Today, on 5 August, one of the most iconic football players of Dynamo Kyiv and the Ukraine national team Oleh Luzhny celebrated his 55th birthday. We bring to your attention a chapter dedicated to Oleh Romanovich from the book "Successors" by Semyon Sluchevskyi and Volodymyr Kuleba, which is a continuation of the book "Pioneers".
Oleg LuzhnyAs we remember now: 10 March 1997. Kiev, cosy stadium "Dynamo". A friendly match between the hosts and long-time rival Torpedo (at that time the black-and-whites were called Torpedo-Luzhniki). In the cosy box of the Dynamo stadium our neighbour was the long-time captain and then coach of the Torpedo players Valentin Kozmich Ivanov - the legendary Kuzma..."
Author's introduction... Exchange of courtesies with "Kuzma".
...It was not by chance that we found ourselves next to each other: one of us was shooting a two-part film about "Torpedo", the other was writing a book "60 Novels of Kiev Football". The best memories are childhood ones. It was his childhood memory that told us what a wonderful tandem Ivanov - Streltsov was in the late 50s - mid 60s, and how he, Ivanov, in the distant 60th year, scoring the decisive goal in the gates of Kiev, deprived Dynamo of the "gold". We reminded him of this episode. "Kuzma" smiled: "How I scored a goal, I do not remember, but it was like that." And at that time on the field Dynamo easily and effortlessly outplayed Avtozavodtsy, the final result - 3:0. Two goals were scored by Sergei Rebrov, one - in his own manner with a long-range powerful shot from distance Dmitry Mikhailenko.
The advantage of the Bilo-Syni was especially felt on the right flank, where Oleg Luzhny, who covered the whole flank, time and again went on his trademark raids to the opponent's goal.
"How many years have you had Luzhny playing? - Kuzma asked us, and answered himself: - It seems to me - all my life, since Dynamo has existed.... What a double-strung man he is!".
"Double-strung Luzhny"
In 1989, having become a player of Dynamo Kyiv, right-back Oleh Luzhny won the USSR championship and cup in 1990, then seven times in a row between 1993 and 1999 - the Ukrainian championship. He captained a league-champion Dynamo squad that defeated Barcelona 7-0 on aggregate in the 1997?98 season and secured a 3-1 aggregate victory over Real Madrid en route to the semi-finals in the 1998?99 season.
England's "footprint"
In essence, Ivanov himself answered his own question "How many years has Luzhny been playing?". And Kozmich is not original in his conclusions. Ask any experienced fan, he will say the same thing. Maybe Valeriy Vasilyevich Lobanovsky was of the same opinion, because when Oleg was invited to London at the age of 31, the maestro did not immediately agree to let him go.
As it turned out later, BBL proceeded from the fact that in the English club defence is not just played, all the defencemen and goalkeeper play together for almost a dozen years. And they understand each other not only from half a word, but without words at all.
And Luzhny - the captain of Dynamo and the national team of Ukraine - will have to compete not with anyone, but with Lee Dixon himself, whose strength and skill Kyiv were convinced of when the lot brought them together with Arsenal in one of the Champions League groups. It was then, in London, that the veteran defender made a dizzying high-speed raid, which ended with a magnificent pass to Marc Overmars, and the latter completed the job with a goal for Kyiv.
He was applauded by Wenger
However, in that match Luzhny's performance made a huge impression on Arsene Wenger. Especially in the moment that could have been decisive. When a massive attack of the English champion, developing across the whole width of the pitch, literally swept away the Kyiv defence, and Bergkamp headed the ball into an empty net. Would it really be 2-0 in Arsenal's favour? We remember how we froze then in the press box of the famous Wembley (Arsenal's home arena, Highbury, was just being renovated). It is still a mystery to us how Luzhny managed to get the ball out of Dynamo's unguarded frame.
We remember that moment by seconds: Oleg, having caught up with the ball a few millimetres from the goal line, turned around and with a long pass brought forward Gusin. The latter, not believing his luck, kicked the ball into touch so that the team could take a breather and regroup. And soon Luzhny, who had joined the attack, was brought down near the corner flag in Arsenal's half. The victim took a free-kick and Sergei Rebrov equalised. Disappointed English fans slumped in their seats, coaches grabbed their heads and the man in charge, Arsene Wenger, applauded. How can such a thing be forgotten?
That Dynamo had a real masculine character, and the most charismatic player in its squad was Oleh Luzhny. "Brigel" (Romanich's nickname was in honour of the famous German defender of the 80s Hans-Peter Brigel because of the similarity in his character and... hair colour - both are redheads) first of all showed by his own example how to play until the end.
If the partners did not understand in words, he sometimes explained more lucidly. "Luzhny could in the dressing room and give a kick in the liver when necessary", - recalled Alexander Khatskevich.
