Commentator Gennady Orlov always sympathizes with Zenit

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:47

A commentator of the old Soviet school who still begins his reports with a historical greeting: "Attention! Says and shows St. Petersburg!" (or some other city). Gennady Orlov has been faithful to this old slogan for several decades, every match always starts the same way. He is one of the few Russian commentators who does not hide the fact that his sympathies are always on the side of one club - St. Petersburg "Zenith".

Early years and education

Born March 2, 1945 in the city of Kharkov, in the family of football player Sergei Orlov, who played in various clubs of the Soviet Premier League, and later a coach. During his school years, Gennady Orlov played for the Avangard club from the Ukrainian city of Sumy.

After graduating from school, he entered the local radio engineering institute for a speci alty"designing radio equipment", and three months later he transferred to the history department of the university. When he moved to play football in the northern capital, he transferred to the Faculty of Journalism of Leningrad University. Later he recovered at Kharkov University, already at the correspondence department.

Since 2005, he has been head of the Department of Theory and Methods of Football at the Coaching Faculty of the University named after P. F. Lesgaft. The following year, he became a candidate of pedagogical sciences.

Sports career

After graduating from school, he was invited to play for Kharkiv Avangard. In 1966, the coaches of the Leningrad "Zenith" noticed the young footballer at the training camp. He received an invitation and played the entire season for the backup team of masters. In the main team, Orlov played only five matches. Ironically, his father also played only five matches in the Premier League, only for Dynamo Kiev. The following year, after a serious injury, he was going to return to Kharkov, but remained in Leningrad, due to the fact that his wife Natalya got a job at the Theater. Komissarzhevskaya.

Two of the best seasons in his short sports biography Gennady Orlov spent in the local Dynamo. He was in the position of the second attacker, distinguished by diligence and efficiency, often moved from flank to flank. Playing at the Petrovsky stadium, the footballer earned his first apartment. At the match with Lviv "Karpaty" he scored two goals, and one of them - a direct free-kick. The impressed leadership of the Leningrad KGB gave the young family a one-room apartment. He was forced to end his sports career at the age of 25 due to a serious injury.

Zenith forever

Having finished playing football, Gennady Orlov got a job as a correspondent for the newspaper "Construction Worker". In 1973, on Leningrad television, he won a competition for the position of a television commentator, which was vacated in connection with the death of the famous Viktor Sergeevich Nabutov. As he himself later recalled, the commission especially liked his phrase: "The ball slipped out like a bar of soap."

He largely continues the best Soviet traditions, when commentators were the personification of his hometown and team. Naturally, commentator Gennady Orlov sympathizes with his native club. He is familiar with the management and has survived several generations of blue-white-blue players. As noted by his colleagues, in recent years, Gennady Sergeevich found a balance between his attachment to the “Zenith” and an objective assessment of the opponent, when you need to note the good game of the opponent. He can instantly and very competently comment on the game episode, as he is professionally versed in football. You may not agree with his opinion, but it is always interesting to listen to.

International matches

Gennady Orlov started working at the 1974 FIFA World Cup, held in Germany. In total, he commentated on 11 world tournaments and many competitions, including the Olympic Games, European Championships and internationalclub tournaments. Photos of Gennady Orlov from many significant matches graced the pages of leading sports publications.

The famous TV commentator believes that he owes his successful professional activity to: excellent knowledge of the Russian language, including correct intonation and stress; professional knowledge of the subject he is talking about; goodwill towards the players and, most importantly, towards the spectators. Since 2015, Gennady Sergeevich has been working on the federal channel "Match", maintains his blog on the social network. His comments are often quoted by the country's leading sports publications.