1988 was a memorable year for Calgary. It was then that the Olympic Games took place in Calgary. This event became significant for the city as a whole, as well as for each individual resident. Wake up an ordinary Canadian in the middle of the night and ask when the Olympics took place in Calgary - he will unmistakably name the date, because this is his story.
The right to host this sporting event was won by Calgary with great difficulty. He applied three times, but only the third time he was lucky: in 1981, the International Olympic Committee decided that the 15th Winter Olympic Games would be held in Calgary.
There were seven years left until the cherished date, and the city spent this time, as well as multimillion-dollar investments, wisely. For Calgary-88, such large sports facilities as the Canadian Olympic Park and the Olympic Oval. The first opened up opportunities for holding competitions in luge sports, ski racing, ski jumping, alpine skiing and snowboarding, and the second in speed skating and hockey. The life of these structures did not stop after the games ended. They became training bases for many athletes, as well as a base for the development of tourism in the city. Thanks to the Olympics, the city now has indoor stadiums for 19 thousand spectators, as well as ski and downhill ski slopes.
After reconstruction, the Olympic Stadium began to accommodate more than six thousand spectators. New indoor stadiums, modern ski and downhill ski slopes, and a bobsleigh and luge track were built. The Canadians installed special refrigeration units that made it possible to preserve ice at a temperature of plus 20 degrees. One of the main know-how of the Games was the introduction of the first International Broadcasting Center.
The Olympics in Calgary became memorable thanks to the new sports that were presented for the first time as demonstration sports. These are freestyle, curling, and short track, which soon became full-fledged Olympic disciplines.
The 1988 Olympics in Calgary was not a victory for Canada in terms of winning medals. Then the USSR distinguished itself, taking 29 awards. Canada limited itself to five awards, among which there was not a single gold medal. However, the very fact that Canada was the host of the Olympic Games was a fundamental factor that completely smoothed out the bitterness of a not very successful performance.
Calgary still remembers the 1988 Winter Olympics. In the middle of a downtown dotted with skyscrapers, an ancient Greek arch with the slogan “Citius, Altuis, Fortius” - “Faster, higher, stronger” - looks organic. The square itself is made of original bricks - the Canadians staged a promotion before the Games: everyone could immortalize their name in stone for a symbolic fee of 19 dollars 88 cents. And then the heroes of the Olympics were honored on this square. In particular, the Soviet hockey team, which won gold for the penultimate time in its history. In memory of this event there is a bronze plaque with the name of each winner carved on it. I read it: Bykov, Fetisov, Gusarov, Khomutov, Makarov... All have long since completed their careers. All but one. Alexander Mogilny, who was then barely 19 years old. Now “Alexander the Great” plays for “New Jersey” and is “hewing coals”: 22 (10+12) points in 25 matches – a result worthy of a master. But the veteran refused a trip to the Olympic Turin. Like Sergei Zubov, together with Sergei Fedorov, are NHL members of the first wave, who still hold a grudge against Russian Federation hockey (FHR).
What was it
For the first time, four new alpine skiing disciplines were included in the Olympic program, team competitions in ski jumping and Nordic combined, a distance of 5000 m for women in speed running on skates.
A total of forty-six sets of awards were awarded at the Games. Women competed in five sports, which included sixteen events, while men competed in ten sports and twenty-eight events. Also two types of competitions in figure skating(ice dancing and pair skating) were mixed.
Who was that
The USSR team had no equal in figure skating. In pairs skating, our country won both gold and silver. Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergey Grinkov became the best, and Elena Valova and Oleg Vasiliev were only one step lower. In ice dancing, Soviet athletes demonstrated the same agility - Natalya Bestemyanova and Andrei Bukin took gold, and Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko took silver.
Soviet athletes also created the main sensation of the Games - Golden medal Kipurs and Kozlov in the doubles competition was the first for the Soviet Union. The GDR team won the largest number of prizes in bobsleigh.
In biathlon, Soviet athletes won the largest number of awards - four medals. The only gold for the USSR in the relay race was won by the men's team. In both individual races there was no equal to Franz-Peter Rech from the GDR.
A coward doesn't play
“The Red Machine” once again produced a masterpiece of hockey at the main event in the world of sports. On group stage Soviet hockey players They left no stone unturned from the teams of Czechoslovakia, Norway and Austria. The matches with the US and West German teams turned out to be more stubborn, but the Soviet Union team still won.
In the first round of the final round, our hockey players defeated their historical rival, the Canadian national team, with a score of 5:0. The team of Vyacheslav Fetisov and Igor Larionov also won the next meeting, scoring seven goals against the Swedish national team and conceding only one. But in final match Olympic tournament The USSR national team lost to Finland, however, it is worth saying that this meeting essentially did not decide anything.