Oleg, after moving to London, was asked: "Why England, Arsenal, and not, say, Germany?". It seemed that the Bundesliga style would suit Oleg better.
"I adore English football and the attitude towards it - both fans, coaches and specialists. In England, they play constantly at maximum speed, and I enjoy just what a gentlemanly and at the same time uncompromising spirit reigns. And I will do anything to play in the main Arsenal squad. Although I have had other offers, particularly from German clubs. But I like English clubs better...".
Fighting for a place in the squad
Romanich came to Arsenal London not from the lower leagues, but from a team with a worldwide reputation, which made it to the semi-finals of the Champions League. However, at first he spent almost the whole season in the reserves: the defence line of the Canaries, recall the above written, for many years was a single unit, and no one was going to break it. But gradually Arsene Wenger trusted the captain of the Ukrainian national team more and more. It is important that he was ready for this and justified the hopes of the coach.
Gradually Oleh displaced Lee Dixon and in the championship season-2002 became a true master of his right wing. Although the next season he had to compete with Martin Keown in the centre of defence and the young then, and then famous Ashley Cole for the place of the left back in the base - in professionals it is not otherwise. And Oleg was not very worried: "I'm always ready to play, it's in my blood. Therefore, I do not care whether to start in the "start" or to appear as a substitute. My psychological stamina is normal".
In total, he played 110 games for four years at Arsenal, even once leading the team onto the pitch as captain in a League Cup game. In the season 2001-2002 he won the "double" with the team (Premier League and FA Cup). Luzhny's last match for Arsenal was the winning FA Cup final against Southampton in 2003 - one of his best games for the club.
The "eternal" captain of the Ukrainian national team
At the age of 20 Luzhny made his debut in the USSR national team, for which he played 8 matches in 1989?90, but missed the 1990 World Cup due to injury. After the country's independence Luzhny played 52 matches for the Ukraine national team, although he never made it to the finals of major competitions - Ukraine was eliminated three times at the play-off stage.
He captained our national team in 39 matches, which is a record. In December 2000 the weekly "Ukrainian Football" included Oleh in the symbolic team of the country of the XX century according to the results of a nationwide poll. Luzhny was behind only Oleg Blokhin, Andriy Shevchenko and Anatoliy Demyanenko in the number of votes.
Achievements
Oleh Luzhny was born on 5 August 1968. Honoured Master of Sports. Defender. He played 31 matches for the USSR national team and 55 for the Ukraine national team.
Champion of the USSR (1990). USSR Cup winner (1990). Champion of Ukraine (1993?1999). Ukrainian Cup winner (1993, 1996, 1999). Champion of England (2002). English Cup winner (2002, 2003). European Champion among youth teams (1990).
Played for the teams "Torpedo" (Lutsk) - 1985?1988; SKA "Karpaty" (Lviv) - 1988; "Dynamo" (Kyiv) - 1989?1999, 253 matches, 1 goal; "Arsenal" (London) - 1999?2002. "Wolverhampton" (London) - 2003.
Coaching career: "Venta" (Latvia, 2005, playing coach), "Dynamo" (Kyiv) - 2007, 2010; "Tavriya" - 2012?2013. From June 2017 to August 2019 - coach of Dynamo Kyiv in the staff of Oleksandr Khatskevich.
R.S. Today 5 August 2023 - Luzhny's birthday, at 19:00 Kyiv time in London at the famous stadium "Stamford Bridge" on the initiative of the stars of Ukrainian football, ambassadors of the fundraising platform UNITED24 Andriy Shevchenko and Oleksandr Zinchenko will hold a charity match in support of Ukraine "Game4Ukraine " - "Team Shevchenko" vs "Team Zinchenko".
The purpose of this match - all the funds raised from the match "Game4Ukraine" will go to the restoration of the lyceum in Chernihiv region, which was destroyed by Russian pseudo-borgs against "Ukrainian Nazism". To restore the lyceum so that the children of Chernihiv region could study. So there is not even a question of who the true Nazis ....
Both teams have world-famous players: Brazilians Dida and Serginho, Italians Fabio Cannavaro and Luca Toni, Frenchmen Robert Pires and Claude Makelele, Dutchmen Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Clarence Zedorf, Englishmen Joe Cole and Jermain Defoe, Spaniard Gerard Pique, German Jens Lehmann, Samuel Eto'o from Cameroon, Peter Cech from the Czech Republic, Shota Arveladze from Georgia, Antonio Valencia from Ecuador, Jon Arne Riise from Norway, Ukrainians Sergei Rebrov, Mykhailo Mudryk and many others.
The coach of "Oleksandr Zinchenko's team" legendary Arsene Wenger invited his former ward Oleh Luzhnykh to his squad. Let's see how Romanich will "wave old age" in his 55. Who - who - who, but our "Brigel" will not fail!
Semyon SLUCHEVSKY, Vladimir KULEBA
