Football performances of Gennady Khazanov and Mikhail Hershkovich

- Dear friends, a unique historical photograph was printed on the pages of our newspaper. Young athletes from the famous Football School of Youth (FSM) were brought on the wires of the USSR national team, which went to the World Cup in 1958. In the photo, ten-year-old Misha Gershkovich sits on the lap of Lev Ivanovich Yashin. Years will pass and Mikhail Gershkovich will score Yashin a goal. Mikhail Danilovich, did you show this photo to Lev Ivanovich?

- Not only did he see this unique photo, it's in my house with his autograph.

- When Yashin scored a goal, did he say anything after the game?

- When they came together, he said, Well done! Shoot everyone, not just me.

Gennady Viktorovich, the famous goalkeeper Anzor Kavazashvili told how you once amazed him with your encyclopedic football knowledge

- One of my favorite stories is not made up, nothing added.

After our mortal land left the great striker and coach Valentin Kozmich Ivanov, after a while his widow, Lydia Gavrilovna, called. She said she couldn’t cope with the stress, could she watch the play where I play? “Lydia Gavrilovna, what a question, please ask in the theater of pop.” At the end of the conversation, I ask: “Which name should I leave a place for – Ivanova or Kalinina?” She cried: I couldn't imagine anyone remembering her maiden name. Lidochka dear, your last name - Olympic champion of the 1956 Summer Games in Melbourne - I knew before your husband's last name

Time has passed. Lidia Gavrilovna invited to her anniversary. I had a play that day. She asked me to come for at least half an hour, just to hug her.

I'm going to the National Restaurant. In the room where the guests gather, Lida tells the story of our conversation to Valentina Timofeevna Yashina. Kavazashvili comes up, listens: "Funny things - they hang noodles on your ears, Gena read in the directory, comes, tells ..." Anzor, everyone knows that you finished your career at Spartak. The fact that before Spartak you played in Moscow Torpedo, many know. Let me tell you where you played before Torpedo. You were only 20 years old and you played for Zenit Leningrad. He looks at me as the eighth wonder of the world. The last blow: “In order never to suspect me of any leftist motives again, I will tell you who was your understudy in Zenit – Roman Asin.” He just almost fell. That was a natural story. If I knew a single subject in school as I knew Soviet football at the time..

- Mikhail Danilovich, is it true that Lev Ivanovich Yashin sent you to the army?

- Conditionally. He was the head of the Dynamo team. I was of military age when I moved to Dynamo from Torpedo.

- Were there any reservations at the Torpedo?

Yeah. When he moved to Dynamo, they decided to serve two years in the army. 1972. The subpoena came in. Lev Ivanovich as the head of the team took by hand, together went to the recruiting station, to the station Ugreshskaya in Moscow. He was a lieutenant colonel. At the recruiting station, he says: “You are being escorted now, and I will decide here.” Taken to the gym. Lie down on mats. He did not take the book with him, nothing to read, thought about the future, remembered the past. Lev Ivanovich and the colonel came. The documents were issued: “He should take the course of a young fighter.” They took the documents, went to the military unit on Preobrazhenskaya, where I was seconded. We came there: everyone at attention, Yashin is a legend, with his work, with all his life, not only as a football player, but also as a person who left a great mark. Colonel, head of the unit: "Where will we take the course of the young fighter?" Lev Ivanovich: "I have a team.".

A month later, when the course of the young fighter was over, they again came to the unit: they had to take the oath. Now read the oath, we will congratulate you, look, “thank you” do not say “Serve the Soviet Union!” So Lev Ivanovich for two years I was assigned to this part. Once a month, together with other guys came there, celebrated their business trips. The colonel was a fan, gave the command to the company commander, the captain, he did everything.

Once we come to change the order, we go to our company, but there is no commander - there is a deputy, an ensign. He says, “Everything is clear.” There are five cars with beds, unload, then I'll sign everything. And we have to go to training... I went to the colonel: "Ivan Zakharovich (as I remember my name now!), this is the situation - there the warrant officer of the bed unloads, and we have fees, we need to play." He picks up the phone: ‘Listen, boy, tomorrow Dynamo play a double, the day after tomorrow – the main squad. If you lose one point, you will serve long and long.

