Today is the9th anniversary of thedeath of Honoured Master of Sports, former Dynamo Kyiv defender and Honoured Coach of Ukraine Andriy Bal. We commemorated him with Andriy Bal's younger brother Orest, who is now the Deputy General Director of Veres Rivne.
Andriy Bal"Galicia has always supported Dynamo Kyiv"
- Now everything is clear: young footballers want to be like Mbappe, Messi, Ronaldo, Holland, but what was it like before? Who were the idols in Galicia back then?
- At that time, it was a little easier for us because we didn't have gadgets, nothing distracted us. We played only on the street, where we did all kinds of sports. I think we would not have been lost in volleyball, basketball or table tennis.
At that time, people in Galicia looked up to such players as Kulchytskyi, Potochniak, Pokora, Vaida, Gabovda, Brovarskyi. Speaking in general about Ukrainian footballers, Galicia has always supported Dynamo Kyiv - Biba and Sabo were the players of that time.
- Is the high level of match attendance also due to the fact that the local fan was not spoilt by the game of Bayern Munich on TV?
- In Lviv in the 70s, there were always 25,000 people at the stadium, which was then called Druzhba. We didn't have any foreign channels, so we went to cheer for our own. After Karpaty won the USSR Cup in 1969, there was such a boom... At that time, Karpaty players were greeted as real heroes of Ukraine.
- And it was in these already legendary Karpaty that your elder brother joined. Why did he play under a different name in the double?
- Andrii and I have been playing football since we were little. He was a fan of the game. At one time, Andrii applied to a Kyiv sports boarding school, but failed to pass the competition. However, soon a similar sports boarding school was opening in Lviv. He went to the exams and passed them successfully, although the competition was also tough. When he was studying there, he was involved in playing for the Karpaty double team from the 10th grade.
As for his surname, Andriy simply wasn't included in the application for the game against Dynamo Moscow because he was just taken from the boarding school for a viewing. And it so happened that he was then released as a substitute under the name of one of the players who was on the application. And then, at the age of 19, he made his debut for the first team. The coach at the time was Ernest Yust.
- What kind of coach was he?
- He used to be the head of Karpaty, but then he was fired and worked for two years at the Lviv sports boarding school where we studied. Yust once also played for Dynamo Kyiv. He was very calm, diplomatic, there was no shouting, no noise. It seems to me that he drew more of his knowledge from Hungarian football because he was a Magyar.
- Who among today's footballers is similar to Andriy Bal in terms of his style of play?
- I can't compare him to anyone, but I can name his strengths. It's like they teach now, that the ball should be under control, but the head should be up. He had a very good vision of the field, he had a good long pass, he was a master of personal care. He played left midfielder, central midfielder, right back, centre back - in short, he was a versatile player.
"Andrii, you're not going to some Spartak or CSKA. Lobanovskyi himself is calling you to the best team in Ukraine."
- Valerii Lobanovskyi favoured all-rounders. But why did your brother refuse Kyiv the first time?
- He refused twice. He probably felt that he wasn't ready for Dynamo yet. His close friend Volodymyr Bezsonov, with whom they won the World Youth Championship in 1977, was playing there.
And then, as I remember now, one December evening, he received a call from Lobanovskyi, who invited him to Dynamo. Andrii came up to me and asked: "How?". I answered him: "Andrii, you're not going to some Spartak or CSKA. Lobanovsky himself is calling you to the best team in Ukraine - it's a sin to refuse."
- Did Moscow clubs really call him to join them?
- "They did, but in Western Ukraine it was customary for us to be useful at home rather than go somewhere in Moscow. Moreover, our mother had served 10 years in camps for politics.
- For feeding the UPA soldiers?
- Yes. She was a young girl, 19 years old. She was taken to Siberia and returned after Stalin's death. Then, at the age of 30, she gave birth to Andrii, and at 32 to me. My father died when I was 8 years old and Andrii was 10.
- Konstantin Beskov wanted him in the team. Was that Spartak style less suitable for Ball?
- No, it was less suitable. Lobanovskyi played across the width of the pitch, while Beskov, as we said, played in the square.
- Did your brother change when he joined Dynamo after Karpaty?
