On January 6, the legendary coach Valeriy Lobanovskyi was born: facts from his life.

Today, January 6, marks the 86th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding football coach Valeriy Lobanovskyi. Representatives of 'Glavkom' have gathered the main facts about his life path and sporting achievements.

Valeriy Lobanovskyi was born on January 6, 1939. He grew up in a simple working-class family. His father worked as a warehouseman at a Kyiv mill, and his mother was a housewife. He graduated from Kyiv Secondary School No. 319 with a silver medal (now named in his honor).

His football career began at the children's sports school No. 1, later he studied at the Kyiv Youth Football School. Sports did not prevent him from obtaining higher education at Kyiv and Odesa Polytechnic Institutes.

Throughout his career, Lobanovskyi played for Kyiv's 'Dynamo' (1959-1964), Odesa's 'Chornomorets' (1965-1966), and Donetsk's 'Shakhtar' (1967-1968).

Lobanovskyi had a unique ability to deliver curved balls from corner kicks and free kicks, which often led to direct goals scored by the goalkeeper.

For more than 20 years, Lobanovskyi served as the coach of 'Dynamo' with breaks (1973-1982, 1984-1990, 1997-2002). Under his leadership, the Kyiv team won eight championship titles and six USSR Cups, which is the best record among other coaches.

Lobanovskyi was known by various nicknames: 'Red Sunflower' (as a player) and 'Loban', 'Pendulum', 'Meter', 'Colonel' (as a coach).

Lobanovskyi is also known as the author of the book 'The Infinite Match'.

He loved to organize various events for his team, such as trips to the cinema or excursions. Lobanovskyi was known as an intelligent and educated person who tried to inspire his players for great and beautiful things.

On May 7, 2002, Lobanovskyi felt unwell during a match against 'Metallurh' in Zaporizhzhia. He was hospitalized and underwent surgery, assessed as critical. The legendary coach died on May 13, 2002, at 20:35, on the birthday of Kyiv's 'Dynamo'.

Two days later, on May 15, Lobanovskyi was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine. On the same day, the Champions League final began with a minute of silence.

In 2014, Lobanovskyi was declared an Honorable Participant of the Maidan during the Revolution of Dignity.

On June 12, 2016, the premiere of the documentary film 'Lobanovskyi Forever' took place. The film consists of domestic and foreign archival materials and reviews about Lobanovskyi.

In 2017, Lobanovskyi was recognized as one of the ten best coaches in football history by the versions of World Soccer, France Football, FourFourTwo, and ESPN.