From: Lars Thore Aarhus <larsaa@ifi.uio.no>
Subject: Re: SOVIET: The compilation of all available info about football in
        ex -USSR
        Sep 92 00:15:04 GMT
To: S947607@UMSLVMA.UMSL.EDU (Pavel Nikiforovitch)
Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1992 10:26:54 GMT
Originator: larsaa@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no

In article <9209010016.AA23831@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> S947607@UMSLVMA.UMSL.EDU (Pavel Nikiforovitch) writes:

> 
>    Hello, all football fans !
>    --------------------------
> 
>    As all of you know, December 1991 became the last month of the great
> Communist superpower, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. All 15 ex-
> Soviet republics became independent states (though 11 of them are still
> united in very loose confederation (CIS -- Commonwealth of Independent
> States)).
>    That was the end of one of the best European soccer powers, which used
> to be European champion (in 1960), runner-up (in 1964, 1972, 1988), 4th
> place holder (in 1968); Olympic champion (in 1956, 1988), bronze medal
> winner (in 1972, 1976, 1980); and World Cup 4th place holder (in 1966).
>    So, what has happened (and is happening, and will be happening) to hun
> dreds of ex-Soviet teams, thousands of ex-Soviet footballers, millions of
> ex-Soviet football fans ? I am sure that a lot of people in this net (not
> only ex-Soviets, like me, but a lot of other football lovers, too) want
> to know what is going on behind what used to be Iron Curtain.
>    That topic deserves separate newsgroup "rec.sport.soccer.soviet", but
> since I don't know how to handle this, I'll just post all relevant mate-
> rials in "rec.sport.soccer" with the word "SOVIET" in the header.
>    It's not easy to find any materials about football in ex-USSR, so that
> I'm asking everyone to post any info found by him/her in various sources.
> Sources I use are:"World Soccer"(very outdated), "Soccer America"(outda-
> ted) and Russian newspapers "Pravda" and "Izvestiya"(which are delivered
> to our University library with 1- or 2-week delay). And, of course, the
> great postings by Karel Stokkermans, who can read "Sport and Toto".
> 
>    This posting is a kind of description of all major events happened to
> ex-Soviet football since last December.
> 
> A.) Leagues of newborn countries.
> ---------------------------------
>    The last Soviet championship was in 1991. CSKA (Moscow, Russia) were
> the champions, "Spartak" (Moscow, Russia) were runner-ups, and the 3rd
> prize was won by "Torpedo" (Moscow, Russia).
>    The last Soviet Cup, played in 1990/91, was also won by CSKA. The Cup
> of 1991/92 was started as Soviet Cup, but finished in 1992 as CIS Cup.
> "Spartak" (Moscow) beat CSKA 1:0 in the final game.
>    Meanwhile, the idea of a kind of a joint CIS league miserably failed -
> each republic started her own league...
> 
> 1.) Russian League.
> -------------------
>    Russia was always one of the best Soviet republics in football, espe-
> cially in 1936 - 1960, when no one club from another republic won the So-
> viet championship. Then the situation changed -- Russian teams had to
> compete hard with Ukrainians and Georgians. In 1980s, Russian teams won
> the championship just three times ("Zenit" (Leningrad) in 1984, "Spartak"
> (Moscow) in 1987 and 1989). However, in 1991 Russians managed to get all
> three top places (CSKA, "Spartak" and "Torpedo" -- all from Moscow).
>    First Russian Premier League was composed in Spring 1992 of 20 teams.
> Four of them were considered as clear favorites: CSKA (Soviet champions
> 1991, runner-ups 1990), "Spartak" (champions 1987 and 1989, runner-ups
> 1991), "Torpedo" (3rd in 1991, 4th in 1990) and "Dinamo" (3rd in 1990,
> but just 6th in 1991) (all from Moscow). Out of 20 teams composed in Rus-
> sian Premier League 1992, just 6 played in Soviet Premier League in 1991:
> 4 favorites, mentioned above, "Spartak" (Vladikavkaz) (used to play in
> Soviet First League (2nd best), but in 1990 was promoted to Premier (and
> got there 12th place in 1991)) and "Lokomotiv" (Moscow) (used to play in
> Premier and First, was 16th in Premier in 1991). Other 14 teams were
> from Soviet First and Second Leagues.
>    20 teams were divided into 2 groups. Each group had two-round tourna-
> ment, and 4 top teams from each group reached finals.
