Valeriy Vasylovych Lobanovskyi was born in Kyiv on January 6, 1939. He played as a forward for Dynamo Kyiv (1959—1964), Chornomorets Odesa (1965—1966), and Shakhhtar Donetsk (1967—1968). Champion of the USSR in 1961. Winner of the USSR Cup in 1964. He played two matches for the USSR national team and two matches for the USSR Olympic team.
After transitioning to coaching following his football career, he led FC Dnipro Dnipro (1968—1973) and Dynamo Kyiv (1973—1982, 1984—1990, 1996—2002). Under Lobanovskyi's guidance, Kyiv's Dynamo won the USSR championship eight times and the Ukrainian championship five times. The coach's tally includes six victories in the USSR Cup, three in the Ukrainian Cup, as well as triumphs in the Cup Winners' Cup in 1975 and 1986 and the UEFA Super Cup in 1975.
The USSR team led by Valeriy Lobanovskyi was a bronze medalist at the 1976 Olympics and a silver medalist at Euro 1988, while the Kuwait national team, which he also worked with, boasts a bronze from the 1994 Asian Games. He led the national team of Ukraine from 2000 to 2002.
Valeriy Lobanovskyi was awarded the UEFA Rubin Order "For Merit" and the FIFA Order "For Merit".
The legendary coach passed away on May 13, 2002, in Zaporizhzhia.