- The higher the level of a footballer, the higher his intelligence and the fewer all sorts of whims and fancies he has. Back then, it was a case of winning the championship - the next task was to get into the national team, then achieve something in the European Cups. In my opinion, there used to be more characteristic players who set goals for themselves and followed them.
Moreover, Dynamo is a team that recruited only the best. The competition is incredible. If you train badly, Lobanovskyi will never put you in the squad. The players had no right to fall below their level.
- How much more money did he get at Dynamo compared to Karpaty?
- There was an accumulation there. For example, at Dynamo, he received a salary, bonuses, and payments for travelling abroad. I can only say that at that time it was a lot of money.
"Lobanovskyi's workload was really crazy"
- Didn't your brother complain about Lobanovsky's famous workload?
- He didn't complain, but the workload was really crazy. Lobanovsky was also studying at the time to improve himself as a coach. The results showed that he was doing everything right.
At the same time, there were league, European and national team matches. A rhythm like in modern European football, when you play twice a week at the highest level. Our clubs can't stand it now, and that galaxy of players also produced results everywhere.
- What did he say about working with Lobanovskyi?
- Everyone in the team respected Valery Vasilyevich. Lobanovskyi introduced discipline, order and always kept his word. I think that for many people he was like a second father.
- He had a very good relationship with Oleg Blokhin. Later they would work together as coaches.
- Volodymyrovych was strict, always pushing, while Andriy always softened and calmed him down. It was like in physics: plus and minus.
- And who took young Bal under his wing at Dynamo back then?
- Everyone was together there. I only know that Levko Brovarskyi took care of him in the Carpathians, and Andrii himself later took Oleg Luzhnyi under his wing at Dynamo.
- Was the peak of your career at Dynamo a victory in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup? Was it already difficult to jump higher?
- The European Cup in the club museum is already a great achievement, but there was also the European Champions Cup. And, as you know, Dynamo has reached the semi-finals several times in its history. The potential was enormous.
- How did you celebrate the victory over Atletico? Did you drink a lot of champagne?
- Of course, we celebrated seriously (Smiles). I can only say that everything was good, without any excesses.
- Andrii Mykhailovych won the European Youth Championship in 1980 and 1990. Have the local molfars developed an elixir of youth? How did he end up among the youth at the age of 32?
- Well, that means there was a regime (smiles). Don't forget that there was no such rehabilitation then as there is now. In those days, there was only a bathhouse as a recovery. Medicine was also not at the level it is today. For example, a footballer used to lose six months due to a meniscus injury, and now it's a month. Back then, at the age of 30, you were already considered a veteran, and now at that age you are just starting to flirt.
As for how I got in, the youth team was made up of players under 23, but we could nominate two overage players. He was selected because he was a captain and a leader everywhere.
- Could he have refused to go to the Euros with the youngsters at his respectable football age? For example, Zabarnyi did not want to go to the 2023 European Championships.
- At that time, there was no such thing as a refusal. The homeland ordered him to go. If he refused, it would have been a political scandal. Nowadays, there is more freedom, you can choose something, but back then there was no such thing.
- Many players try to avoid additional responsibility and refuse the captain's armband. How was it with your brother?
- Why would he refuse? Nowadays, the captain was chosen by the team. The coach could identify as many candidates as possible. To be among the candidates, you had to play in the starting line-up, have the qualities of an organiser, and set an example of how to give yourself to the game.
- For many people, the personification of the ideal captain is Luzhnyi, who was tough and could give a serious shove. Andriy Mykhailovych seems much calmer.
- Well, that's how Luzhny is on the pitch. In life, Oleg is a normal person, a well-mannered child (Smiles). Andriy could also shove, but he always used diplomacy. You can shove in different ways: hit, curse, raise your voice, or you can choose a word that doesn't offend and gives you motivation to improve.
- Andriy Bal played 20 matches for the USSR first team and scored a goal for Brazil, which no one else had managed.
- Imagine the competition to get into the national team back then. The best players from all 15 republics were selected. I watched that match on TV. There was a moment when he stopped the ball a little bit unsuccessfully and had to shoot to keep it out. So he took the shot. The fact that he hit the goal is one thing, but there was also a goalkeeper's mistake. Everyone knows that Andriy scored a beautiful goal against Brazil, but not many people will remember exactly how:)
"Andrii did not regret going to Israel. There he learnt Hebrew, commentated on Dynamo's matches and started his coaching career."
