"Oleksandr Anatolievich, you talk a lot about Honored Master of Sports Leonid Buryak, a midfielder from God - this is how my father, a long-time Dynamo fan, characterized him. He tried not to miss the matches of his favorite team. I belong to the younger generation of Dynamo fans, naturally, I have not seen Buryak in the game. Tell us about his achievements as a Dynamo player.
My neighbor's son Viktor recently asked me such a question. I cannot refuse, I am sure it will be interesting not only for him.
Leonid Buryak. Photo — A. PopovImmediately came to the court
At the age of 20 the pupil of Odessa soccer, the player of "Chernomorets" from the third time responded to the offer to move to "Dynamo". For Kyiv club Leonid Buriak made his debut in the cup game with Metalist on March 14, 1973, replacing Vladimir Muntean.
In the championship of the former USSR he played for Dynamo for the first time for the main squad on April 7, 1973 in the away match with "Ararat" (1:0), replacing Anatoliy Puzach. The midfielder scored his first Dynamo goal in the game of the second round in Kyiv with the same Ararat. The Kyivians were losing to the future champion - 0:1. Buryak, who came on as a substitute in the second half, equalized the score after 20 minutes - 1:1, and eventually Dynamo won - 3:1.
Already in his first season in Dynamo the debutant played 41 official matches. In each game Leonid tried not only to score, but also to work at the proper level in defense. Ahead of Buryak expected a soccer marathon with a distance of 15 years.
He liked to score for Spartak
In 304 matches of the championship, played by the midfielder for Dynamo, his team celebrated 160 victories, 92 games were drawn. In the championship Buryak played against 25 teams of the top league. He liked to score for Spartak - five times he spoiled the mood of the Muscovites, as many goals he sent to the gate of Torpedo. Four times after his skillful strikes took the balls out of the net of their gates goalkeepers Tbilisi "Dinamo", "Dnipro" and "Zenit". Only one goal was scored by Buryak with a header. The rest of the goals (if we don't count penalties) were scored mainly by long-range and mid-range shots. He realized 22 consecutive penalties. In the domestic cup matches he played 52 matches, 34 of them were victorious.
"Shaving" flight of the midfielder
In the 1975 Cup Winners' Cup tournament Buryak in the semifinal game with "Eindhoven" away at a score of 1:0 in favor of the hosts in the 77th minute in a "shaving" flight header hit a shot Veremeev, dispelling the hopes of the opponent for revenge - 2:1. Buryak also put his feet in two victorious matches of his team's confrontation with Bayern for the UEFA Super Cup in 1975. In the spring of 1977, Leonid again helped to defeat Bayern, scoring a goal to Meyer in the match 1/4 finals of the European Cup. In the fall of 1982 Buryak in the match 1/16 finals of the Champions Cup scored two goals against Grasshoppers. In total, he played 51 matches for Dynamo in European cups, in which his team celebrated 32 victories and played 10 games in a draw.
10 medals, 5 cups
Leonid Buriak is also a five-time champion of the former USSR, four-time silver medalist, once bronze. Five times with his Dynamo partners he made a lap of honor with the crystal cup. According to the results of eight seasons the midfielder of Kyiv was included in the list of the 33 best soccer players of the country, five times - under the first number.
In the second round of the national championship 1984 in the match against Ararat Buryak played his last official match in the Dynamo uniform.
Viktor, I can go on for a long time about the achievements of a great player of Dynamo Kyiv. The magnificent soccer player, who, as he claims, lived in a happy soccer time, will remain on the golden pages of the history of Dynamo club.
Oleksandr LIPENKO for Dynamo.kiev.ua