On a note
Interestingly, the official emblem of the Calgary Games was stylized as a snowflake with the traditional Olympic rings at the bottom. The “face of the Olympics” also resembled a maple leaf, the symbol of Canada. The “creatives” decided to introduce another hidden meaning into the Games emblem - the snowflake was made from the letters “C”, drawn in different versions. Let us remind you that the words Calgary and Canada begin with the letter “C”.
“The 1988 Olympics witnessed the last performances of the “red machine”
We must not forget that the Olympic Games in Calgary were the last for the USSR. A completely different team arrived in Albertville, called the “United CIS Team” and did not even have its own flag. The 1988 Olympics witnessed the last performances of the “red car”... For the GDR team, these Games were also the last...
“These were the best in the history of the Games,” - with this phrase, the President of the International Olympic Committee Juan Antonio Samaranch (Spain) began his final press conference following the races in Seoul. This was not the first time he said it; it happened in 1980 in Moscow, then in 1984 in Los Angeles. Representatives of 159 countries from five continents gathered in the capital of South Korea - a record figure in the history of the Games. The warming international climate played a major role in the success of the 1988 Olympics.
9627 athletes competed for 237 sets of medals. Soviet athletes performed brilliantly in 23 sports (504 people were on the USSR national team), winning 132 awards - 55 gold, 31 silver and 46 bronze (879.5 points); GDR-102 athletes had awards - 37 gold, 35 silver and 30 bronze (636 points); US representatives received 94 medals - 36 gold, 31 silver and 27 bronze (579.5 points). 120 athletes of the Soviet Union returned home as champions.
During Olympic competitions J0 world and 104 Olympic records were set. Athletes of the Soviet Union in the arenas of Seoul established 55 Olympic records, of which 7 became world-class.
31 Leningrad athletes competed in the USSR sports delegation. Our fellow countrymen won 17 medals: in individual competitions - 1 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze; in team competitions - 4 gold, 6 silver and 2 bronze. In the unofficial team competition, the Leningraders received 46.61 points - 5.3 percent of the total points of the USSR delegation.
Only one champion - Elena Shushunova - brought 4 awards to the banks of the Neva - 2 gold, silver and bronze.
I remember at the beginning of the Olympic season on the sidelines artistic gymnastics many seriously doubted whether Leningrader Elena Shushunova would “make it” to Olympic Seoul. “It’s gotten heavier, there’s no lightness,” some said. “Critical age,” others argued (“critical” - 19 years) and added: “It’s time for her to part with big sports gracefully.” Well, failures actually “happened.” Only third - at the European Championships, second - at the World Championships. And here are the words of the famous Natasha Kuchinskaya, spoken after the end of the tournament by those competing for the championship women's teams: “Lena did a great job, she didn’t get distracted by rumors and conversations and worked, worked, worked.” She won the USSR championship and won the national cup. She confirmed not only her right to participate in the 1988 Games, but also her unconditional leadership in the team. All her combinations met the highest requirements of the team.
Elena became a true leader on the Seoul gymnastics platform. In addition to her, the USSR national team included S. Boginskaya, O. Strasheva, N. Lashchekova, S. Baitova and E. Shevchenko. The girls won 4.6 points against the excellent team of Romanian gymnasts, led by the talented and graceful Daniela Silivas, who took 2nd place. By the way, Daniela after the performance compulsory program became the leader, ahead of Leningrad. “I hope that Silivash’s leadership is temporary,” predicted the famous gymnast Polina Astakhova. “Shushunova is not weaker.” And here is Elena’s own comment: “Each exercise of our girls stood out with its own zest. And most importantly, we have a growing team.”
And Shushunova’s gap from Silivash could be considered symbolic - 0.055 points. But Daniela is an absolute world champion. On September 23, hundreds of millions of people watched their argument on the gymnastics platform. Both were worthy of the title of “queen of gymnastics.” Before the last all-around event - vault- Silivash was ahead of her pursuer by 0.025 points. The Romanian jumped perfectly, and only 10 points could “rescue” the Leningrader. Shushunova's jump was elegant and impeccable in style and technical execution. As a result - 79.662 points, first place in the all-around and the title of absolute Olympic champion. Silivash has 79.637. Third - S. Boginskaya - 79,400.
And how much girlish strength - physical and moral - Lena and her permanent mentor Viktor Nikolaevich Gavrichenkov invested in these two gold medals! And that they, these forces, are not limitless, we saw during the finals in certain types of all-around, where the Leningrader managed to win “only” a silver award in the exercises on the balance beam (19.875 points) and a bronze award on the uneven bars (19.962).
East Germany's Christine Otto, who won six gold medals in swimming, was named the most outstanding athlete of the XXIV Games. This prize, established by South Korean newspapers, was rightfully awarded to Otto - never before has a woman achieved such significant success in the Olympic Games. But the award that Polish gymnast Teresa Folga received emphasized the external characteristics of the fair sex. A 22-year-old student (height - 160 centimeters, weight - 44 kilograms) was named “Miss Olympics”. If Otto fought for her prize on the blue tracks, then Folga, taking 7th place in the debate between graces and masters rhythmic gymnastics, ascended to the highest level of the symbolic pedestal of beauty after the announcement of the results of a survey among the male population of the Olympic Village...
