The former defender of Kyiv “Dynamo” Stefan Reshko gave a large interview to “UF”, in which he recalled many interesting moments from his career.
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— This May marks fifty years since the first victory of “Dynamo” in the Cup Winners’ Cup. Are there any events planned for this anniversary?
— I don’t know. So far, no one has talked about it. And we still need to live to see that date, considering the situation we are currently in.
— What can you tell us about that victorious tournament for “Dynamo”?
— It was a great success. After all, it was the first European trophy for teams from the Soviet Union. We worked towards this, we prepared. Lobanovskyi came and in a year made a new team. A new style of play, new views on football. We had great physical loads, a lot of competition. And in the final of the Cup Winners' Cup, we won quite easily.
— During Soviet times, of the three European tournaments, the Cup Winners' Cup was considered the weakest. Is that true?
— Not really. By ranking, it was second. Because the Super Cup had the winners of the European Cup and the Cup Winners' Cup. And the UEFA Cup was always in third place.
— And regarding the level of teams?
— The teams we had to play against were mediocre. Although matches with clubs like PSV Eindhoven and Eintracht were quite challenging. The level of German and Dutch football in the mid-1970s was very high. Whereas Spanish and Italian football were in second roles. Clubs like “Barcelona” and “Real” were not very successful on the international stage. “Bayern”, “Ajax”, PSV, “Feyenoord” — those clubs were well-known at that time.
At the highest level stood German football. “Bayern” became the Champions Cup holder three times in a row. The West German national team became world champions in 1974. As for the Dutch, they brought us Total Football at that time. Johan Cruyff and Johan Neeskens, as well as the Germans Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Müller, were the biggest stars of football at that time.
— What was the mood in the team before the start of that Cup Winners' Cup tournament? Was there a task to win this trophy?
— I’ll be honest: we didn’t think about it. Lobanovskyi did not tell us that we absolutely had to win this trophy or reach the final. We prepared for each game as if it were our last. Quite frankly, we started off slowly in that tournament.
— Which match from that tournament stood out the most for you?
— Against PSV. According to the rankings, this Dutch club was first in Europe at that time. I remember Lobanovskyi told us during the match briefing: “We are playing against the number one team in Europe.” And I can tell you: we felt a tremor in our knees after we watched a couple of their games.
Mikhail Oshemkov specifically went to Transcarpathia and recorded their matches from Hungarian television. Before we played them, “Eindhoven” was at least a head taller than us. They had many national team players — not only from the Netherlands.
— In the match against “Eindhoven”, did you personally play against someone?
— “Eindhoven” had a Swedish forward — Ralf Edström (the best footballer in Sweden in 1972 and 1973, participant of the World Cups in 1974 and 1978 — ed.). Without him, none of the Dutch attacks worked. They would pass the ball to him, he would win it and head it to someone for a shot.
We knew this tactic in advance. At the briefing, Lobanovskyi told us: “Shut down the flanks so that there are no passes to Edström.” The Swede was a head taller than all of us (Edström's height is 191 centimeters, Reshko's is 182, Fomenko's is 181, Konkov's and Kolotov's are 180 — ed.). There was no explicit task to play against him individually. But near our penalty area, we had to play more tightly with him. In Kyiv, he did not cause us much trouble (at the end of the game, he hit the post from a few meters away — ed.). But in Eindhoven, he scored two goals.
— How did he do it?
— He scored the first goal after Rudakov caught the ball while jumping, but upon landing, he let it slip from his hands. Edström followed up and scored in an empty net. The second goal came toward the end of the second half. After a set piece, the ball was crossed into the penalty area and Edström made a great header. There was a misunderstanding between me and Kolotov. We were both somehow holding onto the Swede. Kolotov was in front, I was behind. It turned out that he got past both of us (smiles).
— You said it was very hard to start the tournament...
— The Bulgarian club CSKA “Septemvriysko Zname” was a tough opponent for us. Half of their team was the Bulgarian national team (nine players from the Bulgarian national team, Reshko personally marked the most dangerous forward Peter Zhekov — holder of the “Golden Boot” in 1969). What can I say: both games against them were tough. In Kyiv and Sofia, we won by the narrowest margin of 1:0 thanks to smart tactics.
— Before the first match with the Bulgarians, there was an unpleasant incident in your team. Can you tell us about it?
— Oh. There was such a story that I think it’s better not to go into details. To put it briefly: it was someone's birthday, I think it was Kolotov (or Troshkin — ed.), where a small argument arose between two players (they fought — ed.). I won’t name the surnames of these footballers. I’ll just say that one of them is still alive, while the other is no longer with us. That’s all (Vladimir Pereturin, who as a commentator traveled with “Dynamo” to that match, touched upon that scandal live during the broadcast and in the match report — ed.).
— Was the entire “Dynamo” present at that birthday party?
— No. I was not there. So, I didn't see all that was happening.
— Then you faced “Eintracht”...
— Which we also found difficult to pass. I think the Germans underestimated us a bit. “Eintracht” had two world champions from 1974 — Jürgen Grabowski and Bernd Hölzenbein. Before the game, reporters were interviewing them, asking how they would play against us. They said they were going to convincingly win — 3:0, 4:0. They argued that it was very far for them to travel to the Soviet Union. So, they needed to decide everything at home so that they could send reserves to Kyiv.
