Game number 1 around the world, with its inherent conservatism, has a huge palette of variety of styles. The school of Soviet football attracted primarily its originality and versatility. The multinational state has given the football world a wide variety of different techniques. Georgian, Baltic, Russian and other teams played so dissimilar football that even inexperienced spectators could notice differences in the stylistic style of the game.
The peak of this huge iceberg is the eternal confrontation between the two flagships of Soviet football: Dynamo Kyiv and Spartak Moscow. These clubs were led by the masters of the domestic coaching workshop - Valery Vasilievich Lobanovsky and Konstantin Ivanovich Beskov. Their wards invariably kept a high bar of sportsmanship. Great matches, professional players, brilliant attacks and seasoned goals - all this has become part of the football history of our country.
One of the direct participants in those battles is Andrei Mikhail Bal. This man has gone through all the stages of his sports career: from children's football at the level of the Children's Sports School to work in the coaching staff of the national team. What is famous for Bal Andrey? Interesting facts are present in the biography of this person. He went a hard way. His life was rich and interesting. It is about him that the article will be discussed.
Bal Andrey: biography, childhood
Andrei Mikhailovich Bal was born in the small village of Rozdol, located in the Lviv region. It happened on January 18, 1958. Already in childhood, he was left without a father and raised by his stepfather, Grigory Grigoryevich. He became native to little Andrei. Like any boy in those years, Bal spent all his free time on the street. He played basketball, hockey, table tennis, but the main hobby was football.
The democracy of the game, its universal accessibility attracted teenagers in all corners of our country. Everyone played. This passion was not spared by Bal. There was no specialized football section in the native village. The nearest one was eight kilometers from the house - in New Rozdol. It was there, in the local youth sports school under the leadership of Oles Dmitrievich Mikhailovich, that Bal Andrei Mikhailovich, the future star of Soviet football, took his first steps in the football field.
Sports boarding
After some time, classes at the local youth sports school it became clear that a talented teenager needs to grow professionally. The level of rural sports school Andrei Bal was noticeably superior. And in 1970, when he was 12 years old, the teenager went to enter Kiev. He wanted to get into the Republican Sports Boarding School (RSHI). Despite the fact that he successfully passed all the sports tests, the guy was not credited to the number of applicants. The disappointment was so great that the young athlete had the idea to finally tie up with football. Several years will pass, and representatives of the RSHI will themselves invite the teenager to their boarding school. But this time, Andrei himself will refuse the offer.
After an unsuccessful trip to Kiev, the guy spent another year in his native sports school. The following year, three sports boarding schools were opened in Ukraine, which significantly simplified the task of applicants. Bal made his choice on the basis of territorial characteristics. Lviv sports boarding school was much closer to home, relative to the other two, and Andrei, along with his younger brother Orest, went to study there. The first coach of the brothers in the Lviv sports boarding school 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 trainers of the main Lviv team - “Karpaty” drew attention to it. At the age of 16, Bal Andrey was enrolled in the second composition. However, according to existing age restrictions, the guy could not play for a duplicate team yet. Coaches went to the trick. And at first, Andrei performed under a false name as part of the Carpathian double. The official debut under his own name took place later: in 1975. At that time, the backup team "Carpathians" was led by Ernest Edvinovich Just.
USSR junior team
Success at the club level was appreciated by coaches of the Union junior team. This team was headed by the famous forward of the Moscow Spartak Sergey Salnikov. It was he who first attracted a talented young man to the games for the national team. The team became the 1976 European Junior Champion. Ahead was the following test: the first Junior World Championship, which was held in 1977 in Tunisia. Two coaches headed the team by then: S. Korshunov and S. Masyagin. The team captain was Andrei Bal.
Having won first place in the group stage, our team met with Uruguayans in the semifinals. The hard match did not reveal the winner in regular and extra time. And in the penalty shootout, our players turned out to be stronger. The national team was waiting for the final battle with the Mexicans. Teams alternately exchange goals scored. And to the final whistle on the scoreboard, the score was 2: 2. Again, everything is decided by a penalty. And it was necessary for this to happen that one of the blows is not implemented by our captain, Andrei Bal. Fortunately, the wonderful game of the goalkeeper of the Soviet team, Yuri Sivuha, makes the team world champion. Such a success brought the nineteen-year-old youth the title of master of sports of international class.
In the future, at the level of youth teams 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 his peers, then after 10 years, Bal was part of the youth team, according to existing regulations, which allowed declaring the composition of two age players. Andrew was one of them, which allowed him to become the owner of another honorary trophy.
