Igor Belanov

Igor Ivanovich (or Ihor Ivanovych) Belanov (Ukrainian: Ігор Іванович Беланов; born 25 September 1960) is a retired Ukrainian footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or second striker.

Igor Belanov
Belanov in 2012
Personal information
Full name Igor Ivanovich Belanov
Date of birth (1960-09-25) 25 September 1960
Place of birth Odessa, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Attacking Midfielder
Youth career
1973–1978 Chornomorets Odessa
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1979–1981 SKA Odessa 68 (16)
1981–1985 Chornomorets Odessa 116 (26)
1985–1989 Dynamo Kyiv 121 (40)
1989–1991 Borussia Mönchengladbach 24 (4)
1991–1995 Eintracht Braunschweig 64 (21)
1995–1996 Chornomorets Odessa 3 (1)
1996–1997 Metalurh Mariupol 5 (4)
Total 401 (111)
National team
1985–1990 Soviet Union 33 (8)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He made a name for himself at Dynamo Kyiv, winning five major titles and being named European Footballer of the Year in 1986. He then spent six years in Germany with two teams, with little success.

He was included in the Times's list of the top 100 World Cup footballers of all time.[1] Belanov represented the Soviet Union at one World Cup and one European Championship.

In 2011, Igor Belanov, together with Oleg Blohin and Vitaliy Starukhin were named as the "legends of Ukrainian football" at the Victory of Football awards.[2]

Club career

Beginnings / Dynamo Kyiv

Belanov was born in Odessa, Ukraine, Soviet Union. He started playing professionally in his hometown, with SKA Odessa and FC Chornomorets Odessa, joining country giants FC Dynamo Kyiv in 1985, and scoring ten goals in his first season, which ended with league and cup conquest.

Along with teammates Oleg Blokhin and Oleksandr Zavarov, Belanov led the scoring charts at the 1985–86 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (five apiece) as Dynamo won the competition for the second time.[3] He played the full 90 minutes in the final against Atlético Madrid (3–0).

Germany

Midway through 1989, 29-year-old Belanov got the long-awaited clearance to join a Western European side, making a move to Germany to join Borussia Mönchengladbach. His debut in the Bundesliga came on 4 November 1989 in a 0–4 away defeat against VfB Stuttgart, but he failed to impress overall, scoring only four goals in his one-and-a-half-season stint.[4]

Belanov moved to second level's Eintracht Braunschweig in January 1991. He made his debut for his new club on 23 February, and went on to net just 13 times in the competition in three seasons combined, also suffering relegation in 1992–93 without making a single appearance.

Retirement

In 1995 Belanov returned home to Chernomorets for one season, retiring at almost 37 after a spell with FC Illychivets Mariupol, appearing in only five games in two seasons combined.

International career

Belanov played 33 matches for the Soviet Union, scoring eight goals. His best performance came at the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, where he netted four and assisted for six others as the team (which comprised 13 Dynamo Kyiv players) reached the round-of-16; he scored a hat-trick in the game against Belgium, in a losing extra time effort (3–4).[5]

This performance at the World Cup, along with Dynamo's Cup Winners' Cup success, helped Belanov win the European Footballer of the Year award. He was also part of the squad that reached the final of UEFA Euro 1988, where the national side faced the Netherlands. With the score at 0–2, USSR were awarded a penalty: he took it, but saw goalkeeper Hans van Breukelen stop the shot as the score remained unaltered.[6][7] He won 33 caps between 1985 and 1990.[8]

Playing style

Belanov was noted for his athletism, in particularly for his running speed and powerful goal strikes. He was one of the fastest sprinters among Soviet footballers of all times, together with Oleg Blokhin. However, while Blokhin was trained by his parents, who were both competitive sprinters, Belanov never received a formal sprint training; yet he ran 30 m in 3.5 seconds and 60 m within 7 seconds, a mere 0.5 seconds slower than the world record at the time.[9]

Post-retirement

Belanov turned to business after finishing his playing career. He returned to prominence when he became the majority shareholder at Switzerland's FC Wil, in August 2003. His predecessor, banker Andreas Hafen, had been given a five-years imprisonment sentence after embezzling 51 million Swiss francs ($40 million) from the UBS Bank.

Belanov's first move at Wil was replacing first-team manager Martin Andermatt with his former Dynamo Kyiv teammate Oleksandr Zavarov, not taking note of the fact that he lacked the necessary UEFA licence to manage a European top-division outfit. That circumstance forced Belanov to sign former FC Karl-Marx-Stadt manager Joachim Müller. Due to the appointment of Müller, Zavarov's job was officially described as director of football; Müller did not last long as coach however, as Belanov sacked him just after three months, replacing him with Tomáš Matějček.

