Lobanovsky's total football vs. Malofeyev's romanticism - Whose concept won?

22 ноября 2022
On October 27, 1982, Minsk hosted the thirtieth match of the USSR soccer championship. The teams Dinamo, Minsk  - Dinamo, Kiev played with a score of 1-1. 

The press wrote that the mutual respect of the rivals was evident from the first minutes of the game. Both sides were attentive and strict in defence; the players were divided into pairs for individual marking. "And there was a tense battle for the initiative," the media noted. 

"A goal seemed to be coming for some time" the journalists wrote. - Finally, Pudyshev started the combination, then suddenly moved to the front line with the ball, made a low cross, and Prokopenko sent the ball into the goal with an original trick!" 

The dispute between Malofeyev and Lobanovsky about whose soccer concept is most effective formally ended in a draw, but in fact the Belarusian coach had the upper hand in it.

In 1982, Dinamo Minsk won gold medals in the USSR championship, beating such European giants as Dinamo Tbilisi, Dinamo Kiev and Spartak Moscow. The core of that team was formed by the players of the Belarusian soccer schools. Minsk showed the most progressive soccer, which even now looks modern.