscow). It is also interesting that he scored against teams led by future Dynamo coaches Mircea Lucescu (even when he was at the helm of Besiktas) and Yuri Semin. At the end of his playing career, Diogo went through a difficult period. As he himself admitted, he was on the way to alcoholism, but then, again, according to him, he came to Jesus and was able to overcome alcohol addiction.
On the right in midfield, you can always count on the Bulgarian Georgi Peev, who has almost a hundred games for the Dynamo club. In addition, Jermaine Lance, the winner of the World Cup medal, left a certain mark on the history of Dynamo (he played almost fifty matches in a white and blue T-shirt). Hardworking and not very typical Brazilian Carlos Correa was a master of standards. Alternate in central midfield - Miguel Veloso. This is a smart, quick-witted playmaker whose career in Serie A continues to this day. If it weren’t for the full-scale war, Carlos de Pena, who managed to restart his career in Kyiv, would probably delight Kyiv fans with his skills to this day. At the same time, Ayila Yussuf, a prominent figure in Dynamo in the 2000s and early 2010s, could also be a defensive player.
Yes, and there are enough other options, mostly Eastern European in the middle line: Tiberiu Gioane, Florin Cernat, Milos Ninkovic, Yerko Leko, Benjamin Verbic. They brought passion to the Dynamo game in the 21st century. Someone's career in Kyiv was more successful, someone had to go through a lot of thorns, but in Golden Dome they are remembered with warmth and gratitude.
Forwards: Maxim Shatskikh (Uzbekistan, born in 1978), Ismael Bangura (Guinea, born in 1985)
Maxim Shatskikh, or Bai, began his journey to Dynamo with a double in the Champions League qualification against Zalgiris. And in the future there was a long career in the Kiev club, with ups and downs (the problem of the Shatskys, in my opinion, is that he joined the team after the transfer from Dynamo to Milan by Andriy Shevchenko, who set an ultra-high standard for forwards, and Sheva's successors were somehow doomed to be compared with the national football star), at the end of which the fans saw off the Uzbek legionnaire with a bright banner with the words: "MAX Fighter - 328 sorties, 142 shot down." We are talking about matches played and goals scored. Do you know many examples of similar farewells for Dynamo players from the club?
Ismael Bangura is one of the architects of two crushing defeats of Spartak Moscow in the summer of 2008. The Guinean showed his virtues in full in the first match in Luzhniki, when he took part in absolutely all four goals against the red-and-whites. An extremely technically gifted player who was able to quickly make non-standard decisions on the field. Nimble, agile, he could both take the game on himself and respect the transfer of a partner who was in a more advantageous position.
Other variants of the legionnaire attack: Dieumersi Mbokani, Kleber, Braun Ideye, George Demetradze. Yes, skilful forwards, but one did not really want to work for the team, the other had an explosive temper and quarreled with partners, he seemed to have a sense of goal, but was deprived of refined technique, another put money above football and did not stay at Dynamo. In any case, the four forwards mentioned, in my opinion, left a smaller mark on the history of Dynamo than Shatsky and Bangura.
Back in the late 1980s, there were rumors in Kyiv that Valery Lobanovsky was seeking to invite the Czechoslovak midfielder from Inter Bratislava Vladimir Weiss (now he is a well-known coach) to Dynamo Kiev. The Dynamo club, which at that time gave heat to the Eurogrands (both in European cups and in numerous pre-season tournaments to which Lobanovsky's team was invited with pleasure), was an attractive place for capable football youth. But things did not go beyond gossip about this in the cramped kitchenettes of Dynamo fans.
At the same time, the legionary era in our football has a clear start date. Although not in time immemorial, but a long time ago, it started. The first legionary in Dynamo appeared in 1995 - Kuwaiti Nasser Al-Sawhi. True, he did not stay in the team (you still can’t cook porridge from one grain), but he opened the box of legionnaire Pandora. Since then, especially in the new century, foreign craftsmen of the leather ball have frequented Kyiv. The flow of information seethed more and more powerfully, and over time, the search for legionnaires no longer resembled a dance over an abyss or walking along a blade. However, Dynamo made a lot of false decisions along this path, which is something to hide. At the same time, there were truly diamond finds.
Many of the listed players of Dynamo cannot be called outsiders, several players from the symbolic team included in my version, by the way, received Ukrainian citizenship. Many of them in Kyiv became their own, earned the respect of a very picky Kyiv torsida. Now is the time when foreigners are not in a hurry to our lands. The forced bet on their own youth causes different sensations among the fans. Someone proclaims devotion to this course, another yearns for some result in Europe, which can be helped, among others, by high-quality legionnaires, there are also fans, as they say, looking in both directions. Well, it is very difficult to do so that both the goat is not hungry and the cabbage is not gnawed. Dissatisfied will always be. Be that as it may, the devotion to the cause of Valentin Belkevich, Alexander Khatskevich, Maxim Shatsky or Danilo Silva is kept in the memory of the Kyiv fan. I sincerely believe that foreigners of the next generations (one way or another, they will still be in the Kiev club as long as football lives in Ukraine) will contribute to the treasury of Dynamo history.
Alexey RYZHKOV