Soviet football player Bal Andrew: biography and achievements

Game number 1 in the world, with its inherent conservatism, is distinguished by a huge palette of a variety of styles. The school of Soviet football attracted primarily its own identity and versatility. The multinational state gave the football world a wide variety of different techniques. Georgian, Baltic, Russian and other teams played so unlike football that even an unsophisticated viewer could see differences in the stylistic manner of the game.

The top of this huge iceberg is the eternal confrontation between the two flagships of Soviet football: Dynamo Kyiv and Spartak Moscow. These clubs were under the leadership of the masters of the domestic coaching department - Valery Vasilyevich Lobanovsky and Konstantin Ivanovich Beskov. Their wards invariably kept a high bar of sportsmanship. Great matches, professional players, brilliant attacks and goals scored - all this became part of the football history of our country.

One of the direct participants in those battles is Andrei Mikhailovich Bal. This person has passed all the steps of sports career: from children's football at the level of the Youth Sports School to work in the coaching staff of the national team. What was the glory of Bal Andrew? Interesting facts are present in this person's biography. He went the hard way. His life was intense and interesting. It is about him that will be discussed in the article.

Bal Andrew: biography, childhood

Andrei Mikhailovich Bal was born in a small village of Rozdol, located in the Lviv region. It happened on January 18, 1958. Already in his childhood he was left without a father and was brought up by his stepfather, Grigory Grigorievich. He became a native of little Andrei. Like any boy in those years, Bal spent his free time on the street. I played basketball, hockey, table tennis, but football was my main passion.

The democratic nature of the game, its universal accessibility attracted adolescents in all corners of our country. Everybody played. This hobby was not spared by Bal. In his native village there was no specialized football section. The nearest was eight kilometers from the house - in Novy Rozdol. It was there, at the local Children's Sports School under the direction of Olesya Dmitrievich Mikhailovich, and took the first steps in the football field Bal Andrey Mikhailovich, the future star of Soviet football.

Sports boarding

Already after a while, classes at the local CYSS became clear that a talented teenager needs to grow professionally. The level of the rural sports school Andrey Bal was noticeably superior. And in 1970, when he was 12 years old, the teenager went to enter Kiev. He wanted to get to the Republican Sports Boarding School (RSCI). Despite the fact that he successfully passed all sports tests, the guy was not enrolled in the number of enrolled. Disappointment was so great that the young athlete was present with the idea of finally quitting football. It will take several years, and representatives of the RSWI will themselves call a teenager into their orphanage. But this time, Andrew himself will refuse to offer.

After an unsuccessful trip to Kiev, the guy spent another year in his native ДЮСШ. The following year, three sports boarding schools were opened on the territory of Ukraine, which significantly simplified the task of those entering. His choice was made by Bal on the basis of territorial features. Lviv sports boarding was much closer to home, relative to the other two, and Andrew, along with his younger brother Orestes, went to study there. The first coach of the brothers in the Lviv sports board was Fyodor Bushansky.

Debut in big football

The successful game of a talented young man at the level of a sports boarding school did not go unnoticed. The coaches of the main Lviv team "Carpathians" drew attention to it. At the age of 16, Bal Andrew was enrolled in the second squad. However, according to the existing age restrictions, the guy could not play for the duplicating team yet. The coaches went to the trick. And the first time Andrei acted under a strange name in the double "Carpathian". The official debut under his own name was held later: in 1975. At that time, the duplicating team "Carpathians" was headed by Ernest Edvinovich Just.

Junior national team of the USSR

Achievements at the club level were appreciated by the coaches of the junior team of the Union. The head of this team was the famous forward of the Moscow "Spartak" Sergei Salnikov. It was he who first attracted a talented young man to the games for the national team. The team became the European Champion of 1976 among juniors. Ahead was the next test: the first junior World Championship, which was held in 1977 in Tunisia. The team was headed by two coaches by that time: S. Korshunov and S. Masyagin. The captain of the team was Andrey Bal.

Taking the first place in the group stage, our team in the semifinals met with Uruguayans. The heavy match did not reveal the winner in the main and extra time. And in the penalty shootout our players proved to be stronger. The national team was waiting for the final battle with the Mexicans. Teams alternate exchanged goals. And to the final whistle on the scoreboard burned the score 2: 2. Again, everything is decided by a penalty. And it must have happened that one of the blows is not being realized by our captain, Andrei Bal. Fortunately, the excellent game of the goalkeeper of the Soviet team, Yuri Sivuhi, make the team the world champion. Such success brought the nineteen-year-old youth the title of master of sports of international class.

In the future at the level of the youth teams in the asset, Andrei has two more championships. Both times in the USSR national team he became the winner in Europe. And if in 1980 he played with peers, then in 10 years Bal was a member of the youth team, according to the existing regulations, allowing to declare the composition of two age players. Andrew was one of them, which allowed him to become the owner of another honorable trophy.

