Lobanovskiy legacy lives on

Three teams have accepted an invitiation from FC Dynamo Kyiv and the Football Federation of Ukraine to contest the first edition of what will become an annual memorial tournament in honour of Valeriy Lobanovskiy.

Brain haemorrhage
The former Dynamo, USSR and Ukraine coach died on 13 May last year aged 63 after failing to recover from a brain haemorrhage sustained during a league match against FC Metalurh Zaporizhya on 7 May. FC Shakhtar Donetsk, FC Lokomotiv Moskva and PFC CSKA Moskva will join Dynamo in striving to win the first Lobanovskiy Memorial event.

Final on 14 May
The action will get under way on 12 May when Dynamo face Lokomotiv, the Russian champions, and Shakhtar meet CSKA. The two winners will advance to the final, which will be played on 14 May along with the third-placed play-off. Mykola Kostenko, Ukraine's minister for sport, announced today that representatives from 16 national associations will travel to the tournament, including guests from Spain, England, Turkey, Russia and Greece.

Posthumous award
Known as 'The Master', Lobanovskiy helped Dynamo to eight Soviet Supreme League titles, five Ukrainian championships, six Soviet Cups, two UEFA Cup Winners' Cups, the UEFA Super Cup in 1975 and the 1999 UEFA Champions League semi-finals. He also coached the Soviet national team to the final of the 1988 UEFA European Championship. Fittingly, Lobanovskiy was awarded the posthumous title of Hero of Ukraine.