And I can tell you, when the match started, and we conceded a goal in the second minute, I thought: we are definitely going to lose by three or four goals (smiles). The Germans scored their first goal from outside the penalty area, someone shot (Nickel — ed.), and Zhenya (Rudakov — ed.) probably missed that moment. Later, they slowed down the pace, we leveled the game, and Onyshchenko equalized. After the break, with the score at 1:1, “Eintracht” launched a prolonged assault on our goal. There was a confrontation in our penalty area with Hölzenbein, he fell without movement, right there. The referee awarded a penalty, which they scored 2:1. However, towards the end of the match, the Germans, unable to sustain the pace of the game, allowed Blokhin and Muntyan to strike accurately (83rd and 87th minutes — ed.).
— Is it true that before the match, the players of “Eintracht” gave you shaving devices as souvenirs?
— That was a tradition. I remember those razors worked on batteries. What we gave them — I don’t remember. Probably some matryoshkas (smiles). But that was arranged by our management; we had no idea about it. There wasn't a custom for players to gift something to each other. Different people brought various items. They said — these are souvenirs for the team.
— At the press conference after the match in Germany against “Eintracht”, Oleg Bazylevich told reporters: “Today you saw the away model of our team.” How did this model look in “Dynamo”'s execution?
— We used it when we needed not to lose, sometimes to secure a draw. The away model meant that when we lost the ball, we immediately retreated to our half and played tightly against every player. The opponent attacks — we all, starting with Blokhin and Onyshchenko, meet him. The task: do not let them settle in. If we intercepted the ball, we immediately launched a rapid counterattack. These were fast raids by Matvienko and Troshkin on the left and right flanks, or Kolotov and Veremeev through the center. Also, the unexpected appearance of Onyshchenko or Muntyan at the tip of the attack.
— And also — a long pass aimed at Blokhin's speed?
— Of course. We constantly utilized his speed qualities. But it didn’t always work out. Everyone knew Blokhin by then, so they tightly marked him.
Counterattacks had to be fast. When it didn’t work out, we started holding onto the ball in our half. We could pass it back to the goalkeeper, and the defenders would start to pass the ball among themselves. For this, we were not liked and were heavily criticized, especially by Moscow reporters.
— It is said that in “Dynamo”'s game, there was a clear rhythm — 15 minutes of pressing, 15 minutes of rest. Is that so?
— Well, that’s not the away model anymore. That was a tactical maneuver on our part. We would step onto the field and from the first minutes engage in pressing for 10-15 minutes. We shut down all directions. If the ball was with the opponent’s goalkeeper, we made sure he could not introduce it into play calmly. On the right, on the left, shoulder-to-shoulder with the opponent to not let them take the ball. That’s what pressing entailed. But no one will press for the whole match — there wouldn’t be enough energy. Then we needed a pause (Lobanovskyi had all of it scientifically substantiated: it was calculated that a player can perform at maximum tempo for about 8-15 minutes — ed.).
— Was the transition from pressing to pause done by command?
— The command came from Lobanovskyi or from one of the other coaches to the team captain — Kolotov or Muntyan, and they would give the signal to all of us. Because when you are running, you don’t notice the time.
— What was the worst pitch you played on in Europe?
— Probably in Turkey when we played against “Bursaspor”. There was a bald plain. There were no heating systems in the pitches at that time.
— And in Basel, where you played the final?
— Basically, it was a normal green pitch, but not ideal. Not like today’s stadiums — a billiard table.
— How many days before the final were you confined to the base?
— On May 7, we won against Ararat in Yerevan 3:2 (“Ararat” was managed by Viktor Maslov, the coach of “Dynamo” from 1964 to 1970 — ed.). The Yerevan team did not behave very well towards us. They played harshly, and the fans shouted something in the direction of the referee after the match, demanding something (the match was refereed by the Moscow-based Vladimir Rudnev — ed.).
We could not leave the stadium for a long time. They took us to the airport under police escort: a car in the front, a car in the back. The administrator took care of the tickets, and we were driven straight to the plane.
There were six days until the final in Basel, and we were at the base that whole time — preparing.
— What was the mood? Did you feel you would win the final?
— We watched the games of “Ferencváros”. On the road to the final, the Hungarians faced strong teams — “Liverpool”, “Crvena Zvezda” (and also “Cardiff City” and “Malmö” — ed.). We had no “relaxation”. And Lobanovskyi wouldn’t let us do that. He constantly stressed that Ferencváros is a very serious team. So we went out to play with trepidation. Of course, we were nervous — after all, it was the Cup Winners' Cup final.
Indeed, we had an impresario who took us around Europe and made money on it (this was after we won the Cup Winners' Cup). His surname was Ukyanych. He was a Polish-Jewish man from the Russian Empire. In 1918, he fled from Russia to France. So, right before the match, we stepped onto the field to take a few steps, “to touch” the field. There was always such a tradition. We walk: me, Troha, Matviy with serious faces. We really don’t see each other. Ukyanych comes up to us and says in Russian: “Gentlemen, why are you so nervous? I see fear in your eyes.” We told him: “Well, it’s the final!” And he replied: “Listen, I told the management of Ferencváros: “If ‘Dynamo’ scores more than three, don’t worry too much” (smiles). He was a man with a sense of humor, he said that before the game.
Well, we laughed and went on. We played — 3:0. And after the final, Ukyanych approached me and Troshkin and said: “Well, what did I tell you?”
— How did you celebrate the victory?
— There wasn’t anything like today — fireworks with confetti.
— Was there champagne?
— Of course. Muscat champagne, by the way! (Smiles.)
— How many bottles were in that Cup?
— I don’t know how many, but not many. We drank right from the Cup — everyone came up and took a sip or two, whoever could.