Gennady Viktorovich, you were very close friends with Lev Ivanovich, more than once visited him not only at home, but also in the hospital ward

I listen to Misha as a film of life before my eyes. One day he came to his ward in the Vishnevsky hospital after an operation, after an amputation of his leg. He looks, "What is a sad expression?" "There is no reason for merriment." - Don't you understand? It's much easier for women to carry me. Vale (Valentina Timofeevna Yashina) said this, she understood correctly. And laughs. I look at him, I think, astounding thing: not from high aristocratic circles, from a simple family, a working guy who did everything with his hands, with his heart, with his health. This is just pathological modesty. Today I look at those who have not made another half-step on the field and feel like some kind of stars.

When Valentina Timofeevna called on March 18, 1990: “The lion is dying, he really wants to see you.” On this day he was to be awarded the star of the Hero of Social Labor. There are still photos of the day from the apartment. There were Simonyan, Paramonov, Lakes. Sit down next to him on the couch. It was half a man without legs. He bent down and said in my ear, ‘Genka, are they all waiting for this Hero star? I'm dying. What should I do with her, why should she

Forty minutes later, I had to go to the theater. And everyone was waiting for Rafik Nishanov (chairman of the Council of Nationalities of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR) to arrive. - Ed.) to hand over this star. I'm leaving. The medical guys, who did not depart from Lev Ivanovich, quietly said: "We cannot inject him with injections into the state into which you introduced him during the conversation." It’s been almost 40 years, I remember now. I left. March 20 was in Omsk, when it was reported that Lev died. Arrived for the funeral – at the Small Arena of the stadium “Dynamo” they were..

I often think about the sport of that period. Everyone wanted to wear something beautiful. But it never became the meaning of life. The meaning of life became another thing: the honor of the flag, however naive it may sound today, the honor of the state.

- There was even a prize among other awards at the end of the season - "Honor of the Flag" was called.

Vladislav Tretiak told me how they flew to the game for $100 in Canada from west to east. Of course, I wanted to earn more money – it’s true, do not flirt. But there was something else in that life. I am sitting next to Misha Gershkovich. Fans pronounced his name with aspiration. How difficult it was to get into the stadium during the match! You can argue that the country was closed, I understand. But there was a sense of joy and pride when your team gets the European Cup, when a broken collarbone does not stop Tishchenko in the semifinals of the 1956 Olympics, and he plays, and the national team wins. When he learned how Simonyan wanted to give his gold medal to Streltsov, he approached him twice on a ship, and he answered: “I am young, I will earn more.”.

There is no senile, nostalgic hymn here. I just want to say: do not think that our life was deeply unhappy and downtrodden. Absolutely not true. There was not a single day of that feeling.

** *

- Gennady Viktorovich, why did you start cheering for Dynamo?

- I had an older brother. I was passionate about CDC. I was five or six years old then. He said, “Why do I have a team that I support and you don’t support anyone?” - "What are there?" He began to list: “Locomotive”, “Torpedo”, “Dynamo”, “Spartak” and the CDKA. I chose Dynamo. He says, "Fool, you should've done the CDC." Like my younger brother, I say, "Come on." - No, since he said Dynamo - pain for Dynamo.

- Mikhail Danilovich, when Gennady Viktorovich was already consciously ill for Dynamo, you went to the field for this team, where you moved from the famous in those years "Torpedo", led by Viktor Alexandrovich Maslov, nicknamed Ded, where you played in attack with the legendary Eduard Anatolyevich Streltsov. In 1976, Dynamo in the spring became the champion of the country. If someone came up then and said: “Now Dynamo 50 years will not be champions” – how would they react?

Recently, Dynamo Football Club celebrated this date. We invited those who are still alive and well. We set the table, congratulated on the fiftieth anniversary of the victory

- Who else is left?

— Volodya Pilgui, Kolya Gontar, Lesha Petrushin, Yura Gavrilov, Andrei Yakubik. Oleg Dolmatov, Sasha Makhovikov and Sergey Nikulin could not come.

When I was given the floor, I started with this: “Everybody sitting here could not imagine that Dynamo would not be a champion for 50 years.” How could you imagine this when Dynamo is a tradition, a history, a scattering of talents, a scattering of players who were in the USSR national team? Of course, we could not imagine it, unfortunately.

