Former Ukrainian goalkeeper and current goalkeeper coach, Vyacheslav Kernozenko, celebrates his birthday today. Kernozenko started his career at Dynamo Kiev, where he played for four years and made just 40 appearances. He later played for CSKA Kiev, Arsenal Kiev, Dnipro and Kryvbas, before retiring due to injury. Kernozenko then became a coach and has worked at various clubs, including Dynamo Kiev and Kolos. His coaching skills have helped young goalkeepers, including Evgeny Volynets, who received his first call-up to the Ukrainian national team under Kernozenko’s guidance.
Today, the “eternal” student Alexander Shovkovsky, and now the successful goalkeeper coach Vyacheslav Kernozenko, is celebrating his birthday.
Vyacheslav Kernozenko was lucky enough to be at Dynamo when Valeriy Vasilievich Lobanovsky returned to him, but frankly, he was not lucky enough to be a contemporary of the best goalkeeper in the history of Ukrainian football, because that’s why our birthday boy today is always on the bench . .
FanDay.net tells the story of a truly great goalkeeper and talented coach.
At home – persona non grata
Vyacheslav Kernozenko was born on June 4, 1976 in Cuba. Shocked? Still will! It is rare for a Ukrainian to fly to Freedom Island at least once in his entire life, let alone spend several years there.
“My father is an engineer and in the early 70’s he helped the Cuban people who are “brothers”. And although I didn’t stay long in Cuba, I always dreamed of going there again,” said Kenozenko.
In 2005, Vyacheslav was going to fulfill his dream and even flew to Havana, but he was not allowed further than the airport. The historic homeland turned out to be inhospitable and did not meet the expectations of travelers.
Vyacheslav Kernozenko, photo: Google
Cuban customs did not give permission for Kernozenko to stay in their country. On the next flight, the goalkeeper was sent back as persona non grata, even though his girlfriend had already made it through passport control and into the waiting room.
Apparently, everyone born in the Cup must have a Cuban passport and a special entry permit. Kernozenko does not have one or the other document.
The goalkeeper’s father, who, unlike his son, speaks Spanish, tried to convince the border guards over the phone, but there was no idea.
Trained with Shevchenko, made his Dynamo debut under Lobanovsky
When Slava was seven years old, he was taken to the Kyiv Dynamo school. In addition to the future goalkeeper, Alexander Shpakov chose Andriy Shevchenko and Igor Kostyuk, born in 1976, for his group.
Two years before graduation, Shpakov went to work in the UAE, and therefore in 1994 another coach, Alexander Lysenko, released the group. From the age of 17, Kernozenko regularly played for Dynamo-2.
When Valery Lobanovsky returned to the Kiev club, he gave Vyacheslav the place of reserve player Alexander Shovkovsky. In June 1997, when the fate of the tournament was decided, the master decided to test the closest reserves in the championship game with Zaporozhye Metallurg.
Vyacheslav Kernozenko in Dynamo, photo: Getty Images
This game became the debut of Kernozenko in the first team of Dynamo. The match ended in a 0-0 draw, which isn’t too bad for a goalkeeper. A week later, our hero played another 90 minutes in the domestic tournament against CSKA (2:2).
The best time in the Kiev club for the “permanent” player came in 2000, when Shovkovskiy suffered a knee injury and the reserve played 15 matches in the national championship and three more in the Ukrainian Cup, including the winning final against Kryvbas.
- Read too: World champion in amateur radio, icon of Dynamo fans and future coach of the Ukrainian national team: Sergey Rebrov – 49
In total, during four years in the first team of Dynamo, “Cuban” played only 40 fights, in which he conceded 21 goals and kept his goal 26 times.
Left Arsenal because of a fight with Grozny
In the summer of 2001, Igor Surkis offered the goalkeeper to move to CSKA Kiev. After a conversation with the head coach “soldier” Vladimir Bessonov, the proposal was accepted.
Vitaliy Reva went in the opposite direction, having previously helped Dynamo win the championship with an incredible performance for CSKA against Shakhtar.
Vitaliy Reva, photo: FC Left Bank
Soon CSKA turned into Arsenal, where Kenozenko was the undisputed number one. This lasted for two years (53 matches, 52 misses, 21 crackers), until the goalkeeper had a falling out with Gunners coach Vyacheslav Grozny, who transferred him to the second squad.
It is clear that Vyacheslav will not sit on the bench anymore. In January 2004, the 27-year-old goalkeeper signed a contract with Dnipro, whose colors he kept until the end of his career with a six-month loan break at Kryvbas.
Formulated Lobanovsky in his debut game at the helm of the Ukrainian national team
Kernozenko won the competition against the experienced Nikolai Medina, began to play regularly not only in the championship, but also in European competitions. Moreover, from the Dnieper he was again invited to the national team of Ukraine.
In the national first team, Slava made his debut under Lobanovsky. In 2000, he played 85 minutes in a friendly with England at Wembley (0:2) and 90 minutes in the opening 2002 World Cup qualifier with Poland (1:3).
“The most unpleasant thing is that I failed to justify Lobanovsky’s faith. The match against Poland is his official debut as head coach of the Ukrainian national team,” said Kernozenko. – I, Levitsky and Wirth have a chance to play. We don’t know until the end who will stand.
Then everything went wrong. Even the weather conditions, which I could not adapt to from the first minute. But the main factor, perhaps, was the lack of experience and the ability to cope with pressure, which at that time was enormous. At the age of 25, I had to relearn how to walk in football.
The next match for the national team had to wait for a full six years, when Oleg Blokhin, after an excellent performance at the World Cup, challenged the goalkeeper of Dnipro for a test match with Azerbaijan (6:0).
Twice more, the services of an experienced goalkeeper were used by Alexei Mikhailichenko, who used him in friendlies with Serbia (2:0) and the Netherlands (0:3) in the spring of 2008.
Petrakov’s friend and Volynets’ mentor
When Yuriy Maksimov became the head of Kryvbas, he immediately admitted that he did not rely on Kernozenko, who at that time had spent half a year in the team. The contract with the Dnieper has also ended.
After visiting one of the Premier League teams, the goalkeeper was injured, which prompted him to end his career and turn to coaching.
- Read too: Author of the first Soviet goal in the Champions Cup, the first replaced by Mundial and Lobanovsky’s right-hand man: on the birthday of Anatoly Puzach
Vyacheslav Sergeevich took his first steps in a new field for himself at the Dynamo school, where he passed on his experience to future goalkeepers. In the summer of 2011, he moved to Kazakhstan, where he joined the coaching staff of Timur from Ust-Kamenogorsk. A year later, he began working with the goalkeeper of Sevastopol.
In August 2014, Kernozenko returned to the Dnieper. For two years he trained the goalkeeper of the youth team (U-19), and then he led it. He held the position of head coach for a year, until he received an offer from Ruslan Kostyshin to enter the coaching staff of Kolos.
Vyacheslav Kernozenko, photo: FC Kolos
Vyacheslav has been working at Kovalevka for six years now. Thanks to his football knowledge, Evgeny Volynets received his first call-up to the Ukrainian national team.
Employment at the club level did not prevent Kernozenko from working with Alexander Petrakov. He did not go to Armenia with him, but in the youth team (U-20), which won the World Cup, he worked side by side in the national team.
