Sergei Baltacha. Born on 17 February 1958. Honoured Master of Sports. Played 45 matches as a member of the former USSR national team. Vice-champion of Europe (1988). World champion among juniors (1977), European champion among youth teams (1980), bronze medallist of the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, participant of the World Championship (1982), Cup Winner (1986). Champion of the USSR (1980, 1981, 1985, 1986), winner of the USSR Cup (1978, 1982, 1985, 1987). In the top league he played 214 matches. Played for Metalist Kharkiv (1976), Dynamo Kyiv (1977-1989), Ipswich Town (1989-1990), St. Johnstone (1990-1993), Inverness Caledonian Thistle (1993-1995).
Sergiy Baltacha and Valery LobanovskiyCaramelka" striker
Sergey started his way into football in his native Zhdanov, now Mariupol. According to his memories, he started from the age of five or six in the yard. In junior school he was captain of his team, and even tried to "coach" the guys.
At the age of ten, he joined a local youth club called Karamelka. He recalled that at the "Leather Ball" tournament held in Zhdanov, he managed to play for three teams at once, taking turns on the field. This was noticed by the chief referee, who reprimanded and disqualified the boy. He was approached by Valery Borisovich Sidorov, the coach of "Karamelka", who invited him to the team.
At the tournament "Leather Ball" in Nizhyn, Zhdanovsky "Karamelka", for which he played, reached the national finals, where he became the second. At that tournament Baltacha received the prize of the best scorer. A capable guy was noticed and invited to Kharkiv sports boarding school.
In the boarding school coaches noticed that Sergei reads the game perfectly and plays with his head and decided to try him as a back centre-back. Soon he was invited to play for Kharkiv Metalist. So, being a schoolboy, he started to play for the team of masters. On this position he played a year in Metalist, and then received an offer and moved to Dynamo Kyiv, where his talent as a centre-back was fully revealed.
Light, fit, slender, technical footballer in head play was inferior to few in Europe. Sergei is the author of the jubilee 1100th goal scored in the history of the World Cup. This goal he scored in the group stage match of the 1982 World Cup in the gate of the national team of New Zealand. His name along with such stars of world football as Gerd Muller, Jean-Pierre Papin, Gary Lineker is forever inscribed in the football register of the planet.
Able to fight back
In one of the interviews, when asked by journalists against whom he had the hardest time playing, Baltacha replied with his usual irony:
"Maybe you remember Horst Hrubesch, striker of the German national team and captain of FC "Hamburg". In 1983, in the first match of the 1/4 Champions Cup opponent serves a corner, I look at the ball and at that second I felt as I was charged in the ear, but not with an elbow, but with a fist. For a couple of minutes I lost my bearings. Another five minutes passed and Dynamo took a corner kick and I answered Khrubesh in the same way. When Dynamo played the return match in Germany, Horst came up to me before the game and shook my hand. We were not taught that way at Dynamo, but if I didn`t respond then, I wouldn`t respect myself.
He did not remove either his legs or his head
Chronic injuries were the only thing that prevented Sergei Baltacha from revealing his talent even more vividly. Because of unfortunate injuries, he did not play until the end of the Cup Cup final on 2 May 1986 in Lyon. At the end of the first half he left the pitch because of the injury. "Dynamo" defeated 3:0 "Atletico" (Madrid) and won the honourable Euro trophy for the second time in history. This injury prevented Sergei from taking part in the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. On the field, he did not spare himself, did not remove either his legs or his head, always played to the end and therefore often received injuries after which he had to be treated and recovered for a long time. "Ah, it's you again, Sergei!" - he often had to hear from famous sports doctors.
In 1988, Sergei Baltacha one of the first Soviet footballers went to play in the UK. English "Ipswich Town" paid for the transfer of 30-year-old defender 200 thousand pounds sterling.
Sergei spent six years on the football fields of foggy Albion. He earned authority and good press. Local fans appreciated him for his fine understanding of the game, selflessness, gentlemanly behaviour on and off the field.
After finishing his football career Sergey Pavlovich worked for several years as an assistant head coach of "CSKA-Borisfen" and then returned to the UK, where he worked as a coach in English and Scottish clubs, in the Scottish Football Federation.
Since 2001 he has been the coach of the Charlton youth academy. He lives in London. Coaches teenagers from 14 to 17 years old.
Oleksandr LIPENKO for Dynamo.kiev.ua