- Is it true that Yakubik saved Makhovikoff's wife when she was drowning?

- When we won the championship, there was a short break. The management sent me and my wives to Sochi for a two-week vacation. The first week was free - relaxed, enjoyed the summer. Then they started training.

We had a hotel "Leningrad", right on the beach. There was a storm one day. We're in the room. Suddenly they started shouting, "Woman is drowning! Yours!" We all rushed there - there is an abyss, dark ... She shouts, "Help me!" Andrew Jakubik dived and pulled her out.

When the wonderful coach Alexander Alexandrovich Sevidov, who led Dynamo to the gold, was fired, his wife publicly cursed the club - a famous story. Is the spell really working? Gennady Viktorovich, do you believe in mysticism?

- Anatole France once said, “Chance is the pseudonym of God when he does not want to sign his own name.” There are no accidents. So many times in my life I have faced something that my mind cannot believe! The witness himself, the participant. There is no mysticism for me. It is strange, yes, but it only says that we are not all eyes open, and we understand information in many ways purely emotionally. Therefore, I am calm about this and believe that there is a prescription at birth. Not only for man, for the country, for the earth

- When you talk about these things, do you rely on your own experiences?

That's it! In 1980, he met two strange women. They came from Uzbekistan, from the city of Navoi. They lived in a resettlement house in Bolshev. The comrade asked to help these women: they were evicted, could I ask the city prosecutor to give them some time to resolve their questions? I went with him to Bolshevo - the man is alive to this day, can confirm everything. There I get to the simple entrance of the house, to the apartment where the prosecutor lived. He rang the doorbell and opened and saw the artist who came to him from the TV screen. I asked. He said: "Let them not stay so that they are not expelled for violating the passport regime.".

Then I ask a friend, “Who are these women?” He introduced me to them and one of them is still alive today. I decided to ask them for help for my mother. My mother was very depressed - I thought maybe they could help. They say, "Next week we're going to Mira Avenue, come and take Mom's picture.".

I took a picture of my mother for her passport when she was 60. I'm coming. There was a young woman, younger than 40, lay down on the couch, put the photo on her chest, closed her eyes and said: I see a glazed veranda, a table covered with embroidered tablecloth. There are four people on the veranda: two women, two men. One of the women, your mother, gets a strong moral blow from one of the two men. This is the beginning of depression.”.

Two or three days later, my mother comes to rehearsal at the Pop Theatre: she had to get wickets for a ticket reservation. At that time, it was impossible to get to my play "The Little Things of Life" - you needed these papers, reservations. I was rehearsing with Viktyuk at this time: “There my mother came, I will come down to her, stop the rehearsal.” - "Go, of course.".

I go downstairs, I give my mom these papers, I say, "Sit down." She's sitting down. “Please tell me if there’s ever been in your life...” and I begin to retell what this young woman saw holding a photograph. The mother’s eyes are filled with tears: “It can’t be!” There is no one alive who has witnessed this.” "When was that?" "Autumn 1929." I am 81 years old and have lived with it all my life. How? It was 1980, so 51 years before that was what this young woman had seen. What other questions are there.

** *

- Back to football. Mikhail Danilovich, why did Sevidov get fired?

- 1979. We went to America on a tour of the United States. There were several games of “hole-hole”, mini-football was played, it was popular in America, on hockey courts. San Sanych met in Los Angeles with a former acquaintance when he worked at Dynamo (Kyiv). Some emigrant from there. Someone ratted on San Sanich. When they returned, the disassembly of the situation began - they decided to remove Sevidov.

We wanted to win the championship and the team was crazy. Even intensified: Valera Gazzaev came from Lokomotiv, joined the team. And Sevidov was removed. Oleg Dolmatov, captain of the team, Volodya Pilgui, I and Gazzaev went to General Petr Stepanovich Bogdanov in the Central Council of Dynamo. They expressed their fears about this, stood up for San Sanich. Our visit did not yield results - moreover, gradually began to get rid of those who walked. Only Valera Gazzaev remained. It was impossible to touch him: he played at a very high level, he beat five people alone.

