Former Dynamo Kyiv midfielder Volodymyr Sharan, who is now the head coach of Minaya, recalled the period of his playing career at the capital's club, for which he played in the early 90s of the last century.
Volodymyr Sharan. Photo by Yurii Yuriev"Bezsonov specially came to Lviv to invite me to Dynamo"
- How did football start for you?
- The same as for everyone else. I asked my parents to buy me a ball, and one day they did. My first ball was a rubber one. It cost one ruble, I remember that for sure. But, unfortunately, we broke it right away. We hit a tree with that ball, and there was a thorn in it. I was very upset. I thought: "Oh, my God, we just bought it and we've already broken it. How do I go home, what do I tell my parents?" (Smiles). And what to do when your father earned 100-110 and your mother 90 Soviet rubles? Later, with the boys, we started saving up to buy a proper leather ball. I remember buying a more or less normal one for three rubles.
- What did your parents do for a living?
- My mother was a cook at the school where I studied. And my father worked at the Burshtyn thermal power plant, where Russian cruise missiles have now arrived twice.
- What were your football successes like?
- We played school to school, in Burshtyn we beat almost everyone. Then I played for the district, then for Ivano-Frankivsk region, then for the national team of Ukraine and the USSR. That's how I gradually, almost in a year and a half, got into the main team of the country.
- Who was your childhood idol?
- Of course, Oleg Blokhin. Almost all of Dynamo's matches were broadcast on Ukrainian television. As soon as a match was broadcast, we all ran home to watch football.
- When was the first time you saw Blokhin live?
- In Kyiv, at the Dynamo Stadium, when I was invited to join the Dynamo club when I was young. I remember it was my second day in Kyiv. We were standing there, young players, and Blokhin walked by and said to us in Russian: "Hello". All the guys from the double were silent. And then he said: "Everyone answered so loudly at once that my ears even stopped ringing." I remembered that forever (smiles).
- You came to Dynamo when you were young and green. How did the team welcome you?
- I remember playing one half for a double, and during the break I was told: "Go to Koncha Zaspa, get ready to play with the first team". Anatolii Puzach, Viktor Kolotov and Volodymyr Bezsonov were there, and it was they who invited me to Dynamo. The next day, I came on as a substitute for Annenkov and gave an assist to Borys Derkach, who levelled the score against Dynamo's principal rival, Spartak Moscow.
- What a debut you had! Did you play well?
- That evening, a lot of people gathered at the stadium in Kyiv - 70,000 (actually 38,000 - ed.). Unfortunately, we lost to Spartak - 2-3. In the middle of the first half, Annenkov broke down - he pulled the back of his thigh. I heard the coaches calling for someone, at first I didn't understand who, there were other guys warming up next to me. Then I heard them shouting: "Sharan, come on!".
Oleg Matveev was not included in the application for that game, and Motya was a favourite in the team. I remember arriving at the base for dinner, and someone else was talking so loudly: "Where's Motya?". I answered: "They took some young guy from the second take instead of him." Of course, I felt a little uncomfortable.
Well, it's okay, in principle, I played well. Of course, I was upset that we lost, but the coaches praised me after the game. That was my debut for Dynamo.
- In the next game, did you start?
- Yes, I did. We played in Moscow against Dynamo. We lost again - 0-1, the only goal we scored in the middle of the second half.
- Viktor Leonenko played for the Muscovites in that match. Do you remember him?
- Of course I remember him. And there was also Kiryakov, whom I knew from playing for the youth team. We often crossed paths with him when we went to training camps - he stood out. And Leonenko I remember because he was a coordinated, short, fast, sharp, technical guy. He was constantly moving and it was hard to stop him.
- You said that you were invited to Dynamo by Volodymyr Bezsonov. How did it go?
- In the winter, Karpaty were at a training camp in Uzhhorod, and he came specifically to invite me to Dynamo. We played a friendly match, and I was sent off in the 20th minute for talking to the referee. I had behaved badly there.