Getting into the USSR Olympic men's handball team was extremely difficult. Literally on the last day before the team left Vladivostok for Seoul, we learned that Yuri Nesterov, a player from the “working” sports club “Bolshevik”, was included in the team.
During the final match with the South Korean team, this giant (2 meters 6 centimeters tall) appeared on the court several times, and distinguished himself towards the end of the decisive match (the Soviet handball players won 32:25), effectively throwing the ball into the opponents' goal. So the first line player Yuri Nesterov, a student of coach Viktor Aleksandrovich Klochkov, who noticed an athletic eighth-grader from School No. 393 in Leningrad and instilled in him the skills of a great handball player, became an Olympic champion. Now Yura is 21 years old, he is a student at the P. F. Lesgaft Institute of Physical Education.
For the first time, people outside of Leningrad learned about our young swimmer Elena Dendeberova during the 1983 Summer Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR. Lena was prepared for the Seoul Olympics by her constant mentor, an excellent specialist and coach G. G. Petrov. She started at both distances of medley swimming - 200 and 400 meters. And in both finals she showed her top scores, which are included in the Table of Records of the USSR. Could she have become a champion? Of course, she could: after all, in the 200-meter decisive swim she was in the lead almost until the finish and slightly lost to Daniela Hünger, a swimmer from the GDR. The champion's time is 2 minutes 12.59 seconds. Our fellow countrywoman finished in 2 minutes 13.31 seconds. Well, in the four hundred meters, her time, although better than the all-Union record, did not allow her to take a place higher than 4th.
Nikolai Evseev competed in the 4X100 meter freestyle relay. In it, together with Nikolai, the sports honor of the USSR national team was defended by Kuibyshevite G. Prigoda, Chisinau resident Y. Bashkatov and Kiev resident V. Tkachenko. Few doubted the victory of the US quartet. He excelled with a world record of 3 minutes 16.53 seconds. But there was a moment when eyewitnesses of the relay doubted the success of the Americans: at the third stage, the Leningrader Evseev was ahead, and his speed was the highest among the participants in the water battle. And in the end - 2nd place and a European record - 3 minutes 18.33 seconds.
Our swimmer Elena Volkova took 5th place in the 100-meter breaststroke - 1 minute 09.24 seconds.
Soviet men's academic eight only 32 years ago - in Olympic Melbourne- won awards (silver). In the competition on the Seoul channel, the Soviet eight, which included three Leningraders - Veniamin But, Andrey Vasiliev and Viktor Diduk, again took 2nd place in the final Olympic race. And the German crew excelled among the rowing battleships.
The opinion of all three of our fellow countrymen is unanimous: we could have become champions if we had gotten together to train long before the Games. But it was these guys who brilliantly won both the Druzhba-84 competitions and the 1985 World Championships. It's hard to believe, but the fact, as they say, remains a fact! The victorious crew during the preparation for the 88 Games was... disbanded. And I got together again only 3 months before the starts in Seoul. And then, during the decisive race, a headwind blew in, conditions in which the guys had never competed in the Olympic season. And yet they won. Together with the silver medalists, coach P.K. Chernov also accepted congratulations...
For many years, the captain of the USSR men's volleyball team was Leningrader Vyacheslav Zaitsev, the recognized leader of the country's main team. In 1987, Zaitsev was invited to Italy as a player-coach in one of the second-tier clubs and, of course, contributed greatly to the entry of his team into the first, strongest league. And literally two weeks before the 88 Games, Vyacheslav was called up to the banner of the USSR Olympic team, which already included another Leningrader, the young Avtomobilist player Yuri Cherednnk. The Soviet volleyball players lost just one game in Seoul - the champion of the 1984 Games and the world - the US team (1:3) and became winners of silver awards. Both players of the Soviet national team are students of the wonderful coach and teacher V. A. Platonov, who has headed Avtomobilist and the national team for many years.
Our women's basketball team left the court defeated twice in Seoul, losing to the Australians and then the Americans in the semifinals. The team was awarded bronze medals, it included two Leningraders - Natalya Zasulskaya and Olga Yakovleva...
Leningrad school bullet shooting- traditionally Olympic event sports - delegated two of its representatives to Seoul: Svetlana Smirnova and Kirill Ivanov. Alas, the coaches kept Smirnova on the “bench.” But Kirill came out to challenge the championship in small-caliber rifle shooting. The first exercise is MV-9, and Kirill fails: only 595 points out of 600 possible and 15th place. Usually Ivanov performed more successfully in the “standard 3x40”. And then there were 2 days of rest, during which the worries associated with the obviously weak opening subsided a little. The competitors of the 1988 Summer Olympics competed for four and a half hours - these were competitions in the main exercise; then, after a short rest, Kirill, who was fifth in the table, began the final shooting - 10 shots were to be fired. Nine out of ten bullets hit the very center of the target. The Englishman M. Cooper became the champion (1279.3 points), lost to him by 4.3 points bronze medalist Kirill Ivanov...