Bal Andrey: 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 playing at Dynamo 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 the Karpat team over three seasons, Andrei managed to hit the opponents' goal 12 times. In 1980, Bal went to Dynamo Kyiv as a rather mature player, who really claimed a place in the club’s main squad.
The Ukrainian metropolitan club became for Andrei Mikhailovich truly native. It was a team in which he was able to fully realize his gaming ambitions. For 10 seasons spent with Kiev, in the asset of the football player, there were 240 games played with 11 goals scored. Four times, Bal became the champion of the Soviet Union. And as many times won the USSR Cup. Speaking for Kiev Dynamo, Andrei Mikhailovich began to be involved in games in the national team of the country. In its composition, Bal spent 20 matches, taking part in two world championships (1982 and 1986). In these games, Andrey scored just one goal, but what a goal! At the 1982 World Cup in Spain, playing with Brazil, Bal Andrei (Dynamo) joined the attack and struck the goal of the Brazilian goalkeeper Valdir Perez with a powerful kick from forty.
Win Cup Cup
One of the most significant victories at the club level in the career of Andrei Bal can be safely considered the win of the Cup of Cups - the second most important club tournament in European football. In the first round, the people of Kiev defeated the Dutch Utrecht. Then followed the victory over the Romanian and Austrian clubs. In the semifinals, the Kiev team is the sum of two games are the Czechoslovak team. And finally, the final ...
At the Lyon stadium "De Gerlan", in the presence of 45,000 spectators, the Dynamo Kiev and the Spanish Atletico met in a duel. Contrary to expectations, a stubborn struggle in this match did not work. Dynamo were much stronger than their Spanish rivals, winning in the end with a score of 3: 0. Andrey Bal throughout the tournament was the main defender of the Kiev club. And in the final match he spent 51 minutes of playing time on the field.
Foreign career
In the late 80s, in connection with the collapse of the USSR, things were not going well in domestic football. A massive outflow of leading players in foreign championships began. This situation, as well as age, prompted the athlete to make a difficult decision. He left the domestic championship and left to finish his career at one of the European clubs.
Andrei Bal is a football player who over the years has gained an excellent professional reputation, had no problems with offering a contract. The choice fell on the leading Israeli club - Maccabi. Andrey played one season for him. This was followed by a 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
At the end of his playing career at Bnei Yehuda, the team's coach, Yuri Shpigel, suggested that Andrei work as an assistant at the Maccabi club in Haifa. For five years, Bal worked as an assistant head coach. Already in 1995, he independently led the team. Further, the season followed as the chief coach of the Israeli club of the first division of Akuah. The turbulent situation in the Middle East did not accompany fruitful coaching. And Andrei Bal decides to return to his homeland.
Return
Return to Ukraine in transit through Kaunass. In January, Andrei Mikhailovich Bal headed the local Zalgiris. But a month later the team changed its owner, who decided to refuse the services of a Ukrainian athlete. Returning to Kiev, Andrei Bal worked for some time as a coach - a breeder in his own Dynamo. But the desire to independently lead the team still prevailed.
Main coach
In June 2001, Andrei Bal accepted the invitation of the Vorskla leadership and became the main mentor of this team. He spent two full seasons at the helm of this club. But a huge number of various problems, primarily financial ones, did not allow Bal to fully realize his coaching potential. In August 2003, after a series of unsuccessful games, Andrei Mikhailovich left the team.
National team coach
The most successful period in the history of the Ukrainian national team came at a time when the team was led by Oleg Blokhin. Having stood at the helm, he did not forget about his fellow games for Dynamo Kiev. Now Bal Andrey is an assistant to the sports director. The Ukrainian team led by this duo made a splash at the 2006 World Cup, sensationally reaching the quarterfinals. Later, the cooperation of two great players was continued in the football club "Moscow", in Odessa "Chernomorets". Here the roles have changed: Bal Andrey is a coach, and Oleg Blokhin is an assistant. There was a return to the national team to participate in the home European Championship and the position of a mentor in Dynamo, his native Kiev.
August 2014
In Kiev, there was another ordinary friendly match of football veterans. The filled stands, as a tribute to those players who forged fame for Dynamo Kyiv in 1970-1980. Andrei Bal passes a pass to his teammate and unexpectedly falls. Heart…
How bitterly one of his former associates joked: “The football player’s dream is to die in boots.” This is what happened in this case. The great football player passed away, an excellent coach - Bal Andrey. The family of this wonderful man, friends, millions of fans could not believe that this happened ... Without his beloved husband and loving father, his wife Svetlana and son Daniel were left. Andrei Baly was only 56 years old ...