Bezsonov called me to his hotel and said: "I came to watch you on purpose, and you only played 20 minutes". I started making excuses, saying: "So the referee was wrong there". That's when I heard from him that I was invited to Dynamo.
But I did not go with him to Kyiv, I said that I wanted to finish my work in Lviv, to help the team complete the task. We agreed that I would join Dynamo in the summer. "Karpaty received some money for me. At that time, I had many options from different clubs. There were invitations from Minsk and Moscow: "Dynamo, Spartak, Torpedo. But I didn't want to go there - to sit somewhere in the backroom. I felt that I didn't need to leave Ukraine. I dreamed of playing only here.
"Once I didn't pass to Luzhnyi, who was running in - I thought I was done for"
- Apart from Dynamo, which other Ukrainian clubs invited you?
- Dnipro and Shakhtar called me. My national team-mate Serhii Shcherbakov was particularly proactive. He was the main player at Shakhtar at the time and wanted me to play alongside him. I talked to Valeriy Yaremchenko (Shakhtar's coach - ed.), but still chose Dynamo. I understood that I would probably have to sit in the backroom at Dynamo, but the good thing was that at that time there was a change of generations in Kyiv - Dynamo's stars were leaving. I had a chance, and I had to use it.
- You said that Oleh Luzhnyi and Ahrik Zweiba took you under their care at Dynamo right away?
- Yes, I did. Luzhnyi is my countryman, so he took care of me right away. Although at first I was friends with Stepan Betso.
- The one who died in a car accident?
- Unfortunately, yes. We were travelling home together: he to Dnipro, I to Kryvyi Rih. We said goodbye and agreed to meet. If I'm not mistaken, it was Stepan's or his child's birthday in December. I was supposed to visit him at Dnipro that day, but it so happened that he had an accident on his way to the airport.
- What was Luzhnyi's care like?
- Luzhnyi is from Lviv, like me, and made his debut at Dynamo when he was 20. Oleh called me to his place after my debut game, and his mum was there. We had a chat, then Ahrik Zweiba came over because we all lived together in the National Hotel. However, I lived in another building, by the way, where we now stay with Mynai when we come to Kyiv for a calendar game.
In principle, everything was fine at Dynamo. Let's put it this way: in a training session, there was no such thing as someone teaching you. Everyone treated the young players quite normally. At first, I thought I would get to the 'old guys' and they would start shoving things at me, the young one, or something else. But our team was great. And I did my best. I didn't put my feet up anywhere.
- So, no one at Dynamo ever "shoved" you?
- Of course, there was something there. Zayets liked to shove you somewhere when, for example, you couldn't run. Luzhnyi, if he runs in and you don't pass to him, you'll get a kick out of him (Laughs). Serhii Kovalets played on the same flank as Luzhnyi. And then, one day, they put me on the right wing next to Luzhny. Fomenko decided to do that. I was surprised, I thought, Mykhailo Ivanovych is giving me a chance. We were playing in Kryvyi Rih at the time. Once I didn't pass to Luzhnyi, and I thought I was done for. When Luzhny makes a breakthrough, he runs a hundred metres, so you have to give him the ball. That's how it should be in the game.
- So we've come to your first goal for Dynamo. Do you remember who gave you the assist?
- Of course, Luzhny. The pass was from him, and I scored with my head. There was still a struggle, the ball bounced, their goalkeeper was coming out, and I played ahead (Sharan played in place of Serhiy Yuran, who left for Benfica - ed.)
- You scored two goals against Ararat back then.
- Yes, I did. I don't remember how I scored the second one. You know, I have a video of some of the goals I scored playing for Dynamo. There's a goal I scored against Czech side Sparta - my only goal in the Champions League. It is very nice when you score a goal in such a tournament. But there is something to remember. For example, how we played against Barcelona. I have a photo of Guardiola and me fighting for the ball.
