Mykhailo Fomenko, the legendary Dynamo football player and former coach of the Ukrainian national team, has died
Mykhailo Fomenko, the legendary defender of Dynamo Kyiv and the USSR national team, who led the capital's club to the first championship of independent Ukraine, has died at the age of 76. He also coached the country's national team, with which he went to the 2016 European Championships.
This is reported by the website of the Sumy Football Federation. The native of the village of Mala Rybytsia began his career at Spartak Sumy, from which he moved to Luhansk's Zorya. It was here that he attracted the attention of the coaching staff of Dynamo Kyiv, where he ended up in 1972.
Fomenko was the first in history to reach the playoffs with the Ukrainian national team.
Source: FC Dynamo Kyiv
Here he became a key member of Valery Lobanovsky's legendary team. Together with Dynamo, Fomenko won the USSR championship, the Cup Winners' Cup and the UEFA Super Cup. As a member of the USSR national team, he became the 1972 European vice-champion and bronze medalist of the 1976 Olympics.
After his playing career, he began working as a coach. In the 1992/93 season, he led Dynamo Kyiv to its first gold medal in the Ukrainian championship. Eight years later, he led CSKA Moscow to the final of the National Cup.
Fomenko (center) with Dynamo Kyiv.
Source: FC Dynamo Kyiv
Fomenko with the 1993 Ukrainian Cup.
Source: FC Dynamo Kyiv
In 2012, he was appointed coach of the national team of Ukraine. It was under Fomenko's leadership that the Blue and Yellows won one of their most significant victories in history - 2-0 over France in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers. After suffering a crushing defeat in Paris in the return match, our players failed to qualify for the World Cup.
Mykhailo Fomenko.
Source: FC Dynamo Kyiv
However, in the next round, the Ukrainians snatched a ticket to Euro 2016 by defeating Slovenia in a head-to-head match. At the championship, the Blue and Yellows lost all three group stage matches to Germany (0: 2), Northern Ireland (0: 2), and Poland (0: 1).
In July last year, it became known that Fomenko was being treated for cancer. The coach admitted to his serious illness in a comment to journalists.
As reported by OBOZ.UA, Dynamo Kyiv defeated Dnipro-1 in the 26th round of the Ukrainian Premier League (UPL) and set a unique achievement in Ukrainian football.
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Mikhail Fomenko
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