There were also failures. The results of the performances of Leningrad athletes were especially disappointing. Thus, the leader of the shot putters of the USSR national team S. Smirnov with a mediocre result - 20 meters 36 centimeters - ended up eighth in the final. The referees are responsible for the result of the performance of our capable boxer A. Artemyev, who actually did not lose the quarterfinal match to the Bulgarian A. Hristov, but was declared defeated. Former world champion in judo Yu. Sokolov never recovered from a serious injury and lost to his opponent in the first fight. Only 20th place went to pentathlete G. Yuferov (5007 points), and together with the team, 5th.
In 1988, the Winter Olympic Games were held in the Canadian province of Alberta, the city of Calgary. The 1988 Olympics was the last for the Soviet team. Viktor Tikhonov took the national team to the Games in Calgary. As it turned out, the players had a special motivation to win.
"The then leaders of domestic hockey made a strong move, saying that in the event
victories will not prevent the top five from leaving overseas. Having received such an emotional charge, the guys simply flew across the ice, not knowing what difficulties still awaited them before moving to NHL clubs. Do not forget that perestroika was already in full swing in the country, as a result of which the pressure from above was clearly weakening. And there was no need to pump us up especially, because to win olympic medals“the dream of any athlete,” the forward shared his memories of the Olympics in Calgary Alexander Chernykh.
By the way, the President of the International Hockey Federation Gunther Sabecki announced that the Olympics would be open to all professional athletes. Although NHL players had the right to come to Calgary, teams were unwilling to let their best players go. Nevertheless, the Canadians had 13 players from the NHL, the Swedes and Finns had six, Germany had three, and the French and US national teams had two each.
On preliminary stage The “Red Machine” won victories over the teams of Norway (5:0), Austria (8:1), USA (7:5), Germany (6:3) and Czechoslovakia (6:1).
The match with the USA turned out to be a real thriller. After the second period, the USSR team led 6:2. The American channel ABC Sports decided to interrupt the broadcast and switch to other events. Soon those who made this decision had to regret it. The USSR national team allowed the Americans to first win back two goals, and then Todd Okerlund from
Minnesota University team scored another goal. There was hope to equalize the score, but it was buried by a goal Vyacheslava Fetisova.
After the preliminary round, the teams that took first or third place in the groups qualified for the final tournament. In this case, the points scored in matches with all teams that qualified for the final stage were counted.
The Olympics in Calgary were the first in many years where I did not play Vladislava Tretyak. According to Alexander Chernykh, the team felt comfortable with Sergei Mylnikov at the gate. " In his face behind us we felt a reliable rear and knew that even if we failed somewhere, he would certainly help us out.".
In the first match of the second stage, the USSR national team met with the hosts of the tournament. In Canada, many believed that the great “Red Machine” would fail in Calgary. Why? The Soviet Union failed to win the 1987 World Cup in Vienna, lost in the Canada Cup final and lost at its home tournament at the Izvestia Prize, which was believed to be a dress rehearsal for the Olympics.
Moreover, NHL players played for Canada. For the first time in the last 20 years, Olympic Games The national team was represented by such a strong lineup. Among the NHL players were two current Stanley Cup winners: Randy Gregg, who left Edmonton to take part in his second winter
Olympic Games, and goalkeeper Andy Moog, who had disagreements over his contract with the NHL club. However, the Soviet Union's victory over Canada 5:0 clearly showed that Canadians' expectations were premature.
After the Canadians, the USSR team dealt with the Swedes (7:1). " All the players were then in such fantastic shape that in the decisive match we left no stone unturned against the Swedes, defeating them with a score of 7:1. The real leader of the team was Vyacheslav Fetisov, who inspired the team to fight uncompromisingly by personal example“, recalled the team’s striker Alexander Chernykh.
In their final match, the Soviet hockey players lost to the Finns (1:2). Played for the Finnish national team famous defender Reijo Ruotsalainen, who was playing in Sweden at that time. He is a former NHL All-Star and Stanley Cup winner with Edmonton.
"By the way, in 1988 the Finns began to play strongly. And it was believed that they learned everything from us by inviting Soviet hockey players to master classes. And they surprisingly made it into the top three (they came second). Until 1988, the Finns were considered straightforward, but in Calgary they played differently - before that they had Canadian pressure, and then the Soviet coaches showed them how they could play, and then the revival of Finnish hockey began", said the Olympic champion Calgary Alexander Kozhevnikov.
The USSR national team scored eight points in the final table, which allowed the team to become Olympic champions. The Finnish team
It turned out to be seven points and silver medals at the 1988 Olympics.
"As far as I know, this defeat was the first in the history of relations between the two powers at major representative tournaments. However, we did not even think about playing giveaway with the Finns. Our line even scored a goal, but the then little-known Jarmo Mullis performed brilliantly in goal for the opponent that day. However, no tragedy occurred, because the ringing of gold medals was already victorious in our hearts", said Alexander Chernykh.