The story of the curse everyone is talking about. Let's remember: Sevidov was removed in 1979. But he then returned to Dynamo and won the Cup in 1984. - Ed. What kind of curse is that? What, his wife at the championship “Dynamo” cursed, but the Cup – not? Fairy tales.

- Mikhail Danilovich, Dynamo won the gold in 1976, and Spartak in the same year flew to the first league. The head coach of the team was Krutikov. Everyone's in shock. When it was decided on the sidelines of the party: maybe leave the team in the top league as an exception, Nikolai Petrovich Starostin uttered the famous phrase: “We leave with our heads held high and we will return as well.”.

- About this situation very accurately said Yura Sevidov, the son of San Sanich. To the question: “Krutikov, perhaps, it is necessary to change, things are bad?” he replied with a winged phrase: “It is not Krutikov who should be changed, but those who appointed him.” This phrase applies to many football clubs today. Sometimes you look at today’s appointments and wonder: how do leaders make such decisions!

- There is no harm without good: Spartak was headed by the great Dynamo player Konstantin Beskov, with whom you, Mikhail Danilovich, reached the final of the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1972 at Dynamo. Our first team to reach the final of the European club tournament is Dynamo Moscow. Validol match against Glasgow Rangers. What was going on that day?

- One of the saddest moments in my career, in the career of other great footballers. We had a great team. We made it to the final in Barcelona.

After breakfast, the first installation is announced. I'm in. After lunch, the second time announced the composition – also in the composition. But there were changes in tactics and composition. Before leaving, Konstantin Ivanovich gathers everyone and changes everything.

As I remember now, there was John Greig, right midfielder, Rangers captain. And Beskov decided to put Joseph Szabo against him. Szabo and Dolmatov - a pair of central defenders, perfectly interacted on the field, they practically did not give the opportunity to opponents to score. Behind them is Volodya Pilgui in the gate. But at the same time, the whole team was shuffled and we went out to play without strikers at all. Only Tolya Baidachny. I mean, no central striker. Some kind of closed option.

When we started playing, everything was more or less normal, but the failure of the two central defenders led us to concede two goals. Went out for the second half. We missed the third ball. Then Konstantin Ivanovich began to make replacements. Volodya Ashtrekova released - he immediately scored. Then he let me out on the field - we started just strangling them, scored the second, that was the third should have scored ... And then there was an accident: a crowd of drunken Scottish fans ran out with crazy eyes on the field, seven or eight minutes gave them a break. We filed a protest.

Rangers were punished, but the Cup was not taken away from them.

- There was hope that there would be a replay, but even the great Lev Ivanovic, who was at the UEFA trial, did not help. With all due respect to Konstantin Ivanovich, if he had not been late then, three hours before the match, we would have done everything calmly.

- Such situations are inexplicable. Everyone remembers the replacement of Vladislav Tretiak in the match against the Americans in the final tournament of the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid. Viktor Vasilyevich Tikhonov then honestly said after many years: "I lost the semifinals - it was impossible to remove Tretyakov.".

** *

Gennady Viktorovich, you were very friends with Konstantin Ivanovich Beskov, he tried to help you in a difficult life situation.

- I had about the same story as Alexander Alexandrovich Sevidov. At the Montreal Olympics (summer Games 1976). My wife’s cousin, an immigrant at the time, asked his father to send a razor device and five records with Jewish songs to the Perm region. I did everything, and this fool on a normal, ordinary phone called me to the apartment: "Did you give your father what I gave you?" I haven't gone anywhere in 10 years. Only in 1986 he went to the Days of Moscow in Warsaw.

Now about Beskov. He was a peculiar man. They brought him a grandson, Grisha Fedotov. He sat on the boy: "Come on, hit the ball, I'll look at your data." Grisha hit the ball as best he could. Konstantin Ivanovich looked, looked, sighed: “Fedot, not that one.”.

- How did he try to help you in that situation?

- I often came to his apartment, on Mayakovka. I think that Konstantin Ivanovich had some very good connections in the State Security Committee, after all, Dynamo. Many who worked in the Committee, supported Dynamo. He decided to help because it was impossible to imagine that I was a threat to the country - what could I do? Apparently, he was well explained not to interfere in this story, he said: “I can’t.”.

I'm so glad we got together today, that Misha met you, we talked together. I think I’ve barely talked to anyone lately. No one else. Very few people you want to be with.