-Your brother is the author of many nicknames for Dynamoplayers :Yuran was Barsik, Kuznetsov became Oleg Vladimirovich Junior, and Demyanenko was called Mulia.
- That's right, he was giving out nicknames, he was his own in that team. No matter how much I read, absolutely everyone speaks positively about him: the soul of the company, a fun-loving guy.
- Why did Bal decide to leave Dynamo in the 90s? Was he tired of winning, wanted something new, or did he give way to young people?
- He left Dynamo because of his age (he was 32 at the time). I don't think it was because of fatigue, because there was a struggle for a place in the team every day. If he had stopped playing at Dynamo, he would have left earlier. Football is a game of chance. You finish the season and want to win again.
Andrii was one of the first Dynamo players to leave the Soviet Union to play abroad. Zavarov was the first to play in the world's leading leagues, and he joined Juventus. Blokhin was also wanted by many clubs at the time, but he was released only to Forverts in Austria at the end of his career. Yes, many people wanted him, but then there was a country where it was forbidden to move to foreign clubs.
- And why Israel?
- He had a colleague, Boris Norman, who offered him this option. Andriy did not regret going there because he changed the environment, learned the language, and his family was close by. You know what was happening in Ukraine in the 90s.
- Andrii Mykhailovych said that he was earning $40,000 in Israel at the time. Was this also a factor in your decision to move?
- No, it wasn't. He just wanted to play a little more, and it was a bonus. He also started his coaching career there.
- Was the level of football in Israel much lower than in the USSR?
- The level was very different. But I went to visit him there and noticed the attitude to footballers and youth training. They ran after the children, dressed them, fed them, trained them, did everything for them. We didn't have that back then. And now look at what Israeli football is like now. Their youth teams are now playing at a high level, with players playing in the best leagues.
"Bal went through the war in Israel, even put a gas mask on his dog"
- It was in Israel that your brother became familiar with air raids and shelling. Didn't he want to leave everything behind and return to Ukraine?
- He was with Bezsonov at the time, but he couldn't take it anymore and got injured, so he came back. Andriy went through the whole war. He told me how they sealed the windows, how they put on gas masks, how they ran to the bomb shelter.
- Did you wear gas masks because of the threat of a chemical attack?
- Yes. He told me that they even put a gas mask on their dog. During the training, if the alarm goes off, everyone also runs to the bomb shelter in gas masks. Almost like we do now.
- At the time, Iraq was firing Soviet missiles at Israel, and Andrii Mykhailovych himself was reassuring everyone: "Soviet missiles will not fall on Soviet people." What else did he say about the Gulf War?
- They had a zoo in Haifa, where he lived, where a missile hit, and then another one hit the same place. He told me: "It's true that missiles fall twice into the same crater."
- In Israel, Andrii learned Hebrew and even commentated on Dynamo's Champions League matches on local television. How many languages did he know in general?
- Languages came easily to him. He didn't even study hard, it just came naturally. Andrii knew Polish and Slovak perfectly, and he even managed to learn English somewhere. And when I worked with him in Vorskla, Poltava, we had Latin Americans, and Andrii spoke Spanish.
He learned Hebrew because he lived in Israel for almost 10 years. How can you not learn a language? Even a mute person will speak. He couldn't write in Hebrew because it's written from right to left, but talking, giving interviews, commenting - it's easy.
- Did he start his coaching career because football never let him go, or had he wanted to try his hand at coaching for a long time?
- He was offered the job, and he accepted it (Smiles). He started with the youth team, then worked with adults.
"Blokhin was responsible for discipline, Bal smoothed out the corners"
- Why didn't you manage to take over the Lithuanian Zalgiris?
- He stayed there for several months, even taking the team to Moscow for the Commonwealth Cup. When he was returning from the tournament, the sponsor, who was interested in Andriy taking over the team, refused to let him take over Zalgiris. So he returned to Ukraine.
- Then there was Vorskla, where quite a few legionnaires played. Did speaking many languages help him get on with the players?
