He is one of the brightest personalities of the main Dynamo football team. Alexey Mikhailichenko is remembered by fans. His game on the field was beautiful and thoughtful. Thanks to the fair-haired midfielder, many goals were scored against the opponent. What was the life path of this footballer?
Little Lesha and his childhood dreams
In a Soviet family of workers named Mikhailichenko in 1963, on March 30, a boy was born, who was named Alyoshenka. The kid grew up, and no one then suspected that very soon he would become famous throughout the USSR, and a little later the world would know about him. Lesha was the most ordinary child. The boy has been fond of football since childhood. In the yard, walking with his peers, he spent hours chasing the ball on the grass and trying to repeat the tricks he saw on TV of the then-famous football players Alexei Mikhailichenko. Matveyevich - as he called the professional footballer Bobal Matvey - was a standard for the boy. Parents, noticing their son's craving for sports, encouraged this and in every possible way contributed to the development of talent. And when Lesha celebrated his first 10th birthday, they took him to a children's sports school.
The first coaches of a young football player
Once in the Dynamo Youth Sports School, the boy began to train hard. His first coach E. Kotelnikov really liked the teenager. The mentor was demanding and fair, and all his pupils were the same and equal before him. He did not divide the wards into major players and minor ones. Even during training, all the boys had T-shirts with the numbers of the main team.
Aleksey Mikhailichenko trained with Kotelnikov for a short time. Evgeny Petrovich was transferred to a new position, and a new mentor, A. Byshovets, took his place. Alexei's external data was not entirely suitable for a football player. Despite training, he remained frail and too thin. Although he trained hard, he was still not very fast during the game. He was often kicked off the field for mistakes and banned from playing. Alexey tried to take into account all the requirements and correct himself. With each training session, his game was better and better. The coach noticed how the pupil was trying, and felt the talent of a football player in Alexei, but did not utter praise out loud. Anatoly Fedorovich trained Mikhailichenko in 8 years and turned him into an excellent football player.
As part of the blue and white Dynamo team
Getting not only into the main, but also into the backup team of the Dynamo team was not an easy task. Although at the age of 18 Mikhailichenko played quite well on the field and established himself as an excellent player, he was enrolled in the reserve team. And he sat on the bench for more than 5 years. Minority, however, did not break the player. Patiently waiting for the chance to prove that he deserves to play in the first team, Alexey Mikhailichenko. His biography at that time was not interesting. And the fans of their hero did not know yet.
The football player himself, realizing that Lobanovsky's training was incredibly difficult, worked hard on himself and corrected his physical form. Lesha did not know that the superstitious coach had noticed his pupil for a long time, noting his style of play, and was thinking of including him in the first command staff. Valery Vasilyevich believed that the success of Dynamo was guaranteed if a red-haired footballer played on the field.
Good Luck 1988
1988 Aleksey Mikhailichenko considers the beginning of his career and the date when he won the hearts of football fans (and not only them) with his professionalism and beautiful play in the USSR national team. Game after game, match after match, the football player showed excellent work. In the same year, he received a gold medal in Seoul, participating in the Olympics, a silver medal at the European Championship and, finally, the title of the most professional football player in the USSR.
Immediately Alexei was invited by various European clubs. But Mikhailichenko, responding to the request of coach Lobanovsky, continued to play for Dynamo for a couple more years.
After playing two seasons, Alexei Mikhailichenko decided that it was time to prove himself in the Italian Serie A.
Midfielder Mikhailichenko and European football clubs
In 1990, Mikhailichenko was supposed to play in the championshipworld football. But due to injury, he never entered the field. As it turned out, they were already waiting for him in Italy. So, without saying goodbye to Dynamo, he flew to Genoa to join the Italian Sampdoria.
He had a hard time in Italy. Firstly, he did not know the language, which deprived him of any communication. It was especially difficult in training. Secondly, he was not recognized in the new team. More precisely, he did not like the group of leaders of “Sampdoria”. In one interview, the football player himself admitted that there was no conflict, but the relationship was very strained.
The only season in which Alexei took part was very successful. The Italians beat very strong football teams, giving only one point to Juventus, and deservedly received the championship.
The Italian coaches did not like the style in which Alexei Mikhailichenko played. The footballer, in their opinion, had to work on the field not rationally, as Lobanovsky taught him, but as a creator, an artist, showing beautiful tricks and maneuvers with the ball.
Unrecognized at Sampa, the midfielder responds to an invitation to play for Rangers and moves to Scotland. He signs a contract for 4 years and becomes a player in the Scottish team.
The years spent in Glasgow, Oleksiy Mykhailychenko, a footballer from Ukraine, remembers with warmth. He was comfortable playing and living in this country. Literally from the first match, he won the hearts of the restrained Scots. On the field, he showed a real game, which pleased the football players.fans. His rationalism was very much liked by the coaching staff of the Rangers. As a result, after the expiration of the contract, the football player was offered to extend cooperation for another year.
During the time he played in the Scottish club, Alexei Alexandrovich Mikhailichenko suffered many injuries and operations. He knew that his physical condition was very bad. And after 5 years of partnership, he announces that he is ending his playing career.
Mykhailychenko's coaching activity
Long before Alexei Mikhailichenko conquered the fans and European football champions with his game, he admitted in an interview that he had always dreamed of becoming a coach.
After the announcement of the end of his playing career, the football player returned to his native Kyiv. Here he meets with Valery Lobanovsky, who invites his student to try to work as an assistant coach in his native Dynamo. Oleksiy Mikhailichenko, a football player in the past, was happy with this offer and immediately agreed.
And his coaching career began with the "white-blue" players. He learned a lot from his mentor Valery Lobanovsky over 5 years of working together. The trouble came unexpectedly. The head coach of Dynamo died. For Mikhailichenko, as for all Dynamo players, this was a strong blow. Shocked by this, the guys could not adequately perform at the national championship and win it, losing the championship to Shakhtar Donetsk. Everyone experienced the bitterness of loss.
The head coach of Dynamo and the collapse of his coaching career
Surkis, becoming president of the Ukrainianfootball team, appointed Mikhailichenko head coach. For two seasons he held on with dignity, and in the third he failed. It was after this that the leadership of the team passed into the hands of Jozsef Szabo. Mikhailichenko also began to train the youth team of Ukraine. His pupils are currently playing in the main team of the Dynamo football team.
Family and personal life
Wife Inna was his childhood friend. He met her at the age of 13. Young people did not notice how childhood friendship grew into a great feeling. Aleksey Mikhailichenko proposed to his lover at the age of 19. The family expanded within a year. The first-born is born to a married couple, who was named after his father - Alyosha. As a child, the kid showed interest in sports and football, but, having matured, he took a different path. The famous football player and coach had a second son in 2004. But he does not think about a career yet and studies at a regular school.