- Mikhail Danilovich, how did it happen that you, one of the brightest forwards of your time, did not get to the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, where, by the way, forty-year-old Yashin went as a reserve goalkeeper? Room thirteen. How were the numbers? This, unlike today, is very important. Did the players choose their own numbers or did the coaches distribute them?

- I can only say about the practice adopted at the World Cup: everyone has a permanent number in the application, so that it is easier to control. How it was, I can’t say, I wasn’t there.

- Why?

- There was a slight misunderstanding with the great doctor Oleg Markovich Belakovsky. We were friends with him, but there was a disagreement. Someone reported to Kachalin, he decided to remove me from the national team. Oleg Markovich went to him, said that it was a misunderstanding. It's a shame to remember. At that time, I played well, the body was built in such a way that the highlands played in Mexico, a serious obstacle for many, I did not feel absolutely. The body tolerated everything, ran around the field like burnt. We went there in 1969 for pre-season training, then in the 70th year we scored a lot, played well. I could have helped our team in that championship not to lose to Uruguay. We had a good team, we could go to the semifinals. But not fate.

— Mikhail Danilovich, how did the leadership encourage the players for the gold medals of the USSR championship? Like 1976?

- For us, these incentives, of course, mattered, Gena rightly said, but not the main thing. I can say even more: the players are getting well today. But all our leading players who are successful today are not playing for money. To reach this level, you need to love your profession, football, to which you have devoted yourself. A lot of things have to be abandoned in the process of going up, and they do, otherwise they would never have reached that level.

We didn't think much about that either. There was a reception from Shchelokov (Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR). After the victory, the cameras were handed over. They asked what they wanted. We consulted and asked for a gift for a double and a hat. Bogdanov (chairman of the CS VFSO “Dynamo”). - Ed.) says: "Where will we write what from Dynamo?" - "Well, give me another letter." We went to San Sanych Sevidov’s house, we received doubles in his apartment.

- What was the story with the hats in Almaty?

- I was still very young, older teammates always made fun of young players. Lokomotiv came to Almaty to play. Then all the guys wore muskrat hats. They say: "We will come to Almaty, opposite the department store hotel." There's all the hats you want. I go there on the third floor, I start looking for hats and I don’t smell. The seller asks, "What are you looking for?" "A muskrat cap." “Where do we get these hats?” I know I've been joked about.

Suddenly a man came out from behind the curtain:

- Michael, come play? I've been following you since I was a kid. What do you want?

- I'd like a muskrat hat.

- No problem.

He turns me behind the curtain, buys me a hat. I'm taking her to the hotel. The guys are waiting: "Well, how did you go?" "Here, I bought it." "From where?" "Go buy it yourself, you know there's a lot of it.".

** *

Soviet football is impossible to imagine without comments by Vadim Sinyavsky, Nikolai Ozerov, Vladimir Maslachenko, Kote Maharadze, Vladimir Pereturin. Gennady Viktorovich, you and Nikolai Nikolaevich Ozerov were friends. Have you ever imagined yourself in the comment booth?

- I imagined myself in the comment booth so strongly that I couldn’t figure out how I would divide my profession. When he was 9 years old, he walked along his alley, opposite the children's Morozov hospital, and in a young, breaking voice he reported on behalf of Sinyavsky. I didn't know what to do. I wanted to be on stage, but the matches are all in the evening. You will have to sit in the stadium - how to go on stage? The biggest problem was.

There was no sign with Vadim Svyatoslavovich Sinyavsky. But with Ozerov there was a wonderful story.

In December 1972 Nikolai Nikolayevich was 50 years old. On the All-Union radio on Sundays at 9.15 there was a program "Good morning". I got a call from her editor, a very young woman, Regina Dubovitskaya. I asked him to give a greeting to the lake. Arkady Arkanov recommended me there. He said, “You have recommended me, let’s greet you.” They made a tape, she went on the air. So we met and became friends with Ozerov. In 1997, in the spring, he spoke to him on the phone: "Gena, I feel that I will not live to see the anniversary." A month later, on June 2, he left. We were very close friends.

- Gennady Viktorovich, how was it possible to be friends with Beskov and Lobanovsky at the same time? Lobanovsky was a very private person.