Bal Andrew: career in adult football

The successful game of Andrey Bal at the level of junior teams attracted the attention of the main club in Ukraine - Kiev Dynamo. Personally, Valery Vasilievich Lobanovsky was interested in the services of a talented defender. However, realizing that in the "Dynamo" to start playing at such a young age is almost impossible, Bal decides to stay in the Lviv "Carpathians". In terms of acquiring gaming experience, this was the right decision. After spending 134 matches in three "Carpathian" season, Andrei managed to hit the opponents' gate 12 times. In 1980, Bal goes to Kiev Dynamo already quite mature player, really pretending to place in the main part of the club.

The Ukrainian capital club became really dear to Andrei Mikhailovich. It was a team in which he was able to fully realize his gaming ambitions. For 10 seasons, held with Kiev, in the asset of the player there were 240 played matches with 11 goals scored. Four times Bal became the champion of the Soviet Union. And the same time won the USSR Cup. Speaking for Kiev "Dynamo", Andrei Mikhailovich began to be involved in the games in the national team of the country. In her composition, Bal played 20 matches, taking part in two world championships (1982 and 1986). In these games, Andrew scored only one ball, but what! At the World Championship 1982 in Spain, playing with Brazil, Bal Andrew (Dynamo) connected to the attack and a powerful strike from forty meters struck the goal of Brazilian goalkeeper Valdir Perez.

Winning in the Cup Winners' Cup

One of the most significant victories at the club level in Andrei Bal's career can safely be considered the win of the Cup of Cups - the second most important club tournament in European football. In the first round, the Dutch "Utrecht" was defeated by the Kievites. Then came the victory over the Romanian and Austrian club. In the semi-finals, the Kyiv team takes the Czechoslovak team for the sum of two games. And finally, the final ...

At the stadium in Lyon "De Gerland", in the presence of 45 000 spectators, the Kiev Dynamo and the Spanish Atletico Madrid met in a duel. Contrary to expectations, the hard struggle in this match did not happen. Dynamo proved to be much stronger than their Spanish rivals, having won in the end with the score 3: 0. Andrey Bal during the whole tournament was the main defender of the Kiev club. And in the final match he played 51 minutes of playing time on the field.

Overseas career

In the late 80's, in connection with the collapse of the USSR, things in national football were not developing in the best way. Mass outflow of leading players to foreign championships began. This situation, as well as age, encouraged the athlete to make a difficult decision. He left the domestic championship and left to complete a career in one of the European clubs.

Andrey Bal - a footballer who for many years gained an excellent professional reputation, had no problems with the proposal of the contract. The choice fell on the leading Israeli club - "Maccabi". For him, Andrew played one season. Then followed the transition to another Israeli club - "Bnei Yehuda", in which the athlete played two full seasons. As a result, after these events at the age of 35, Andrei Bal decided to end his career as a professional football player.

The first steps in the coaching field

After the end of his playing career at Bnei Yehudi, the coach of the team, Yuri Shpigel, suggested that Andrey work with him as an assistant at the Maccabi club from Haifa. For five years, Bal worked as assistant coach. Already in 1995 he independently headed the team. Next, followed the season in the role of the main coach of the Israeli club of the first division of "Akuah". The turbulent situation in the Middle East was not accompanied by fruitful coaching. And Andrey Bal decides to return to his homeland.

Return

Return to Ukraine was transit through Kaunas. In January, Bal Andrei led the local "Zalgiris". But a month later the team changed the owner, who decided to abandon the services of the Ukrainian athlete. Back in Kiev, Andrei Bal worked for some time as a breeder in his native "Dynamo". But the desire to lead the team independently still prevailed.

Main coach

In June 2001, Andrey Bal accepts the invitation of the leadership of Vorskla and becomes the main coach of this team. Two full seasons he spent at the helm of this club. But a huge number of various problems, especially financial ones, did not allow Bala to fully realize her coaching potential. In August 2003, after a series of unsuccessful games, Andrei Mikhailovich left the team.

Coach of the national team

The most successful period in the history of the Ukrainian team came at a time when the team was headed by Oleg Blokhin. Becoming at the helm, he did not forget about his comrade in games for the Kiev Dynamo. Now Bal Andrew is an assistant sports director. The team of Ukraine under the leadership of this duet made a real sensation at the World Cup in 2006, sensationally reaching the quarterfinals. In the future, the cooperation of the two great players was continued in the football club "Moscow", in the Odessa "Chernomorets". Here roles have changed: Bal Andrew - coach, and Oleg Blokhin - assistant. There was also a return to the national team for participation in the home European Championship and the position of coach in the native for him Kiev Dynamo.

August 2014

In Kiev there was another regular friendly match of veterans of football. Filled tribunes, as a tribute to those players who forged fame for the Dynamo Kiev in the 1970-1980. Andrei Bal gives a pass to the partner on the team and suddenly falls. A heart…

How bitterly joked one of his former comrades-in-arms: "Football player's dream to die in boots." So it happened in this case. A great footballer left the life, an excellent coach - Bal Andrew. The family of this beautiful person, friends, millions of admirers could not believe that this happened ... Without a beloved husband and a loving father, Svetlana's wife and son Daniel remained. Andrei Balu was only 56 years old ...