Soviet Union in Once again demonstrated its complete superiority over all other teams. Our Great Five: Fetisov, Kasatonov, Larionov, Makarov, Krutov showed herself in full glory in this tournament.
"The games in Calgary were easier for us than the Olympics in Sarajevo, where the teams were more serious. Although there are two options - either we were so prepared, or the teams were weaker. It wasn’t so difficult in Canada because we had a real team in which every hockey player was charged with a thirst for victory. Plus Viktor Vasilyevich Tikhonov and Vladimir Vladimirovich Yurzinov came up with some things", recalled Alexander Kozhevnikov.
When Soviet hockey players stood on the podium, no one knew that this would be the last Olympic awards ceremony for the Soviet team.
USSR national team composition
Goalkeepers: Sergey Mylnikov, Vitaly Samoilov, Eugene Belosheykin.
Defenders: Vyacheslav Fetisov, Alexei Kasatonov, Ilya Byakin, Alexei Gusarov, Igor Stelnov, Sergey Old people, Igor Kravchuk.
Forwards: Vladimir Krutov, Igor Larionov, Sergey Makarov, Valery Kamensky, Andrey Khomutov, Anatoly Semenov, Alexander Mogilny, Sergey Svetlov, Vyacheslav Bykov, Sergey Yashin, Alexander Black, Andrey Lomakin, Alexander Kozhevnikov.
Trainers: Victor Tikhonov, Igor Dmitriev.
075
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BRAZIL - USSR - 1:2 (1:0)
October 1, 1988
Final match of the XXIV Olympiad.
Seoul. Olympic Stadium. 74,000 spectators.
Referee: Gerard Bige (France).
Brazil: Claudio Taffarel, Luiz Carlos Vinck, Aloisio, Andre Cruz (c), Jorginho, Andrade, Milton, Neto (Edmar, 72), Careca, Bebeto (Joao Paulo, 75), Romario.
Coach: Carlos Alberto Silva.
USSR: Dmitry Kharin, Gela Ketashvili, Sergey Gorlukovich, Evgeny Yarovenko, Viktor Losev (c), Alexey Mikhailichenko, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Arminas Narbekovas (Yuri Savichev, 46), Vladimir Tatarchuk, Igor Dobrovolsky, Vladimir Lyuty (Igor Sklyarov, 115).
Coach: Anatoly Byshovets.
Goals: Romario (29), Dobrovolsky (60 – from the penalty spot), Savichev (103).
Warnings: Ketashvili (42), Kareka (42), Vink (72), Tatarchuk (78), Gorlukovich (91), Aloisiou (115).
Deletions: Tatarchuk (110 – second GC), Edmar (112 – rough play).
USSR national team before the match (from left to right): top row - Alexey Mikhailichenko, Dmitry Kharin, Sergey Gorlukovich, Evgeny Yarovenko, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Vladimir Lyuty; bottom row – Igor Dobrovolsky, Arminas Narbekovas, Vladimir Tatarchuk, Gela Ketashvili, Viktor Losev (c).
SHOT AT« TEN» !
EXCURSION TO THE RECENT PAST
It just so happened that the journalistic path led me on April 15 last year to Izmir, where the Olympic teams of Turkey and the USSR met in the fourth European qualifying group. For our team, led by A. Byshovets and V. Salkov, this was the second away match (the first in Oslo with the Norwegian national team was played with a score of 0:0), on the outcome of which much later on the way to the Olympic final depended. The home team turned out to be a prickly, proud, loving opponent who knows how to carry out high-speed counterattacks.
It was not easy for the Soviet team, especially in the first minutes, when Kharin and his defensive partners had to show all their skill to repel the breakthroughs of Hakan, Orhan and Fayzulla. And then, having calmed down and believing in their strength, our Olympians, scoring a goal in each half (V. Lyuty and I. Dobrovolsky), brought the match to victory. What was most memorable about the winning team performance back then? First of all, the ability to adapt during the match. This was especially evident in the second half, when Mikhailichenko began to move back more often and established clear interaction with Dobrovolsky, Yu. Savichev and Lyuty (who knew then that these four with goalkeeper Kharin would make a decisive contribution to the victory in Seoul?!). I liked the skillful, subtle game in the second half, but when I told A. Byshovets about this in the evening, he took it in a rather peculiar way: ... “Oh, no need to praise us. For now, our team is just looking for its game...” Our conversation lasted until late at night, or rather, we then conducted a kind of analysis of the match, touching on a whole range of problems facing the team, which had to compete in parallel with the first USSR national team, fighting for a ticket to the finals of the European Championship. I remember that, upon arriving in Moscow, I wrote in this regard that the USSR Football Federation was not paying enough attention to the Olympians, which angered some of its leaders. The main moment of the Izmir trip was that I discovered a new A. Byshovets. Before this match, I knew him as a skillful, subtle football player with the highest technology
It was then that it seemed to me that A. Byshovets belongs to the category of those principled people who like to repeatedly analyze any “little things” of big football, realizing that it is the little things that give rise to consequences, and without regulating them in the team football mechanism, one cannot be calm for the consequences, that is, for the Olympic team’s entry into the Olympic finals...