"Leonenko gave Rebrov and Shkapenko nicknames - Petya and Chapaev"
- You recalled your confrontation on the pitch with Guardiola. What kind of player was he? What do you remember most?
- The fact that Pep played with one, maximum two touches. He saw and calculated everything even before receiving the ball. He didn't dribble. He played a six. He went low, and the game was built through him. Of course, it was great. Even the quality of the pitch, and we played Barcelona at the Olimpiyskiy, then it was still called the Republican, was not an obstacle.
- And how did you feel playing against Pep?
- In that match, I played under the strikers, and it turned out that in defence I had to be directly responsible for Guardiola if we went under pressure. I will be honest, it was difficult to keep up with him. We lost those matches - 0: 3 and 0: 2, but we fought as hard as we could. I have records of those matches - it's a lifelong memory.
Of course, then there was the match when we beat Barcelona 3-1 with ten men. It was a furore of Leonenko and Shkapenko. In that match, I played only fifteen minutes, came on instead of Leonenko as a left-back, almost earned a yellow card against Kuman - I hit him on the leg quite nicely.
- And the most memorable European Cup game?
- Of course, against Spartak Moscow. However, I was a substitute. Sabo was thinking to the last minute whether to put Shmatovalenko or me in the game. Serhii had some kind of injury. Mizin and I were sitting next to each other on the bench, worried. Still, we beat Spartak 3-2, and in such a dramatic fight. Mikhailenko hadn't scored a penalty yet. If you haven't seen that match, I advise you to watch it! Rebruha (Serhii Rebrov - ed.) worked wonders there, Leonenko, Kovalets... They were all handsome.
- You came to Dynamo as a forward. Who retrained you as a defender?
- It was Fomenko who decided so. I didn't really care, because I wanted to play. It didn't matter where, at what position.
- You mentioned Shkapenko and Rebrov. Do you remember what nicknames they were given at Dynamo and by whom?
- Of course I do (smiles). Chapaev and Petya - that's how they were called. Who could have given them such nicknames? Of course, a guy from Tyumen. In turn, we used to call Vitya Leonenko "Shishka". It was Luzhny who nicknamed him that. He said to him, "You, Vitya, are from Tyumen, you have a lot of big shots there, so you will be a big shot with us." And so it went. And Vitya Leonenko gave us all nicknames. And Shkapenko and Rebrov, two young guys, came to Dynamo almost at the same time. They were together all the time - they were friends. At first, they shared a room. Later, it happened that I also shared a room with Rebrov.
"Luzhnyi said: "I have a feeling that we have to leave here now." And we would go home."
- Oleh Salenko said that he was the first person to be paid in dollars at Dynamo. Is it true?
- Maybe it was before me, because I was also paid in dollars. Although it happened that we were paid in coupons and in dollars, of course, when we went abroad.
- He also said that only 6-7 leading players at Dynamo received a thousand dollars each, while the rest received half that. Is it true?
- I don't know. I was also paid a thousand dollars. It turns out that I was on the list of those 6-7 players .
- And what were the bonuses?
- I think it was $500 for a win at home and $800 away.
- What were the highest bonuses and why?
- It was when we reached the group stage of the Champions League. Pasha Yakovenko scored another goal against Brondby from my pass. When we went into the dressing room, we were told about the bonus - 6 thousand dollars each. It was a pretty decent sum at the time.
- Was this money paid to you immediately?
- Yes, they did. Everything was fine with the salaries at Dynamo - even in the tough nineties. We didn't have any financial problems either under Viktor Bezverkhyi or when the Surkis came in. Hryhoriy Mykhailovych had everything in order in this regard - no questions asked.
- Is it true that Dynamo players used to buy imported cigarettes and alcohol at the Ukraina Hotel?
- I don't know, I didn't go there. There used to be a shop for that, called Berizka. And with cigarettes, we had different habits. Some smoked, some temporarily smoked, and some didn't smoke at all. I'm not going to talk about it. There is no such thing now, but believe me, there are players who smoke, although not as much as before.
