Luzhny Oleg Romanovich - Defender and Captain

When this name sounds, one immediately remembers the Dynamo Kiev of the 1990s. One of the best teams in the post-Soviet space of that time. And before his eyes, certainly appears Oleg Luzhny - defender and captain.

Carier start

If we talk about the formation of such a football player, as Oleg Romanovich Luzhny, his biography begins as standard. He was born in Lviv on August 5, 1968. His parents, especially his mother, loved football, so he began studying from the very childhood in the "Karpaty" Sports School. Among his peers did not stand out with a special talent, but even amazed experienced coaches with his work capacity. It was the intensified work on oneself that enabled him to progress quickly.

After graduating from the local school of physical education, in 1985 he began to play for the team of the neighboring regional center - the Lutsk "Torpedo". These speeches lasted three years, until the time of conscription into the army. After that, Luzhny Oleg Romanovich in 1988 moved to Lviv SKA. Having given a debt to the native land, it was possible to reflect on continuation of a football career. Therefore, the next step was the transition to the best club of Ukraine of that time - Kiev Dynamo.

Star period

Since 1989, he appears in the "Dynamo" and immediately won a place in the basis of the club in place of the right-back. In the first season in the higher league of Soviet football, he becomes the best rookie of the USSR championship. And in 1991 he received the honorary title of "Master of Sports of International Class". But the "Honored Master of Sports" Luzhny Oleg Romanovich never received in connection with the collapse of the Soviet Union. The team "Dynamo" (Kiev) begins to perform in the championship of Ukraine, and from the 1992/93 season. Always remains the best. And Oleg Luzhny deserves a captain's armband .

It was in his time as captain that Dynamo Kiev reached its greatest success in the European arena, reaching the Champions League semi-final in the 1998/99 season. Interest in an extraordinary player, many Western clubs have shown before, but it was after this season for him to start a new football - Oleg Luzhny moved to London's Arsenal.

After the "Dynamo"

They took Luzhny as a substitute for the English national team player Lee Dixon. But whether the age was affected (after all, the player was already over thirty), or whether the bet was made on another player, but our football player was out of the regular composition irregularly. Although for four years in the London club Luzhny Oleg Romanovich played on the field in one hundred and ten games and rightfully won the championship, the country cup and three second places.

On one of his last matches in the "Arsenal" he led the team on the field as a captain.

Finished his English career Luzhny player "Wolves" in the 2003/04 season, having played for this club ten matches. And despite the rather contradictory results, Luzhny Oleg Romanovich is considered the best player of the post-Soviet space in the English championship.

After the Great Britain, he went to Latvia, where he became the playing coach of the Venta team.

Playing in the national team

The debut of Oleg Luzhny for the team of the then Soviet Union took place at the age of twenty. For the national team of the USSR he played eight matches, but could not go to the 1990 World Cup because of injury. But on the eve he won the European Youth Championship. The field of how the USSR collapsed, Luzhny Oleg Romanovich began to compete for the national team of Ukraine, making his debut in the first match in 1992.

He finished playing in 2003, almost at the same time as the end of the performances for Arsenal. But during this time the team could not get through to any major tournament, almost always stopping a step away from it. Therefore, the number of games is not very large. In total, for the national team of Ukraine, Luzhny held 52 matches, in which he was the team captain 39 times. This figure is a record for the team and is unlikely to be beaten in the near future.

Coach career

Having received the practice of playing coach in the Latvian team, Luzhny Oleg Romanovich returned to Kiev Dynamo, where he began to work as an assistant coach. During the period from 2006 to 2012 he visited twice as acting head coach, but he could not get a permanent place at the head of the club. His independent club career began in 2012 in the Simferopol "Tavria". But at the end of the season the team took the lowest position for all the years of performances in the championship of Ukraine, so Luzhny was forced to leave the club. Since January 2016, Luzhny Oleg Romanovich heads the team of his native city "Karpaty".

No matter how formed his coaching career, for the majority of fans he will remain in the memory of one of the best defenders of Kiev "Dynamo" in its entire history. It is not for nothing that he is a part of the symbolic team of the club of all times, only slightly giving way to points better known to Oleg Blokhin, Andrei Shevchenko and Anatoly Demyanenko.