Every day brings the world a few notable people who have closely tied their lives to football.
Volodymyr OnishchenkoTaras Mikhalik (1983) — former central defender of Volyn. Born in the village of Lyubeshov in the Volyn region. Taras played for clubs such as CSKA (Kyiv), Zakarpattia (Uzhgorod), and Dynamo (Kyiv). Two-time champion and Ukrainian Cup winner. Played 34 matches for Ukraine’s national team, scoring no goals. Currently part of Ruslan Kostyshyn’s coaching staff at Kolo.
Volodymyr Onishchenko (1949) — former footballer who played as a forward. Born in the Kyiv region, specifically in the village of Stechanka, which was delisted as a settlement after the Chernobyl nuclear accident. Spent nearly his entire career at Dynamo Kyiv, except for the period from 1971 to 1973, when Volodymyr played for Zorya Luhansk. Played 36 matches for the USSR national team, scoring 8 goals. After finishing his football career, Onishchenko actively pursued coaching. Until recently, he was an assistant to Mykhailo Fomenko in the coaching staff of Ukraine’s national team.
Garrincha (1933−1983) — famous Brazilian footballer who played as a forward. Two-time world champion, he played abroad only once, in the Colombian club Atlético Junior. Garrincha was known worldwide not only as an excellent forward but also because he had a congenital physical defect: one of his legs was a few centimeters shorter than the other, which helped him on the field to trick defenders with his moves. Garrincha died at the age of 49.
