USSR the Cup

The Soviet Cup was also a sign of future – Dinamo (Kiev) vs Lokomotiv (Moscow). The top team in the country vs the 4th in the Second Division. The great Valery Lobanovsky, with all his fame against Yury Semin, the new breed of young coaches. The past vs the future, in a sense, although at the time nobody saw it like that and what happened on the field did not suggest a change: Dinamo destroyed Lokomotiv 6-1, entirely predicted victory.
Lokomotiv (Moscow) was not ready yet for something big. Yes, there was progress and they were promising team and coach, but still in the making – as not only the lost Cup final, but also their 4th place in the Second Division showed. Still, it was interesting and and refreshing to see traditionally modest club playing Second Division football to play at the Cup final – such thing happened very rarely in USSR and actually only once a Second Division team won the Cup. Well, no second surprise.
Well, the Cup was the first trophy of the season won by Dinamo and at the end they finished with a double. Apart from that, the winning squad shows how rapidly changed Soviet teams at this time – it is quite different squad than the one at the end of 1990. Crouching from left: P. Shvydky – masseur, V. Evlantiev – masseur, S. Kovaletz, A. Mikhailichenko, V. Ratz, S. Shmatovalenko, O. Protassov, A. Chubarov – administrator, B. Derkach. To row: A. Puzach – assistant coach, O. Matovetzky – administrator, V. Malyuta – doctor, O. Kuznetzov, O. Luzhny, V. Chanov, V. Lobanovsky – coach, A. Tzveiba, O. Salenko, V. Veremeev – team chief, A. Demyanenko, A. Bal, G. Litovchenko, M. Mikhailov, S.Zaetz.
Because of the changes, one more photo of the double winners, which is perhaps more in tune with the main heroes of the season.