Seoul, the day of the final on October 1, 1988, was still a year and a half away.
How much patience and nervous energy did A. Byshovets, his colleagues, and the entire Olympic team need to finally (after 32 years of victory in Melbourne) climb onto the podium in Seoul? It is unlikely that even the most advanced sports science will answer this question. In conclusion, remembering the Izmir meeting, I would like to remind our readers who then performed as part of the Olympians: Kharin, Ketashvili, Sklyarov, Yarovenko, Losev, Tishchenko, Mikhailichenko, Yu. Savichev, N. Savichev (Borodyuk), Dobrovolsky, Lyuty .
I did this with a specific purpose, not only to compare the names of the squads in Izmir and Seoul, emphasizing a certain stability of the main squad, the firmness of the coaching course, but, above all, today to pay tribute to those football players who, laying the foundation for the team’s victory The USSR at the preliminary stage received serious injuries (Tishchenko and N. Savichev) and was subsequently unable to take part in the finals of the Olympic Games.
BRAZILIAN LANDING-87
The tour began with a meeting with the England team in London at Wembley.
As part of the Brazilians, 7 (!) Olympians entered the field at once. And if before the break, after Lineker’s goal, the hosts dominated, then the second half was left to the guests (Müller scored the return goal).
In Dublin, the Brazilians lost the next meeting (0:1), and then in Glasgow they completely beat the Scottish team (2:0). The guests also defeated the Finnish national team in Helsinki (3:2). After the tour, many newspapers published an interview with national team coach Carlos Alberto Silva, who repeatedly emphasized that the team was “in the process of becoming” and that this squad was “the future” and was preparing for the 1990 World Cup. Today we can say that the coach (Silva was already officially approved as coach of the Olympic team in June last year) was cunning when he made such a statement. He, more than anyone else, was interested in the Olympians shooting as part of the national team in Europe, and, as the subsequent performances of the Brazilians at the 1988 Olympics showed, he more than achieved his goal. In Busan and Seoul brazilian team
appeared before the audience as marvelously disciplined, unanimous, sportingly angry and purposeful. It is no coincidence that I remembered today the landing in Europe of our future rivals. IN
big football
nothing passes without a trace. The hardening that young Brazilians received in games with the strongest European teams once again confirms this truth.
MAIN FINALE
The first performances at the Olympics in Group D, victories in matches with the national teams of Nigeria (4:0), Australia (3:0) and Yugoslavia (2:1), nine goals scored and one missed, presented the Brazilians as the main contenders for gold medals. They confirmed the hopes of their fans in the quarterfinals, defeating the Argentines, and in the semifinals (victory over the German national team).
The USSR team is on the attack again. Dobrovolsky's insidious shot is parried by goalkeeper Taffarel (who played well throughout the match!), then he hits the ball into the field after Mikhailichenko's shot. The first minutes generally passed under the sign of brutal martial arts. I admit, I haven’t seen Brazilians like this since the Spanish World Cup. It was then that I first noticed how, along with their excellent technique, almost for the first time, a rigidity, unprecedented in their actions, often turning into cruelty (by the way, Ademir was sent off in extra time precisely for a rough hit from behind).
So, there was a struggle for the initiative, and the opponents, in a kind of struggle for each ball, showed that they were not going to concede to each other in anything. It was fascinating to see how quickly the situation on the field changed. How wonderful dribblers went on the attack from both sides: Nego, Farias and Careca for the Brazilians, Mikhailichenko, Lyuty and Dobrovolsky in the USSR national team. Perhaps in the first half, our players played passing more clearly and moved forward quickly. This style of play put the opposing defense in a difficult position several times, and the Brazilians began (as they skillfully do) to slow down the pace, trying to break the usual connections between our midfielders and forwards. At times they succeed, and you can immediately see how skillfully they prepare and carry out quick counterattacks with the participation of Romario and Careca, with the team captain Andre Cruz joining forward, who has with a powerful blow from the left leg.
We had heard a lot about Farias' sniper qualities (he scored 6 goals in the preliminary matches!) and quickly singled him out on the opposing team.
A stocky man of average height, he was eager for any ball on the approaches to the Soviet team’s penalty area. He willingly played passes with Careca and Cruz, which cannot be said about the rest of the Brazilians, who were reluctant to part with the ball. It was Farias, both in the main 90 minutes of the match and in extra time, who flashed a sharp pass for the final blow to his partners. Football fortune always favors such fearless and technical players. In the 30th minute, she gave Farias the opportunity to score the seventh goal of the tournament, after Kharin, flying high, missed the ball with his fist when taking a corner (it seemed to me that at the moment of pushing away he was pushed by the tall Careca). The Brazilians' jubilation knew no bounds. Our team started from the center, and, let me immediately note without exception, they showed rare self-control. The rivals did not see any confusion in their actions. with the same good mood continued to look for any opportunity to score against Brazil. Goalkeeper Taffarel scored twice again, parrying shots from Lyuty and Tatarchuk.