Matejcek's strict training regiment caused a quick revolt amongst Wil players. This forced Belanov to make amends for his decisions and to re-appoint Müller as manager, and hand the assistant-manager role to former Swiss international goalkeeper Stephan Lehmann. Those turned out to be Belanov's last series of actions as Wil's major shareholder as, in a quick sequence, he pulled out of his chairman and shareholder role of the club.[10]

Additionally, Belanov also owned a football school in Odessa, Ukraine, which carried his name.

In 2018 joined the board of strategic development Ukrainian Association of Football.[11]

Career statistics

Club
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
SKA Odessa 1979 325–––325
1980 3611–––3611
Chornomorets 1981 27620––296
1982 29241––333
1983 27710––287
1984 331153––3814
Dynamo 1985 31104241–3913
1986 22101084103214
1987 2386361213713
1988 27941––3110
1989 18341––224
Borussia
Mönchengladbach		 1989–90 14410––154
1990–91 10021––121
Braunschweig 1990–91 93–––93
1991–92 291011––3011
1992–93 –––––
1993–94 26810–40318
Chornomorets 1995–96 31–––31
Metalurh
Mariupol		 1995–96 10–––10
1996–97 44–––44
Career total 401111361318671462131
  • Other – USSR Super Cup, USSR Federation Cup & 2. Bundesliga Play-Off

International
Soviet Union
YearAppsGoals
198530
198686
198772
1988130
198910
199010
Total338

International goals
Scores and results list Soviet Union's goal tally first.
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.2 June 1986Estadio Sergio León Chávez, Irapuato, Mexico Hungary3–06–01986 FIFA World Cup
2.15 June 1986Estadio Nou Camp, León, Mexico Belgium1–03–41986 FIFA World Cup
3.15 June 1986Estadio Nou Camp, León, Mexico Belgium2–13–41986 FIFA World Cup
4.15 June 1986Estadio Nou Camp, León, Mexico Belgium3–43–41986 FIFA World Cup
5.11 October 1986Parc des Princes, Paris, France France1–02–0Euro 1988 qualifying
6.29 October 1986Lokomotiv Stadium, Simferopol, Soviet Union Norway2–04–0Euro 1988 qualifying
7.29 April 1987Republican Stadium, Kyiv, Soviet Union East Germany2–02–0Euro 1988 qualifying
8.28 October 1987Lokomotiv Stadium, Simferopol, Soviet Union Iceland1–02–0Euro 1988 qualifying

Honours

Club

Dynamo Kyiv

Chornomorets Odessa

International

Soviet Union

Individual

References
  1. The World Cup's top 100 footballers of all time – interactive. The Guardian. 27 May 2014
  2. Лучшими футболистами Украины признаны Анатолий Тимощук, Андрей Шевченко и Александр Шовковский (in Russian). bulvar.com.ua. 20 December 2011. Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
  3. "Cup Winners Cup Top Scorers". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 22 September 2008. Retrieved 15 September 2008.
  4. Arnhold, Matthias (24 June 2020). "Ihor Ivanovych Belanov – Matches and Goals in Bundesliga". RSSSF.com. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  5. "Belanov's three not enough to beat brave Belgium". FIFA. Archived from the original on 19 June 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
  6. "Tournament History: Euro 1988 (West Germany)". Goal.com. 4 June 2008. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
  7. "USSR 0–2 Netherlands". Goal.com. Archived from the original on 20 December 2013. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  8. Arnhold, Matthias (24 June 2020). "Igor Ivanovich Belanov – International Appearances". RSSSF.com. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  9. Блохин и Беланов – главные спринтеры в истории футбола. Пиковый Блохин считался опаснее Кройффа и стоил как Марадона. sports.ru. 27 April 2008
  10. "Wie sich Igor Belanow seinen Ruf versaute" [How Igor Belanov ruined his reputation] (in German). 11 Freunde. 27 September 2009. Archived from the original on 1 June 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
  11. Беланов получит должность в ФФУ. sport.ua. 29 December 2018
  12. Moore, Rob; Stokkermans, Karel. "European Footballer of the Year ("Ballon d'Or")". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
  13. Owsianski, Jarek; Rota, Davide (18 December 2013). "Cup Winners Cup Topscorers". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  14. Лучшие ассистенты ЕВРО. Статистика и рекорды. UEFA. 17 June 2020
  15. FIFA XI´s Matches – Full Info Archived 17 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  16. "Legends". Golden Foot. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
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