- Well, that was the time when a lot of legionnaires came to us. In Poltava, there were serious salary delays, and foreigners worked exclusively under contract. If they didn't get paid, they left the team. Later, Andrii couldn't stand it anymore and resigned himself.
- That Vorskla team also had a 1-8 defeat against Dynamo. How did Andrii Mykhailovych deal with such failures?
- I was worried, like all coaches. Of course, it's very unpleasant, but you need to work on your mistakes. After the games, Andrii analysed the game, pointed out the mistakes and tried to play better the next game.
- Recently, Pyatov played his farewell match for Shakhtar against Tottenham, and some 20 years ago, he made his debut for Vorskla under your brother's guidance.
- I was working as a selector in Poltava at the time, so I remember Andrii from a young age. It was obvious that he was going to be good if he worked hard. He was calm and confident even then.
- Was it Blokhin's initiative to invite Bal to the coaching staff of the national team of Ukraine?
- I think so. If you talk to those national teams now, they will tell you that Blokhin was responsible for discipline, and Bal smoothed out the corners so that there were no conflicts.
- Did they have a tandem, or did Blokhin not give the palm to anyone?
- Blokhin was in charge, it was not a tandem like Lobanovsky-Bazylevych. But even now, everyone remembers only Valery Vasilyevich, forgetting about Bazylevych, who also contributed his ideas to the team's game.
- Then came the work at FC Moscow, which was distinguished by a large number of legionnaires in the squad. Why didn't Blokhin and Bal have a good time there?
- It's not easy to work with those legionnaires, especially if they change every six months. Everyone wants results right away, but everything takes time. Perhaps they were in a hurry to replace them.
- Blokhin said that Chornomorets was not his level, so he would be the sporting director there, and Bal would lead the team. How did it really happen?
- Blokhin really didn't want to coach. "At the beginning, Chornomorets had the same conditions, a lot of legionnaires, but the previous coaching staff failed to fulfil their task and Andriy was appointed. Then the conditions deteriorated, so we had to invite other players. The Chornomorets management then had a slightly different attitude to the team than it should have.
- Then again, the national team of Ukraine and the home Euro 2012. Did the team have any chances to get out of the group with England, France, Sweden?
- Well, you listed those teams yourself (Smiles). It's hard to say. Who decided that Ukraine should always win? It's nonsense. We had a lot of legionnaires in the championship then, our players had less playing practice. There were a lot of problems. As organisers, we got into the tournament, but we failed to get out of the group.
"Andrii played more than 20 minutes and then his heart gave out"
- What could have gone better in your brother's coaching career?
- He did not accept teams that set high goals and had the appropriate resources. But everything has to work out: his own pupils, good transfers, selection of players. You can't play like Barcelona if you don't have the right players.
- Didn't he want to return to the head coaching job after working for Blokhin's staff at Dynamo?
- If it wasn't for his death, I'm sure he would have worked harder. Still, 56 years old? That's very early. No one expected this, but it happened as it did.
- In 2014, on 1 August, Valentyn Belkevych died, and on 9 August, Andrii Bal died on the same field...
- Every Saturday, they gathered with their friends, Dynamo players, and played at the Bannikov Stadium. That day it was very hot, about 30 degrees Celsius, and there was an artificial pitch, so it was evaporating. But it didn't happen that he went out and died. Andrii played for more than 20 minutes and then his heart gave out.
And then Andrii Husin died 40 days after his brother. We were at the cemetery and in the afternoon we got a call that such a tragedy had happened and that another one had died.
- You and your brother had a very good relationship.
- Andrii and I had a real brotherly relationship. We helped each other, never quarreled or fought. I would wish everyone who has brothers to live like that.
- There is an opinion that at one time Lobanovskyi drove his players so hard that later it had a great impact on their health and indirectly led to their deaths. Can you agree with this?
- Any professional sport is not about health. It's not physical education. Only the strongest, those in good health, could withstand Lobanovsky's workload.
- What story, association or memory comes to mind when you think of your brother?
- Andrii wanted to become a footballer since he was a little boy. We lost our father when I was 10 and he was eight. I remember him coming up to our mother and saying: "Mum, don't worry, I'm going to become a footballer. My brother and I will help you, you will have a good life." That was the idea he had, and he wanted to realise it.
Yevhen Chepur
