Andriy Mykhaylovych Bal (; 16 February 1958 – 9 August 2014) was a Soviet and Ukrainian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

and football manager.

Club career

Born in Rozdil,

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

, Bal was a product of the

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

youth football schools. By 1976 he was playing in the senior squad of Karpaty Lviv. After five years with the team, he earned a transfer to

Dynamo Kyiv The Football Club 'Dynamo Kyiv', also known as Dynamo Kyiv, or simply Dynamo, ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society ...

. He went on to spend the majority of his playing career with the team, winning four championship medals with them, as well as four

Soviet Cup The Soviet Cup, or USSR Cup (),, , , (Moldovan Cyrillic: Купа УРСС), , , . was the premier football cup competition in the Soviet Union conducted by the Football Federation of the Soviet Union. The 1991–92 season of the tournam ...

s. He also picked up three runner-up medals. Another major achievement of his career with Dynamo Kyiv was winning the 1986 Cup Winners' Cup. In 1990, he left Dynamo to play in Israel with Maccabi Tel Aviv. He spent a season there before moving on to Bnei Yehuda, where he finished his playing career in 1993.

International career

Bal played for the USSR national team 20 times, and scored 1 goal., a 20-meter strike in the game against

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

at the

1982 FIFA World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain from 13 June to 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy national footbal ...

in Spain. He represented the team at all levels and won the 1976 U-19 UEFA Championship, the 1977 FIFA World Youth Championship, twice won the U-21 UEFA Championship (in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

and 1990). He also played in the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...

, where the Soviet team reached the Round of 16, losing to

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

in extra-time.

Coaching career

After retiring from playing Bal began coaching in Israel. His first coaching job was with Maccabi Haifa. From there he went on to coach Maccabi Herzliya and Hakoah Ramat Gan. In 2000, he returned to Ukraine to join the coaching staff of

. In 2001, he became head-coach of Vorskla Poltava. After two seasons with them, he became Oleg Blokhin's assistant coach with the Ukraine national team. On 14 December 2007, he was officially announced as assistant-coach at FC Moscow, again moving there with Blokhin.

Personal life

His brother Orest Bal was also a professional footballer.

Death

Bal died on 9 August 2014 during a football match of veteran teams as a result of a blood clot.

Honours

As player

Dynamo Kyiv *

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

: 1986 *

Soviet Top League The Soviet Top League, known after 1970 as the Higher League (), served as the top division (tier) of Soviet Union football from 1936 until 1991. The league's name was a conditional designation used for brevity since being completely owned and g ...

: 1981, 1985, 1986, 1990 *

: 1982, 1985, 1987, 1990 Karpaty Lviv * Soviet First League: 1979 Bnei Yehuda * Toto Cup: 1992 Soviet Union U21 * U-21 UEFA Championship:

, 1990 Soviet Union U20 * U-20 FIFA World Cup: 1977 Soviet Union U19 * U-19 UEFA Championship: 1976

As coach

Maccabi Haifa * Israeli Championship: 1993–94

References

External links

RussiaTeam biography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bal, Andriy 1958 births 2014 deaths Footballers from Lviv Oblast Lviv State University of Physical Culture alumni Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Recipients of the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 3rd class Recipients of the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 2nd class Soviet men's footballers Ukrainian men's footballers Soviet Union men's under-21 international footballers Soviet Union men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders FC Karpaty Lviv players FC Dynamo Kyiv players Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. players Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv F.C. players Soviet Top League players Soviet First League players Liga Leumit players Soviet expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Israel Soviet expatriate sportspeople in Israel Ukrainian expatriate men's footballers Ukrainian expatriate sportspeople in Israel 1982 FIFA World Cup players 1986 FIFA World Cup players Ukrainian football managers Maccabi Herzliya F.C. managers Hakoah Ramat Gan F.C. managers FC Vorskla Poltava managers FC Chornomorets Odesa managers Ukraine national football team managers Liga Leumit managers Ukrainian Premier League managers Ukrainian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Israel Expatriate football managers in Russia Ukrainian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Deaths from thrombosis Burials at Baikove Cemetery 20th-century Ukrainian sportsmen