Anatoliy Demyanenko Coach of Dynamo Kyiv Date of Birth: 19.02.1959 Country: Ukraine

1. Early Life and Football Career
2. Football Career and Achievements
3. Coaching Career
4. Awards and Recognitions

Anatoliy Demianenko: Ukrainian Football Player, Coach, and Administrator

Anatoliy Demianenko, born on February 19, 1959, in Dnipro, is a former Soviet and Ukrainian football player, currently working as a Ukrainian football coach and administrator. He played for Kiev's "Dynamo" from 1979 to 1990, serving as the team's captain from 1986 to 1990. Demianenko also represented the USSR national team. He was awarded the title of Master of Sports of International Class in 1980 and Honored Master of Sports of the USSR in 1986. Demianenko graduated from the Kiev State Institute of Physical Education.

Early Life and Football Career

Anatoliy Demianenko showed exceptional talent in both hockey and football during his childhood. He attended the "Dnipro" school from 1971 to 1975, where he was trained by Mikhail Kolomoets and Vladimir Anufrienko. Demianenko acquired the nickname "Mulya" in his childhood. The nickname originated from his older brother's friend, whose surname was Muravsky and was nicknamed "Murik." Anatoliy, who had difficulty pronouncing the letter "r," called him "Mulik" and "Muley." In 1977, Demianenko played for the victorious Ukrainian SSR team in the "Pereprava" tournament. He was invited to join the Dynamo team by the selector Anatoliy Suchkov and submitted a transfer application. However, Demianenko later declined and wrote a letter of refusal to the football federation.

Demianenko made his debut in the Soviet Top League on May 18, 1978, playing for "Dnipro" in an away match against "Kairat," which they lost 0-1. In 1978, he appeared in 20 games and scored one goal against "Zenit." However, Dynamo became aware that Demianenko was serving in the military and put him under surveillance. Demianenko described that period: "I had to spend the night at friends' houses, as the military police regularly came to my home and kept watch over me. This continued until January 1979 when I was called up to the Ukrainian national team for the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR. They started surveillance on me on the train. And at the train station in Kiev, they took me and brought me to the military base." Demianenko spent 19 days in the military base until he was visited by Dynamo coach Mikhail Koman. He signed a transfer application to Dynamo and joined the Kiev team. Demianenko was warmly welcomed in Kiev, which allowed him to quickly establish himself as a regular player. He initially lived in a dormitory and later moved into an apartment with Vladimir Bessonov, who was still a bachelor.

Football Career and Achievements

Anatoliy Demianenko was actively called up to various USSR national teams. On October 23, 1981, he made his debut for the first USSR national team in a World Cup qualification match against the Turkish national team. The USSR won 4-0, with Demianenko scoring a goal. Since then, Anatoliy became a key player for the national team. In late 1984, due to his father's illness, Demianenko intended to return to "Dnipro." However, giving in to persistent persuasions from Valeriy Lobanovskyi, he decided to stay in Kiev. In 1985, Demianenko was named the best football player of the USSR according to the "Football-Hockey" weekly magazine.

From 1986 to 1990, Demianenko served as the captain of Kiev's "Dynamo." He rarely missed seasons, except for 1989 when he sustained a fractured ankle in a match against Dushanbe's "Pamir" on April 5, preventing him from playing for the rest of the season. Demianenko was known as a footballer with "two hearts" for his tireless work on the left flank of the field. His active contributions to the attack often resulted in goals.

In early 1991, Demianenko moved to the German club "Magdeburg" on a contract that promised him a salary of 8,000 German marks plus bonuses, compared to the 500 dollars he received at Dynamo. The team's goal was to qualify for the 2. Bundesliga, but they failed to achieve it. According to the contract, if the team failed to reach the goal, they were released from their obligations due to the club's semi-professional status, which made it unable to pay the agreed amounts to Demianenko. He returned to Kiev, where he trained with Dynamo for some time. Soon after, he received an invitation and signed a contract with the Polish club "Widzew" in the summer of 1991. Initially, he played in midfield, but later he was moved to the position of the last defender. In Lodz, he earned a monthly salary of 5,000 dollars. The contract was set to expire at the end of 1993, but due to the team's financial difficulties, Demianenko decided to terminate the contract at the end of the 1991/92 season. In the summer of 1992, he returned to Dynamo and competed in European competitions with the team.

Coaching Career

After retiring as a player, Anatoliy Demianenko pursued a coaching career. Initially, he served as an assistant to Viktor Kolotov at "Borisfen." After some time, Grigoriy Surkis, at the suggestion of Jozef Sabo, who was coaching Dynamo at the time, invited Demianenko to join the club as Sabo's assistant. He remained part of the coaching staff until 2005.

In 2005, Demianenko became the head coach of "Dynamo" Kyiv and parted ways with the team on September 20, 2007, by mutual agreement. Under his leadership, the team achieved a "golden double" in 2007 and he was named the best coach in Ukraine in 2007. However, their victories in Ukraine were accompanied by defeats in Europe, as evidenced by results such as a home match against "Steaua" (1-4) or a match against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu (1-5).

On January 4, 2008, Demianenko was appointed as the head coach of the Azerbaijani club "Neftchi" (Baku), replacing Czech specialist Vlastimil Petržela. He was dismissed from this position on August 23, 2008.

On August 9, 2010, Demianenko became the head coach of the Uzbek club "Nasaf" (Karshi). On October 29, 2011, he won the AFC Cup with the club.

On January 8, 2012, Demianenko took charge of "Volyn" in Lutsk. On April 26, 2013, he terminated his contract by mutual agreement.

In January 2020, Demianenko became the head coach of the Slovak club "Nitra" but left the position in April.

Awards and Recognitions

Anatoliy Demianenko has been awarded the Order "For Merit" of the III degree (2004), II degree (2006), and I degree (2016).