Malofeev back with a bang

Eduard Malofeev, the present national team coach of Belarus, has had a hand in almost all the major achievements of Belarussian football.

Honoured
As a player Malofeev helped FC Dinamo Minsk come third in the Soviet football league. As coach of Dinamo he did even better, leading them to the championship in 1982 and another third-place finish a year later. Although Belarus have not yet qualified for the finals of a FIFA World Cup, coming close to this goal is considered a major success among local fans and journalists.

Top scorer gong
Malofeev was born on 2 June 1942 in Kolomna where he started playing football for a local team Avangard. At the age of 18, Malofeev moved to FC Spartak Moscow, and three years later he signed with Dinamo Minsk. Malofeev scored over 100 goals for the Belarussian side in the league, and was top scorer in 1971, when his tally was 15 goals.

Olympic dream quashed
The Russian won 40 caps for the USSR national team, and scored 6 goals. However he was forced to retire from playing when he was 32, due to a serious knee injury. A leader and worker on field, he decided to pursue a coach’s career. The decision paid off and seven years later Malofeev led un-fancied provincial side Dinamo Minsk squad to the Soviet title. That victory saw Malofeev hailed as one of the best coaches in the USSR and in 1983 he was appointed head coach of the USSR Olympic team. He took the job hoping to win a golden medal but that dream ended when the USSR decided to boycott the Los Angeles games 1984.

Sacked by USSR
Fortunately, Malofeev appointed national coach of the USSR team the same year and was at the helm as the side breezed past their qualification group opponents to win a berth at the World Cup in Mexico. In 1985, France Football magazine as the best national team in Europe, however before the World Cup began a series of friendly defeats saw Malofeev sacked and replaced by Valery Lobanovskiy took on.

Dinamo years
Malofeev returned to domestic football and was appointed coach of Dinamo Moscow, and helped them finish second place in the Soviet championship in 1986. A year later he parted left and spent the next 13 years coaching provincial clubs. In the summer of 2000 he returned to the football mainstream when Belarus Football Federation (BFF) officials offered him the post of national coach. Malofeev accepted and shocked observers immediately by stating his intention to led the country to the World Cup finals.

Belarus just miss out
Unreal as it sounded, the promise almost turned true. Belarus just missed out on beating Ukraine to the play-off place. Malofeev’s performance as coac h won plaudits not just from fans but also from federation officials. It was soon confirmed that the coach would remain in charge of the side for the EURO 2004™ qualifying campaign. In September 2001, Malofeev also returned to Dinamo Minsk and led them to second place in the Belarussian championship.