I am immensely grateful to life, which gave me an acquaintance with Leonid Buryak in November 1974. Over time, we developed what I believe to be a true friendship, despite the fact that I am 11 years older than Buryak. For me, he is first of all a wonderful person, and then a great football player and coach. And our friendship is already many years old.
When we have free time, we meet and talk a lot about our loved ones. Leonid already has grown up children - son Andrei, a diplomat, and daughter Oksana, a choreographer. Dad and mum Zhanna have given their dad and mum Zhanna five grandchildren - two girls and three boys. I also have a grown-up daughter - Lidochka, she works as a manager.
We talk about this damned war, about what these Russian barbarians are doing in Ukraine, about the destruction in his native Odessa. Naturally, we do not ignore football - the Ukrainian championship, European cups.
- Leonid, sometimes, when assessing the game of the current Dynamo, you have to hear such an answer from the fans of the club: "It is a shame, disappointing - but not okay". I understand them. For many years Dynamo has accustomed its fans to a different kind of football, if I may say so. What would you say about it?
I have always been impressed by the fact that I always got a frank answer from Buryak to any question. This meeting in Rusanovka cafe, where we met recently, was no exception.
- Sasha, be patient. I'll tell you this. I, and not only me, am also offended, annoyed - and also not okay. Sometimes it seems that the current generation of Dynamo players is made of a different football dough. I understand that there are no players of Muntjan, Blokhin, Kolotov, Troshkin, Kalitvintsev, Onishchenko, Bessonov, Zavarov, Luzhny, Shevchenko in the team now - I can go on and on. But they also came to Dynamo not as masters. Having trained a lot, giving themselves to football, it was in Kyiv club that they became great masters. They, players of different generations, brought European recognition to the team, winning two Cup Cups, the UEFA Super Cup, as well as three times appearing in the semi-finals of the Champions Cup/Champions League.
The Dynamo players demonstrated their great skill not only at club level. Remember, three Dynamo players brought bronze medals after their performance at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, ten of my teammates became bronze medallists of the 1976 Games in Montreal, two more Dynamo players got bronze medals at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. There was also an Olympic champion of the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. A total of 17 Dynamo players won Olympic medals.
There are also many Dynamo players from Kyiv among the winners of European Championships. Yuriy Voynov, the Euro-1960 champion, five Kyiv players were silver medallists of Euro-1972, which took place in Belgium. 11 representatives of Kyiv Dynamo are vice-champions of the 1988 European Championship in Germany. And in 1966 in England four Dynamo players became bronze medallists.
I would also add that after the successful season of 1975 foreign journalists named Dynamo Kyiv the second best club in the world. In the collections of three Dynamo players - Oleg Blokhin, Igor Belanov and Andriy Shevchenko - won "Golden Balls" for the best player in the world.
And the designer of all these Dynamo triumphs was a great coach, the holder of the UEFA Rubin Order of Merit Valeriy Vasilyevich Lobanovsky. His tireless football heart stopped beating on 13 May 2002 at the 63rd year of life.
You wonder about my memory. But I am an ambassador of FC Dynamo (Kyiv) and I should know about all the achievements of my team, its players and coaches. And my memory, Sasha, is still good.
- So, we have to live with the memories of the past years?
- Without the past there is no future. And Dynamo has a wonderful past. This cursed war will be over, the Rashists will be expelled from our Ukraine. In this difficult time our football has survived, proving that Ukraine is a football country.
We would like to hope for the revival of European recognition of Dynamo, which will celebrate its glorious centenary on 13 May 1927. I am sure that soon the third star will appear above the emblem of Dynamo. After the end of the war at Dynamo matches the stands will again be filled to capacity. And the players of the team, going on the field, will give the game all their strength, remembering the honour of which club they are defending. As it has always been done by Dynamo players of different generations.
And there will be, as in previous years, from Dynamo fan-sectors will be heard the thundering "Dynamo is a class! Dynamo is a school! Dynamo is the best team of European football!".
- Leonid Buryak is the author of two popular books "Hot Spots on the Field" and "I Lived in a Happy Football Time". The second one was written in 2007, and since then a lot of events have happened in your life. You are in football, still serving it, you are in it forever. Do you want to write a third book? After all, you have something to say...
- To be honest, I haven't thought about it yet. But go figure. By the way, if you hadn't insisted, there wouldn't have been a second book.
-What's your favourite aphorism?
- "The happiest man is the one who gives happiness to the greatest number of people."
- We finish our second cup of Americano and my final question for today. What is Leonid Buryak's life credo?
- Do great things without promising great things.
- Thank you, Leonid, for answering my questions. See you next time, Lene. And say hello to Zhannula!
Alexander LIPENKO for Dynamo.kiev.ua