The favorite of the Kiev public, tenacious and uncompromisingdefender, whose game legendary coach Valery Lobanovsky described a simple and capacious word - reliability. These words can describe Sergei Pavlovich Baltach - Honored Master of Sports of the USSR.
He was born in the Ukrainian seaside townMariupol (formerly Zhdanov) on February 17, 1958. However, unlike most boys, he did not dream of becoming a sailor. Sergei attracted football, so his parents wrote him to the local children's team "Azovstal".
During the performance in "Dynamo" (Kiev) SergeyBaltach became four times champion of the USSR and winner of the USSR Cup, winner of the Cup Winners' Cup in 1986. Also a career was also successful as a player of the national team. First there was bronze at the 1980 Olympics, and after that, matches for the main team of the country also went. Injury received in the final match of the Cup Winners' Cup (Atletico Madrid), did not allow the player to go to the FM-86 in Mexico, where the Soviet team dropped out in the quarterfinals due to judicial errors. But in two years nothing prevented him from participating in the European Championship -88 and taking silver medals following the results of the championship.
Then there was a voyage to Foggy Albion, which can not be called quite successful, but after the end of his career, Sergei Pavlovich remained alive and working in England.
For the Dynamo Kiev Sergey Baltach debuted in thea young 18-year-old. However, the head coach threw the young man right into the very heat - he exposed the most fundamental confrontation with the Moscow "Spartak". And Sergei did not disappoint - the team won with a score of 3-0, and Baltacha with his skillful actions immediately retained a place in the main team.
For 12 years spent in Kiev, Baltacha spentclub at different levels of 245 matches, which managed to be noted 6 times. And four championship seasons - this is also a merit, no doubt, a talented football player. However, the peak of the player's career - the 1985/1986 season, when Sergei Pavlovich together with Dynamo won the USSR Championship and took the Cup Winners' Cup in 1986. Naturally, constantly speaking at a high level, Baltacha was involved in the games for the national team, where he played 45 matches and scored 2 goals scored.
In the late eighties the Iron Curtain beganto rise, and the Soviet players got the opportunity to test their strength in European championships. Naturally, the players were "Dynamo" (Kiev), who shone in European tournaments for the club and in the national team. Mikhailichenko, Zavarov, Blokhin, Bal, Bessonov, Belanov - many European grandees wanted to see them in their composition. Sergey Baltacha got into the field of view of foreign clubs - a football player formed and having sufficient experience of performances at a high level. In 1988 he was bought by the club of the English League "Ipswich Town". Career there is not entirely successful football player. Sergei Pavlovich spent for this English club 28 games in three seasons. In 1990, he moved to Scotland, where he completed his football career in 1994.
After a short wanderings in Scotland and Ukraine inAs an assistant to the head coach, Baltacha found his niche. Since 2001, he began to teach football to young players. He worked for 8 years at the Charlton Academy, then had a 4-year contract with Chelsea, but in 2012 he again returned to Charlton, whose academy he works to this day.
The theme that Sergei Baltacha tries to avoid is daughter Elena. The wound from such a terrible loss has not yet healed, and can not, probably never.
Famous tennis player, Elena Baltacha died ofliver cancer on May 4, 2014, at the age of 31. Sports career with her daughter was magnificent: a lot of won titles, being in TOP-100 of the best tennis players in the world. After the termination of career Elena has married the former trainer. And a few months later the young family was struck by the news as a thunder - Elena is sick with cancer. The disease progressed very quickly, and two months later Elena Baltacha died.
My father was very worried about his daughter's departure, but life continues, and Sergei Baltacha found peace in his work. He was a fighter on the football field and remains so in life.