Until the end of the first half, the USSR team had a clear advantage in more competent team play. The Brazilians really threatened Kharin's goal only once (after Cruz's free kick). Looking ahead, I will say that our young goalkeeper will not make a single mistake until the referee’s final whistle!
A short break of 15 minutes and again the continuation of the final.
The Brazilians immediately felt that our team was determined, and again tried to slow down the pace of its attack, using short passes or individual dribbles, which they felt confident in. I remember Karek in this regard, who successfully used dribbles several times, moving at speed along the right flank. Apparently, these attempts were intended to set an example for their partners and looked like a contrast between the typical Brazilian game and the high-speed team capabilities of the Soviet team.
Ten to fifteen minutes of the second half passed, and it became clear that all these technical and tactical tricks could not undermine the sharp play of the USSR national team, in which Yu. Savichev, who replaced Narbekovas, showed himself excellently on the left flank.
Today, remembering the final match, it is no coincidence that I mention the names of Mikhailichenko and Dobrovolsky more often than others. Throughout the entire final tournament, with their smart and technical actions, they looked stronger than others, not only in the USSR national team. But if in other teams the leading players, the same Farias, Careca or Paolo, who tormented our defense for the last 15 minutes of the second half, could afford to get away from the fight and get stuck in front, then our leading pair did not allow themselves a minute of respite. We saw the same Mikhailichenko in the game, both as a center forward and as a central defender, especially when the Brazilians furiously rushed to storm our goal, trying to score a second goal.
The Brazilian coaches are making substitutions. Particularly successful was the appearance of the fast Paolo on the field instead of Bebeto. His first connection to the attack on the right flank was so successful that it immediately introduced nervousness into our defense. Literally everything worked out for Paolo until the second break.
A unique dribble and the ability to cover the ball with the body forced our defenders to violate the rules. And there was a period of time when the defense of the Soviet team wavered, seeing in front of them angry, angry Brazilians, frantically fighting for their last chance.
And it’s doubly pleasant that Kharin, Ketashvili, Losev, Gorlukovich, Yarovenko, Kuznetsov and Sklyarov, who came on as a substitute, managed to defend their goal.
So, it's a draw. The referee orders extra time: two halves of 15 minutes each.
At the end of the final, I remember Lyuty’s magnificent pass to Mikhailichenko, who was standing alone in the penalty area. Alexey calmly worked the ball, but did not have time to shoot, Taffarel again flashed with an excellent reaction. There are only a few seconds left before the end of this unusually tense and dramatic meeting, and on the TV screens they show Coach Silva crying his eyes out in close-up. Oh, it’s not an easy job as a coach!
The long-awaited referee's whistle sounds. The final match turned out to be the most exciting from all points of view, but the winners got it at a high price - the Brazilians did not give up until the last second, although it was clear that they did not have enough strength to finish. And today, while we congratulate the USSR national team on their victory, as they say among the shooters, on a shot at the top ten, we also pay tribute to the courage of the Brazilians who fought the Soviet team without fear or reproach!
In conclusion, I would like to once again congratulate all the Olympians on their success, led by coaches A. Byshovets, 0. Salkov and G. Gadzhiev, who won gold medals at the Olympics! And for the younger generation, I think it will be useful, I will remind you the names of those who played 32 years ago in the final in Melbourne: Yashin, Ogonkov, Bashashkin, B. Kuznetsov, Netto (captain), Maslenkin, Tatushin, Isaev, Simonyan, Salnikov, Ilyin . Some of them are no longer with us, but the memory of the first football Olympic champions will always live in the hearts of millions of fans of Game No. 1.
THE GAME IS ASSESSED
Every day the XXIV Olympiad goes further and further into history, but its brightest pages nevertheless remain in the memory, and among them, of course, is the tense and dramatic finale football tournament. “Great match,” Brazilian coach Carlos Silva said of the final. And many agreed with him, because neither at the stadium, nor among those one and a half billion people on the planet who saw the game on television, there were probably no indifferent people.
How many memorable martial arts the finale gave us in all its dynamics! On the one hand, we saw excellent technicians: Paolo, Farias, Careca, Luis Carlos and an excellent goalkeeper Taffarel. On the other hand, Mikhailichenko, Dobrovolsky, Lyuty, Yu. Savichev, who were no less skillful in technique, and goalkeeper Kharin, who was growing from game to game, showed with their partners throughout the tournament a strong character and an indomitable will to win.