- Is it true that when Sabo arranged all sorts of checks, did any of the experienced players or coaches warn you?
- I had Luzhny next to me, who knew everything. And I don't know who warned Luzhnyi (Smiles).
- Were you ever caught red-handed?
- There were situations when Luzhnyi told me: "I have a feeling that we have to leave here now". And we went home - that's all. And then there was an inspection. It happened twice (Smiles).
"After the Ukrainian Cup final, Mykhailo Fomenko gave me the keys to a three-room apartment opposite Bessarabka"
- Why didn't Dynamo win the first independent Ukrainian championship?
- Because we overestimated our capabilities and underestimated the opponent's capabilities. Of course, this is a lesson that I will remember for the rest of my life. This example can be given to all players who believe they are favourites in decisive matches. You can lose a match that could be the most important in your life to a lower-level team.
I remember that we arrived in Lviv wearing the smart suits we were given. They brought a bus from Kyiv to Lviv. We even had our caps made by Dynamo, the champions. And the guys from Simferopol came in whatever they had on. The changing room at the Ukraina stadium is upstairs, and we could see through the window how Tavriya players looked when they got off the bus: no equipment, shorts and slippers. We arrived by plane, straight to the game. This fact relaxed us.
And then there was the heat, the pitch was hard. Serhiy Shevchenko scored a goal for us, after a corner, and that was it, we couldn't do anything. We lost a lot. I don't even want to talk about it. The plane was waiting for us, and the next day we had to fly to Germany. A banquet was already laid out for us, as they say. We had an accumulative payment system, and all the bonuses were supposed to be given to us for the whole season. In the end, they did, but not all of it, only a very small part.
- In the second Ukrainian championship, you could also not have become champions.
- In my opinion, in those days the FFU did what they wanted. In the winter, they changed the championship regulations, and it was unfair, first of all, to Dnipro. It was necessary to play the decisive golden match on a neutral field and determine the champion. Two rounds before the end of the championship, Dnipro beat us 1-0. I remember that match well, the team of Mykola Pavlov, with whom we always communicate. "Dnipro that season was really a super team. The young guys that Pavlov had brought up were at Dnipro: Pokhlebaev, Diryavka, Polunin, Bezhenar, Konovalov, Mykhailenko, Moroz, Medin - a great bunch.
- Do you remember the day when you were told that Dynamo didn't need you?
- It depends on the situation: I'm telling it like it is. In Kyiv, I lived in a three-room apartment, but no one registered this apartment for me. That is, I had no documents for this accommodation.
- So you got a Mercedes car and an apartment when you joined Dynamo?
- No, I didn't. I was given a car, but I lived in a one-room office apartment, then in the Ukraina and National hotels. I was given a three-room apartment in 1993, when Dynamo won the Ukrainian Cup - thanks to Mykhailo Fomenko, who gave me the keys to this apartment after the final. But I was never given a warrant for this apartment - they dragged and dragged with this issue. What could Fomenko do? He gave me the keys, and then the management had to decide on the issue of this apartment.
- Where was this apartment located in Kyiv?
- The former Krasnoarmiyska Street, now Velyka Vasylkivska Street, opposite Bessarabka.
- And what happened next?
- Then I was called upstairs to Dynamo. Grigory Mikhailovich Surkis asked, "What do you want?" I said: "I want you to arrange an apartment for me". He said: "Let's go to my place now. You'll see where I live in Lipki. I have a big apartment there. I'll buy you one just like it." I said: "No. I want to stay in the apartment where I live." We had already settled there as a family. Surkis had another person with me, Ihor Bakai, who said that he was gathering the boys to Dnipro and wanted to take me, Kovalets and Topchiyev there. I gave him my consent. I said that if Dynamo didn't need me, I would go to Dnipro. We quickly resolved all the issues with Grigory Mikhailovich, and the next day I flew to Dnipro.
Oleksandr Petrov
