Anatoly Puzach, a legendary Ukrainian football player and coach who died in 2006, would have turned 82 years old today. Puzach was a four-time champion of the USSR and the owner of the cup during his eight-year stint at Dynamo Kiev. He was also the first player to score a goal for the Soviet team in the Champions Cup, hitting the door of Celtic Scotland, which was the current trophy owner at the time. After hanging up his boots, Puzach joined the coaching staff of Valery Lobanovsky, against whom he once played, and worked with the master until 2001, when health problems forced him to retire.
Today, the famous Dynamo player and colleague of Valery Lobanovsky Anatoly Puzach, who died in 2006, could be 82 years old.
On August 7, 1961, in the vicinity of the Saratov village of Krasny Kut, once founded by Kharkov migrant farmers, a capsule landed with the second Soviet cosmonaut, German Titov.
And 20 years before that, an outstanding Ukrainian football player and coach Anatoly Puzach was born there. FanDay.net looks back at the biography of a legend who died in 2006.
From parents banning football to goals against the strongest teams in Europe
Anatoly Kirillovich Puzach was born on June 3, 1941 in the city-type settlement of Krasny Kut, which only a quarter of a century later received the status of a city.
When Puzach’s father did not move, the decision was made at a family meeting to move to his mother’s homeland. It was in Berdichev that five-year-old Tolik was introduced to football.
“Next to the city bazaar, the boys and I were chasing rag balls,” Puzach said. – I always ran forward and when I managed to push it through the two stones that served as a gate, I was just happy. And I then carried this feeling throughout my football life.
Parents did not encourage their children to play sports, as Puzach grew up as a sick child. Pleurisy gave complications to the kidneys, but, as Anatoly himself admitted, football cured him.
Standing out among his friends in school competitions, he became interested in the leadership of the machine-building factory team, coached by former Dynamo player Pavel Vinkovatov.
19-year-old Puzach was brought to Zhytomyr Polissya, who successfully performed in the “B” class. To repay his military debt to his homeland, the talented footballer had to move to SKA Lviv. The Lviv team reached the quarterfinals of the USSR Cup, and the newcomer scored 40 goals in 88 games over two seasons.
Puzach was initially interested in CSKA Moscow, but he chose Dynamo Kiev instead. Victor Maslov immediately began placing the 24-year-old in the main squad. Envious people explained this by the fact that the daughter of “Grandfather” was married to Anatoly, although Maslov had no visible daughter.
As a result, Anatoly spent eight years in the Kiev club, becoming a four-time champion of the USSR and the owner of the cup.
In 1967, Dynamo was the first of the Soviet clubs to start in the Champions Cup and it was Puzach who scored the first goal of the Soviet team in the European arena, hitting the door of Celtic Scotland, which at that time was current. trophy owner (2: 1).
Came off as a substitute, but went down in history
In 1970, Gavriil Kachalin included Puzach and four other Dynamo players in the USSR national team bid for the World Cup. The Mundial in Mexico became the first match where FIFA allowed substitutions.
In the opening match of the tournament, the hosts met the Soviet national team, and it was Puzach who became the first player in the history of the world championship to appear as a substitute. In the second half, he replaced his teammate Viktor Serebryanikov.
As a result, Kachalin’s ward reached the quarter-finals, and Anatoly took part in two matches. In total, he played 14 matches for the USSR national team and scored two goals – GDR and El Salvador.
On June 22, 1973, the 32-year-old striker’s career came to an abrupt end. In the 48th minute of the match with Lugansk Zorya Puzach in a riding fight with Alexander Zhuravlev received a serious head injury – five local skull fractures.
“Concussion, and therefore the surgery was performed almost without anesthesia. The debris is pulled out with a knitting needle. I screamed so much! And the doctor said: “Scream! I know it hurts.” I resumed training after a month and a half, but the fear of the ball appeared, and it was no longer possible to play with that feeling,” Puzach said later.
Lobanovsky’s loyal colleague and the soul of the company
Hanging his boots on nails, Puzach entered the coaching staff of Valery Lobanovsky, against whom he once entered the field. Our hero worked with the master with short breaks until 2001, when serious health problems forced him to retire.
“When I came to Dynamo, Lobanovsky was playing in Chernomorets. I don’t know why he called me on his coaching staff, because we knew each other only in absentia. I am grateful to fate for giving me the opportunity to work for a long time with such a great coach, a good person who always keeps his promises.
After Lobanovsky went to the Middle East, it was Puzach who led Dynamo. True, both seasons under his leadership, “white-blue” ended without a trophy, although they reached the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup.
On March 19, 2006, Puzach, after a long illness, left this world at the age of 65. His grave is located in the Forest Cemetery of the Ukrainian capital.
“He loved it when guests came,” his wife Lyudmila recalled. – When the guests are about to leave, Tolya stops them, and everyone sits at the table again. The soul of the company … If it is not there, then the vacation too. He likes songs – “Flow the Teren”, “First of all, first of all, a plane, but a girl, and then a girl.”
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