Former «Dnipro» coach Mykola Pavlov remembered his former team’s fight with Kyiv’s «Dynamo» for the gold medals of the Ukrainian championship in the 1992/93 season.
From the very beginning of that championship, «Dnipro» took the lead, but closer to the end, the Kyiv team managed to take the lead. Three rounds before the end of the tournament, the teams faced each other in a head-to-head match in Dnipropetrovsk. At that moment, «Dynamo» was ahead by 2 points. The hosts won the match, thus leveling with «Dynamo» on points. By the end of the championship, the situation didn’t change, and the Kyiv team became the champion — due to a better goal difference (59−14 against 51−20).
— After the «bronze» in the first championship, did you feel that the team was ready for more next season, or did everything come during the tournament?
— Everything came gradually. When we took third place, Horilyi and Tyshchenko played, whom we had to release to Israel, and Horodov later went to Morocco.
— All the players unanimously claim that in gameplay, «Dnipro» was stronger than «Dynamo.» Do you agree with them?
— Not only our players say so, but even Dynamo players themselves. And the five players who went to «Dynamo,» I didn’t offer them. They were chosen by Kyiv. Everything was decided at the top, and I was made the scapegoat.
— Nowadays it’s hard to imagine changing the rules during a championship, but it happened then: they made it so that if the points were tied, the goal difference was prioritized. Over the years, that situation has grown into legends. Some say there was no change in the rules at all...
— There was, there was — Kotelnykov and Bannikov did it. I was also asked if your team was ready for the Champions League. I replied, I don’t know what place we will take, but organizationally at that time, we were not ready. The same aid fund was not limitless. There was no way to plan the budget. We had to solve various issues differently.
For example, I bought an Adidas tracksuit for $50, gave it as a gift to the director of some enterprise, and they helped us. Prior to that, Ivan Kulichenko called the leaders and asked for support for the team. He was a very authoritative and respected person in the city. And he never let us down.
— How did this change in the rules take place?
— Quietly and imperceptibly. I guessed that they were planning something, but I couldn’t influence it. Plus, against us, such a machine started working in the second half! At that time, there was no issue of whether the opponent could be incentivized by a third party — of course, it could. (Smiles). They saw that they couldn’t surpass us in gameplay, but in such moments…
— Although «Dynamo» also lost points...
— They lost at first... If we hadn’t lost to «Metalist» — everyone knows the story where the players decided to agree, and they «threw them».
— Or not a home draw with «Kryvbas»...
— That’s something incredible! They relaxed me. (Smiles). On the eve of the game, «Kryvbas» president Fomin and deputy general director Yefremov came to the base. We sat down, after which they started to offer an agreement — they needed points in the fight for survival. Of course, I refused, but apparently, I relaxed and couldn’t get the guys set up properly. I remember that game, I watched it afterward, worried: Kryvbas didn’t cross the midfield. Yes, these two games should have been ours, but we lost them ourselves.
— Was there a moment during the championship when you realized: everything, the gold was lost?
— After the game in Kharkiv. It was clear that even if we defeated «Dynamo» in the next round, they wouldn’t let go of theirs in the last two matches.
— After that, did the game with «Dynamo» become especially significant for you?
— Absolutely! The company «Samson» bought all the tickets, even gave out free ice cream, and there were more people at the stadium than at the match with «Spartak» in 1983. Even between the sectors on the stairs, there were no places — I’m not even talking about the trees around!
By the way, a couple of days after the game, these guys from «Samson» called me: racketeering started pressuring them. Fortunately, I had connections — I managed to stop it. (Smiles).
— You can compare from your own experience the atmosphere in these famous «Dnipro» matches with «Spartak» and «Dynamo» with a 10-year difference.
— There can be no comparison. Back then, there were two journalists and three cameramen. But now there was so much press, television. The hype was much bigger. Pavlo Lazarenko even sent a priest to us: «He will help you!» They brought him to the locker room, and he spoke to the guys: God sees your efforts, your hard work; you are young, and your coach is young, he will pass you energy; and I will ask God to help you.
Usually, I didn’t pay much attention to what was said in such cases — but here even I believed that everything was possible.
— If summarizing, do you think «Dnipro»'s championship was stolen or not?
— I think we lost it ourselves. If we had a full-fledged club, it wouldn’t have happened. However, the head coach had to handle all the issues. I didn’t deliberately take it all upon myself. There were no people to take care of it.
If Zhizdyk had been there, we would have become champions even running backwards! If there had been such a person, we would have moved mountains, especially in a city like Dnipro. I’m confident that Papa would have found common ground with both Tigipko and «PrivatBank» and «Pivdenmash.» And perhaps I lacked life wisdom. I was less than 40 years old — there were conflicts with the management, various misunderstandings.
Vadym Takhterin