He is one of the most accomplished football players and coaches of Ukrainian football. Judge for yourself: Oleksiy Mykhailichenko has collected a wonderful collection of awards, which includes 11 gold medals (3 - USSR, 1 - Italy, 5 - Scotland, 2 - Ukraine as a coach), not including silver and bronze, 10 national cups (3 each USSR and Scotland, 1 - Ukraine as a coach, 2 - Scottish League Cup, 1 - Season Cup in the USSR), 3 Super Cups (2 - USSR, 1 - Ukraine as a coach), as well as the title of champion of the Olympics-88 and winner of the Cup of Cups - 86!
Photo: fcdynamo.comOleksii Mykhailychenko was born on March 30, 1963 in Kyiv. A pupil of Dynamo SDYUSHOR (the first coaches are veteran Dynamo Yevgeny Kotelnikov and multiple USSR champion, ex-team player Anatoly Byshovets). In front of the capital's coaches, the talented player scored a quarter of a hundred goals in two seasons in the double, and was included by Serhii Morozov in the first team. And already on April 19, 1983, he made his debut in the Higher Union League, scoring the only goal in the match and the winning goal against CSKA (Moscow).
"Physically strong, brave, hardy, always acted with complete self-sacrifice. He was distinguished by a wide range of actions, good tactical thinking, skillful interaction with partners. He had a non-standard stroke with a wide step, distinguished himself with a sense of goal. Charged with energy from the first to the last minute of the match, he knew how to play along with his partner, or take over the game for himself" - this was the assessment of Mykhailichenko's playing style by his contemporaries. At the same time, he himself said in one of the interviews that he revealed about 60%...
Gradually, Mykhailichenko became the main player of "Dynamo", and after the return of Lobanovskyi, he rose to leadership roles. Took part in the triumphant season of the 1985/86 Cup Winners' Cup, the UEFA Super Cup match against Steaua, decisive confrontations in the European Cups. Already at the age of 25, Mykhailichenko reached 100 matches in the Higher Union League.
On April 29, 1987, in a match against the GDR, Mykhailichenko made his debut in the USSR national team. A year later, he was the leader of the team, which under the leadership of Valery Lobanovsky became the vice-champion of Europe. Played 5 matches at Euro-88, scored one goal - in the goal of the England national team, which was also highly rated on the eve of the continental championship (in "English style", playing with Ratz and closing the feed with his head).
At the 1988 Olympics, Mykhailichenko was the only representative of Dynamo Kyiv, but he made a huge contribution to the victory of the USSR national team. In six matches at the tournament, the midfielder scored five goals, including the extra-time winner in a grueling semi-final against Italy with Ciro Ferrara, Mauro Tassotti, Massimo Crippa and Ruggero Rizzitelli. Oleksii also played the entire final against the Brazilians, with a 2:1 victory in which the Soviet Union won the first Olympic gold in three decades and the last in history. Earned a penalty and a send-off for an opponent in another episode.
A quote from the Brazilian newspaper "Vezh" was circulated in the Soviet press: "It is our misfortune that there were no more than three true Brazilians on the field. Moreover, the main one of them, without a doubt, was the midfielder of the Soviet team Mykhailichenko." "I would put Mykhailichenko in the same row with the stars of world football - Romario, Kareka and Klinsmann. He is a football player who can play at the highest level in any area of activity and in any phase of the game," Anatoly Byshovets, head coach of the USSR Olympic team, who has known Lyosha since childhood, said about him.
According to the results of 1988, Oleksiy Mykhailichenko became the fourth football player in Europe! In the France Football poll, he was only 4 points behind the top three, which was formed by the great Dutchmen Marco Van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard (4 points behind the last Loes, beating him by the number of votes - 17 against 14). Also, three more Dynamo players were mentioned in the list below - Zavarov, Kuznetsov and Demyanenko, as well as Dasaev from Spartak, from the same USSR national team. It is not surprising that Oleksiy himself was recognized as the best player of the USSR-88.
During eight seasons at Dynamo Kyiv, Mykhailochenko played 158 matches in all competitions, scoring 44 goals. He played 36 matches (9 goals) for the USSR national team, 14 matches (7 goals) for the Olympic Soviet football team. One disappointment in those years was an injury in a friendly before the 90 World Cup. Unfortunately, Oleksiy never got to play in the final tournaments of the world championships...
Being a real leader of Dynamo, he showed himself especially strongly in 1987 and 1988. Even then, Mykhailichenko was claimed by a number of clubs from Europe, there was even a super-exotic option, when he, Zavarov, Protasov, under the leadership of Lobanovskyi, would go to Juventus.
However, Mykhailochenko was released across the border already in 1990. His new team was Sampdoria, the fifth team in Italy at that time. According to media reports at the time, the amount of the contract was $3.5 million. Under the leadership of Vuyadin Boshkov, such masters as Palyuka, Verkhovod, Cerezo, Lombardo, Katanets, Vialli and Mancini gathered. With the help of the ex-Dinamo player, the Genoese team won the first and so far the only Scudetto in their history. Played 39 matches (4 goals) for this team.
Given the strictness of the limit on legionnaires in the then Serie A - the best national championship in the world in the 80s and 90s, Sampdoria sold Oleksiy to one of the richest teams in Great Britain at the time. The Rangers paid an amount roughly equivalent to $2.6 million for the Olympic champion, champion of Italy and the USSR, and silver medalist of the European Championship.
As part of the CIS national team, Mykhailichenko played 5 matches, also taking part in the Euro-92 final tournament. And after that, he refused to join the Russian national team, standing under the Ukrainian flag. Although Oleksiy played only 2 matches for our national team, it is difficult to overestimate the importance of this step, when the celebrated and titled veteran set an example for the young students of Ukrainian football. By this very step, Mykhailichenko, Kuznetsov, Lytovchenko and other Dynamo veterans showed that they believe in the prospects of the Independent Ukraine national team.
As part of the "Rangers", Mykhailochenko won all possible Scottish titles and trophies, debuted in the reformed UEFA Champions League. Unfortunately, injuries did not allow Oleksiy to enjoy football as much as before, and probably only the first of five seasons in Scotland he spent at his best and in fighting form. He made a total of 131 appearances for Rangers in all competitions (25 goals) before retiring in 1996.
Meanwhile, in his native Kyiv, the revival of the glory of "Dynamo" was taking place, and it was there, in the staff of Valery Lobanovsky, who returned from an Arab business trip, that Oleksiy Mykhailichenko began his coaching work. It was he who, after Valery Vasyliovych's death, succeeded him as the head coach - and won two championships, a cup and a Super Cup for the club.
Later worked with collective teams. He led the youth of Ukraine to the title of vice-champion of Europe U-21 in 2006 (an achievement that remains unrepeated, let alone surpassed). He led the national team in 2008-2009, where, however, it lost a ticket to the 2010 World Cup South Africa in the playoffs to the Greeks.
In Dynamo, Oleksiy Oleksandrovich Mykhailychenko held various club positions up to sports director, and in 2019 he agreed to lead the club's first team again as head coach. After the final round of the championship of Ukraine of the 2019/20 season, he left the position of coach of the "white and blue", winning the national cup and becoming the vice-champion of the country with the team.
