Alexander Lipenko's column. Dynamo (Kyiv) players in the former USSR national team

In 1990, the "mighty" and "boisterous" USSR collapsed, and with it the football team, featuring 59 Dynamo Kyiv players who had competed in seven World Cup tournaments over the years, finished its performances.

In Sweden in 1958, Dynamo's Yuriy Voynov was included in the symbolic World Cup team, and two years later in France he triumphed at the first European Championship.

The 1962 World Cup in Chile featured Viktor Kanevskiy and Viktor Serebryanikov. The USSR national team at the 1966 World Cup in England featured Leonid Ostrovskiy, Jozsef Sabo, Viktor Serebryanikov and Valeriy Porkuyan. Finishing fourth, they returned to Kyiv with bronze medals. According to the tournament regulations, the players of the national teams who finished in third and fourth places were awarded a bronze medal.

Serebryanikiv played in the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico which was already the third time in his career. Anatoliy Puzach, Vitaliy Khmelnytskiy and Anatoliy Byshovets also played there.

The Dynamo players have also taken part in Olympic tournaments. Yevhen Rudakov, Jozsef Sabo, Viktor Kolotov, Vladimir Onishchenko got silver medals at the 1972 Olympics, Anatoliy Kon'kov, Viktor Matvienko, Leonid Buryak, Stephan Reshko, Vladimir Troshkin, Vladimir Onishchenko, Viktor Kolotov, Vladimir Veremyev, Mikhail Fomenko, Oleg Blokhin got bronze at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, Vladimir Bessonov and Sergey Baltach. And Alexey Mikhailichenko came from Seoul in 1988 as Olympic champion.

Dynamo players have never left European championships without honours. Besides triumph of Yuriy Voinov in 1960, silver medals of the 1972 continental championship are in the collection of Viktor Kolotov, Yevgeniy Rudakov and Vladimir Troshkin. Similar awards in 1988 were won by Vladimir Bessonov, Anatoliy Demyanenko, Igor Belanov, Oleksandr Zavarov, Sergiy Baltach, Oleg Kuznetsov, Viktor Chanov, Olexiy Mikhailichenko, Gennadiy Litovchenko and Oleh Protasov.

628 games for ten

Dynamo players involved in the national team have played a varying number of matches in the squad. The ten Dynamo players-record holders in terms of the number of played matches are: Oleg Blokhin - 112 matches and 42 goals scored (record), Vladimir Bessonov - 82 (5), Anatoliy Demyanenko - 80 (6), Oleg Kuznetsov - 58 (1), Leonid Buryak - 58 (17), Viktor Kolotov - 55 (23), Vladimir Muntian - 49 (7), Yevhen Rudakov - 48, Serhiy Baltacha - 45 (2), Jozsef Sabo - 41 (8). In total, this top-ten team has played 628 games for the national team!

In different years, Valeriy Lobanovskiy (ODI 1976 and UEFA 1988) and Anatoliy Byshovets (ODI 1988) were on the coaching bench of the USSR national team.

Aleksandr LYPENKO for Dynamo.kiev.ua