Let me make some comparisons between the match in Seoul and the June final of the European Championship. Understanding that in Germany the class of finalists was an order of magnitude higher, however, I would like to especially note that at the Olympics, the best teams practically moved away from the “dead” tactical schemes. On green fields in South Korea, almost all offensive maneuvers had one goal - to sharpen the game to the limit and more often threaten the opponents' goal. In most cases, this was not just a mobile advance of a large group of players, often ending in the loss of the ball (which for some reason is called an attack), but visible, clearly organized actions that clearly combined high-speed technique and sharp passes for the final blow (remember once again the spectacular Lyuty's pass in the final to Yu. Savichev).
After the final, the head coach of the Soviet Olympic team A. Byshovets did not particularly single out anyone in his team (this is his principle!). He emphasized that all the players showed a high-class game and showed a real will to win in difficult moments of the match.
Football life goes on. The return matches of the European Cups took place on Wednesday. New problems arise for club and national team coaches. On October 19 in Kyiv there will be qualifying match World Championship between the national teams of the USSR and Austria. But, nevertheless, today we can rightfully say that current season for Soviet football it became one of the most remarkable in its history and not only in terms of high-profile sporting victories.
Indeed, for the first time in the country, the profession of “football player” has been officially, legislatively approved, a founding conference is being prepared to create a Football Union, a team of masters major league are beginning to switch to self-financing. Gradually, indiscriminate vilification of football players and coaches, the spread of various rumors and speculations, and labeling are becoming a thing of the past in our media. A professional analysis of the playing strengths and weaknesses of a particular team comes to the fore. And it’s very pleasant, judging by the editorial mail, that many readers, tired of naked criticism of football, fully support us, journalists, in this.
Football gives an easy and beautiful life to football players only in the imagination of the average man and the spiteful critic, always dissatisfied with everything, ignorant, always living in fear that something might happen. As soon as he “out of the corner of his ear” hears that football or hockey players received a large bonus (God forbid in foreign currency) for winning the tournament, his mind cannot stand it: “We know them for what,” he shouts at all intersections and begins to fall asleep angry letters to policymakers and newspaper editors.
“Aggressive misunderstanding is a self-provocation of fear. Ignorance does not want to admit that it does not understand something. Ignorance instinctively hates the object of its misunderstanding and creates the image of an enemy out of it...” These are the words of E. Yevtushenko from an interesting article about the difficult fate of the artist O. Tselkov in Literaturnaya Gazeta. Isn’t it true that coming from the poet’s heart, they directly relate to football life and her surroundings.
Chairman of the USSR State Sports Committee, member of the International Olympic Committee M.V. Gramov emphasized in one of his speeches: “Many people can be celebrated in the USSR national team. Swimmer Salnikov showed himself as an outstanding athlete and was generally admired absolute champions in gymnastics, Shushunova and Artemov, and the entire gymnastics team as a whole, the basketball and football players played well, and the cyclists performed well in the track races. It’s impossible to list them all now. Along with the winners, we also celebrate the coaches. They don’t make it to the podium, but you can always mentally see his teacher next to the Olympian.
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Extremely fair words. Look how many mentors from club teams were involved in preparing the Olympians, how many of our cities and republics were involved in the victory of football players. We would be wrong if we did not name them today: E. Kucherevsky (Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk), V. Ivanov (Torpedo Moscow), B. Zelkevichus (Zalgiris Vilnius), D. Kipiani (Dynamo ", Tbilisi), S. Shaposhnikov (CSKA), T. Segizbaev and A. Ostroushko (Kairat Alma-Ata), V. Lobanovsky (Dynamo Kiev), K. Beskov (Spartak Moscow), Yu. Semin (Lokomotiv Moscow), A. Mirjavadov (Neftchi, Baku).
All of them, like the employees of the Football and Hockey Administration and social activists of the USSR Football Federation, deserve the kindest words for their hard work, because without their daily work there would have been no Game and no victory at the Olympics.
Victor MONDAY
Weekly "Football-Hockey" No. 41, 1988.
With the ball Alexey Mikhailichenko.
On the right author of the “golden” goal Yuri Savichev.
Captain of the Soviet team Viktor Losev.
Romario and Sergei Gorlukovich.
Captain of the Soviet team Viktor Losev.
Olympic champions-1988 (from left to right): bottom row - Gela Ketashvili, Alexey Cherednik, Igor Sklyarov, Arvydas Janonis, Igor Dobrovolsky, doctor - Zurab Ordzhonikidze, Arminas Narbekovas, Vladimir Tatarchuk, Yuri Savichev, Alexey Prudnikov, Viktor Losev; top row - press attache - V. Miklyaev, Dmitry Kharin, Vadim Tishchenko, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Igor Ponomarev, Alexander Borodyuk, team leader - Alexander Tukmanov, coach - Vladimir Salkov, Vladimir Lyuty, Main coach– Anatoly Byshovets, Evgeniy Yarovenko, coach – Gadzhi Gadzhiev, Sergei Fokin, Alexey Mikhailichenko, Sergei Gorlukovich.