Konstantin Ivanovich never asked about my relationship with Lobanovsky. There was history with Valery Vasilyevich, too. After the collapse of the Union, the Commonwealth Cup winter tournament was held every January at the Olympic on Peace Avenue. Former Soviet republics sent their champions. I arrive from a tour, I look at the airport - there is a bus, it says "Dynamo Kiev", the doors are open. I got a hat on my eyes, climbing the bus, pretending to be very drunk, I say a lot of obscene words, I begin to scold the rich who eat. This went on for probably 40 seconds. Suddenly I hear the voice of Lobanovsky: "Gen, raise your hat, I recognized you by your voice.".

Mikhail Danilovich, you played with Eduard Streltsov in Torpedo, and he said that he played with many, first of all with the great Valentin Ivanov, and scored the most with you.

- Aedik is a great man. Gena recalled the funeral of Lev Ivanovich Yashin at the Small Sports Arena “Dynamo” on March 23, 1990. Edik was still alive, but unwell. Came from the hospital. We stood on guard of honor, saying, "I'm next." He died on June 22.

- His death was announced in advance..

Dynamo played on June 21. Together with Vyacheslav Solovyov, deputy chairman of the Dynamo Central Assembly, a former football player and ball hockey player, we went to congratulate Eduard on his birthday at the Oncology Center in Kashirka. He was on an IV.

I went to football tonight. His son, Igor, called: “Well, maybe.” Slava Solovyov heard, thought that everything seemed to go to the announcer, and the stadium announced the evening of June 21, earlier for five or six hours - Edik died on the night of June 22. His whole life was like this, fate broke a lot in her.

- Mikhail Danilovich, the topic is delicate, but surely you somehow have this question arisen, or not?

- I don't like to talk about it. But I still felt it necessary to write in the book that I had. We only had one conversation about it, and he said, “It’s not my fault, another should have been sitting.” I have no reason not to believe him.

Mikhail Danilovich, you not only trained together with Eduard Anatolyevich, went on the field, scored. You and him even studied together in scientific communism.

- Together we graduated from the Institute of Physical Education in Malakhovka. They started at home.

- How did you do the chemistry?

- The textbook was thicker than the Three Musketeers, how do you learn it? We moved to Malakhovka, successfully finished. We studied in absentia, we were treated favorably. At the Institute of Physical Education there was a subject - the history of sports. The teacher fell on him in the exams. We come with Edward, everyone takes the exam tickets, and he tells us, "No." You must have learned all the tickets. I'll ask you a question separately. Tell us about the 1956 Olympic tournament. And you, young man, tell me the history of the national football championships since 1936. We were raised to respect history. Ask the history of our football, no one will tell. We took a lot of things seriously then. And it was a success with Edick.

The exam in scientific communism was prepared at Edik's home. It was a success, too. A guy from Baku studied with us. He picks up the ticket and says, “I’ll prepare.” We waited for him after the exams because he brought a lot of cognac. The sad one comes, "I didn't pass." He got a ticket he didn't know. He said, “That’s your last question.” If you answer, we'll skip it. What was the name of Nadezhda Konstantinovna Krupskaya’s husband? He thought for a long time: "Remember! Krupsky!" "I wish you had kept quiet, now we definitely can't put the exam.".

Gennady Viktorovich, you have often supported our team at the World Championships and Olympic Games. You have been friends and friends with many outstanding athletes. Do you remember your first trip to the support group? At some competitions, you were even invited to the bench.

- That was the case. As for the first trip - 1976, Montreal (XXI Summer Olympic Games were held from July 17 to August 1, 1976). - Ed. Then there's a ten-year break, like I said.

About the bench - very close friends with Alexander Yakovlevich Gomelsky, who considered me almost a native son. I went to his team all the time. I well remember the terrible 1980 in Moscow, when the Yugoslavs lost (in the final round, the USSR national team lost to the Yugoslav team on July 27 91:101 and in the end was able to win only bronze medals). - Ed. At the 1988 Seoul Olympics, he said, "I made you a mascot." You have to sit every game on the bench.” - "What kind of talisman am I?" - "Don't argue with me!"

