The Cup. Was it another year, the Soviet Cup final would have been considered better. But this time everything worked against it so much so that the title of the match report in the prime Soviet football weekly ‘Football-Hockey’ was ‘What would remain in memory?’ and the reporter’s conclusion was ‘nothing’. And there was the feeling that this Cup final, getting only flack, was instantly forgotten. It was a final between underdogs – Shakhter (Donetzk) and Torpedo (Moscow), which normally would get some praise just for that, but this time the match was doomed even before its start. First of all, the World Cup was around the corner, grabbing all attention. The national team of USSR played a preparatory friendly just few days before the final and fans and specialists were much concerned of what they saw – it was a home game against Finland, which ended 0-0. The Cup final suddenly appeared to be not a clash of tough teams, which may not have been very strong recently, but were Cup specialists. Instead, it looked like a confirmation of the weaknesses of the national team – if that were the cup contenders, no wonder the nationals team was in alarming shape and no repairs possible. And, as luck had it, right after the Soviet Cup final ended, the Cup Winners Cup was about to begin, featuring Dinamo (Kiev) and Altetico (Madrid). This final was on the mind of most, not only instantly diminishing the importance of the domestic final, but also significantly reducing attendance – most people chose to stay home waiting the European final broadcast on TV. Lastly, the domestic finalists contributed to the ill feelings by their sluggish and largely disoriented performance. It was poor show, no doubt about it, eventually boiled down to the wit of the veteran playmakers Sokolovsky (Shakhter) and Shavlo (Torpedo). They tried, but it was evident that both are far away down from their peak, the age was getting hold of them and with uninspired teammates nothing really was about to happen. Yet, it was telling that the veterans on their last legs and hardly effective were practically the only noticeable players on the pitch. Shavlo was slightly better and thus Torpedo appeared if not sharper, at least possessing the ball more and making something vaguely similar to attacks. And eventually they scored – a minute before the half-time, Sochnov made a cross from a free kick and Kobzev, who substituted Redkous in the 29th minute, headed the ball in the net. Shakhter keeper Zolotnitzky was universally blamed for the goal – it was not that dangerous situation, but he was late and uncertain coming for the ball. Efforts to clear the goalie and praise Kobzev for his sharp precision failed to convince, it was giveaway goal. Bad luck… Zolotnitzky was backup goalkeeper, rarely appearing in official games, but the regular starter was injured and here it was – the backup was not up to the task.
Zolotnitzky late and Kobzev scored. Nothing else happened to the end of the game and Torpedo made its triumphal round with the trophy in front of hurriedly leaving fans, who wanted to get home for the start of the Cup Winners Cup final. Which was highly entertaining match in sharp contrast to what passed for Soviet Cup final and Dinamo (Kiev) victory drove everybody to euphoria. From this perspective, the Cup final perhaps looked even worse than it was. Criticized the next day and forgotten immediately.
Shakther (Donetzk) was not as good a team as they were a few years back, but still was holding its position among the better Soviet teams. Top row from left: O. Bazilevich – coach, A. Konkov – assistant coach, V. Malyshev – assistant coach, Yury Gulyaev, Evgeny Dragunov, Sergey Morozov, Vladimir Gravrilov, Anatoly Radenko, Aleksandr Sopko, Valery Rudakov, Sergey Kravchenko, V. Tkachenko – masseur, O. Shotkin – doctor.
Bottom row: Sergey Zolotnitzky, Sergey Yashtenko, Aleksey Varnavsky, Oleg Smolyaninov, Igor Petrov, Valery Goshkoderya, Viktor Grachev, Mikhail Sokolovsky, Vladimir Parkhomenko, Viktor Budnik.
Strange… Shakhter usually managed to play tough Cup finals, even overperforming, but this time were uncharacteristically lame. Their number one striker Petrov was particularly hopeless. In view of the general poverty of the final, there is no point saying more or looking for explanations – suffice to say that this Cup final day perhaps was very painful for Shakhter coaching stuff – 10 years ago Bazilevich and Konkov won the Cup Winners Cup with Dinamo (Kiev), the first was coaching, the second – playing. Now they lost a final only to see their former club soar to second Cup Winners Cup victory.
Considering the current shape of Torpedo, the Cup victory was almost a surprise. Well deserved? Hardly, but goals win games and they scored and won. Standing from left: Yu. Zolotov – team chief, V. Sochnov, A. Proyaev – doctor, A. Gostenin, V. Kobzev, A. Polukarov, S. Prigoda, V. Filatov – assistant coach, V. Shaveyko, V. Zhendarev – administrator, S. Shavlo, V. Ivanov – coach. Crouching: V. Nikonov – assistant coach, A. Petrov – masseur, Yu. Savichev, S. Mushtruev, V. Kovach, V. Sarychev, N. Savichev, V. Grechnev.
Winners are not to be blamed and considering the lowly place of Torpedo in Soviet football hierarchy, it was great success, but… hardly anything good could be said of the new Cup holders. It is even to credit the substitution of Redkous with Kobzev as some great coaching inspiration – the quality of the play was poor. Lucky winners – that was all. Perhaps great satisfaction for Shavlo, who at his last years won a trophy, when his former club, Spartak (Moscow), was emptyhanded. To some degree, the same would be valid for Redkous, formerly of Dinamo (Moscow). Torpedo’s veteran defender Sergey Prigoda was the only man in the squad who played when Torpedo won something previously and that was 10 years ago. The coaching stuff, V. Ivanov, Nikonov, and Filatov, all former Torpedo stars, were perhaps also very glad – when they played, Torpedo was much stronger club, winning often. Now they succeeded as coaches, but restoring former glory was out of the question. Let face it: the Cup winners had no current national team players – they had only 2 former ones. And let face it again – Torpedo won, but playing very poor football in very poor final.