There was no embassy in South Korea then, and the Russian House was opened (during the Games, the sea liner Mikhail Sholokhov acted as a floating base, hotel and cultural center for the Soviet Olympic delegation). - Ed. I’m sitting in a restaurant, at the opening of the restaurant – at the same time our basketball players are playing in a group tournament. The dinner was luxurious, but as the food was absorbed, thoughts increasingly went to the Chamsil sports complex - he did not do well, threw Alexander Yakovlevich, although he promised. I apologize to everyone and ask you to take me to the sports complex by car. I go in, I look at the scoreboard - some unpresentable team losing 14 points. Gomelsky saw me, all over the room, without choosing expressions: "Where do you go?" Where did I tell you to sit? Sel. Ours won in the end. I didn't talk to him for two days, 'Traitor! Sold for a spoonful of black caviar.” A few days later I called: “Sleigh”. I need to go to Donetsk, I have solo concerts. - Ed.) in the Sports Palace.” Which Donetsk, which soloists? I'm in the semi-finals, crazy, where are you going? What did I tell you?” Anyway, I'm going to Donetsk. I work solo. Ours win against the Americans (August 28, the Soviet team defeated the US team 82:76). - Ed. Congratulations. I order a long-distance conversation from Donetsk: “Can I call Seoul?” The telephone operator asks, "What area?" "South Korean." - A minute. For 15 minutes, she searched for the South Korean region in the Soviet Union. "Not like that." Where is it? You need to go international! It all ended with sending a telegram to the team headquarters. Gomelsky then says: “They came running and brought a telegram from you as if from the Secretary General of the United Nations.”.

- We all still have a fresh wound from the departure of Nikita Pavlovich Simonyan. It was a century away. When I congratulated him on his 99th birthday on the phone, it was a very long conversation. Nikita Pavlovich began to recall how Vasily Stalin wanted him to join the Air Force team. He once again remembered how he was brought from Kislovodsk, and the son of the leader said: “I swore with my mother’s ashes that you would play in my team.” Saying no is the kind of courage you have to have to say that to someone who had that kind of power, who had that kind of dad. Mikhail Danilovich, how do you remember the great Simonyan?

- A truly unique man! A great footballer. Great coach. You said how much courage it took to say that. And I would have interpreted it differently: if he had said with courage, he would have gone where he needed to go. And he spoke from the soul that is peculiar to him. And he understood - not some cunning, not perseverance, but the purity of his soul and thoughts. That's why he stayed playing football. Great forward. I went to Spartak as a kid for his matches because I was a supporter of Spartak as a child.

Mikhail Danilovich, I wanted to ask you for a long time, you were such a technical footballer that you could only take the ball away from you with the help of the police. Why were we in Torpedo after Lokomotiv? Did Spartacus miss you?

- It's not even that. As a boy, the coach Malakhov, with the team born in 1946, although he was born in 1948, played against the Spartak school. We won 5-1, I scored two goals. A few days later, the older brothers took Stepanov to Spartak to see me. We played two days ago, we beat you. - I know. - "The boy scored two goals." He looked at me, ‘Look, I wasn’t at the game? I don't want to talk to liars.” I was picked up and taken to FSM.

Spartacus scored many goals. After “Locomotive” was a dream to play with Streltsov, she outweighed everything. “Spartacus” was not particularly interested in me, “Torpedo” was interested.

When he moved from Torpedo to Dynamo, there was a conversation to return to the issue of Spartak. Nikita Pavlovich asks: “Why didn’t you go to Spartak?” I really wanted to, but the head coach of Spartak refused me, said he would not take it. "Who is this?" "You, Nikita Pavlovich.".

He has been in contact with many people recently, he was on a coach licensing commission, he headed the RFU technical committee, where I was his deputy for some time. His centenary was recently celebrated. Good event, a lot of people came. He was commemorated in the cemetery. Bright memory.

- Gennady Viktorovich, have you been to Simonyan's birthday party?

Yeah. Moreover, for the centenary of Nikita Pavlovich prepared a special video. A few days ago I was in Yerevan with a solo concert. Showed it in memory of Nikita Pavlovich. Big success. I think he'll have a big fate.

I can say that in our football world, the people who entered my life and my memory are much more attractive and cleaner than in my professional world. And Nikita Pavlovich is one of them.