>    Those are the results of those group tournaments (thanx to Karel):
> 
> Group A
>  1.Dinamo Moskva               18 35-16  24
>  2.Lokomotiv Moskva            18 23-14  24
>  3.Spartak Vladikavkaz         18 31-18  23
>  4.CSKA Moskva                 18 29-20  23
> -------------------------------------------
>  5.Tekstilschik Kamyshin       18 20-17  21
>  6.Uralmash Ekaterinsburg      18 28-29  19
>  7.Okean Nakhodka              18 24-25  18
>  8.Fakel Voronezh              18 10-19  14
>  9.Dynamo Stavropol            18 14-31   9
> 10.Dynamo Gazovik Tyumen       18 11-36   5
> 
> Group B
>  1.Spartak Moskva              18 35- 9  28
>  2.Asmaral Moskva              18 34-21  26
>  3.Lokomotiv Nizhny Novgorod   18 16-11  23
>  4.Rostselmash Rostov-na-Donu  18 20-17  20
> -------------------------------------------
>  5.Krylya Sovetov Samara       18 12-19  18
>  6.Torpedo Moskva              18 20-20  17
>  7.Rotor Volgograd             18 23-19  16
>  8.Zenit Sankt Petersburg      18 21-35  14
>  9.Kuban Krasnodar             18 19-30  12
> 10.Shinnik Yaroslavl           18 11-30   6
> 
> Final Poule
>  1.Spartak Moskva               6  9- 2   9
>  2.Spartak Vladikavkaz          6 10- 5   8
>  3.Lokomotiv Nizhny Novgorod    6  3- 3   6
>  4.Lokomotiv Moskva             6  3- 4   6
>  5.Dynamo Moskva                6  6- 8   6
>  6.Asmaral Moskva               6  5- 8   6
>  7.CSKA Moskva                  6  8-10   4
>  8.Rostselmash Rostov-na-Donu   6  1- 5   3
> 
> Championship to be decided in 14-match-competition between August 29 and
> November 8 (8 more rounds). Results from direct confrontations in the
> group matches taken into account (see above table).
> 
>    Thus, only 3 out of 4 clear favorites managed to get to the finals --
> "Torpedo" did not. 2 finalists are from Soviet First League ("Rostsel-
> mash" and "Lokomotiv" (Nizhny Novgorod)), and "Asmaral" is from Second !
> (That's really a surprise !)
> 
>    So far -- no more info.
> 
> 2.) Ukrainian League.
> ---------------------
>    Since 1960s, Ukrainians were leaders in Soviet football. Until 1980s,
> that was mostly because of one great club -- "Dinamo" (Kiev), Soviet
> champion of 1961, 1966 - 1968, 1974 - 1975, 1977, 1980 - 1981, 1985 -
> 1986, 1990, EC2 holder in 1975 and 1986... and so on. In 1980s, another
> very good Ukrainian club, "Dnepr" (Dnepropetrovsk), arose -- they were
> champions in 1983 and 1988.
>    First Ukrainian Premier League was composed in Spring 1992 of 20 teams
> Six of them played in 1991 in Soviet Premier League ("Dinamo" (Kiev)
> (just 5th in 1991), "Chernomorets" (4th in 1991), "Dnepr", "Shakhter",
> "Metallist" and "Metallurg"). Others were from First and Second Leagues.
>    20 teams were divided into 2 groups. Each group had two-round tourna-
> ment, and winners of 2 groups played for champion title.
>    Those are the results of those group tournaments (thanx to Karel):
> 
> Group 1
>  1.Tavria Simferopol           18  28
>  ------------------------------------
>  2.Shakhter Donetsk            18  26
>  3.Chernomorets Odessa         18  25
>  4.Torpedo Zaporozhye          18  19
>  5.Metallurg Zaporozhye        18  18
>  6.Karpaty Lvov                18  16
>  7.Kremen Kremenchug           18  16
>  ------------------------------------
>  8.Niva Vinnitsa               18  14
>  9.Evis Nikolaev               18  10
> 10.Temp Shepetovka             18   8
> 
> Group 2
>  1.Dinamo Kiev                 18  30
>  ------------------------------------
>  2.Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk        18  23
>  3.Metallist Kharkov           18  21
>  4.Niva Ternopol               18  21
>  5.Volyn Lutsk                 18  18
>  6.Bukovina Chernovtsy         18  18
>  7.Zarya Lugansk               18  17
>  ------------------------------------
>  8.Neftyanik Akhtyrka          18  13
>  9.Prikarpatye Ivano-Frankovsk 18  12
> 10.SKA Odessa                  18   7
> 
>    In the final game, "Tavria" beat "Dinamo" (Kiev) 1:0. That was really
> a surprise -- a team which used to play in Soviet First League, became
> champions, while all former Premier League clubs couldn't do it.
>    First Ukrainian Cup was won by "Chernomorets", who beat "Metallist" in
> the final game -- 1:0 (aet).
>    Three bottom teams from each group were relegated to the First League,
> and two clubs from First League ("Veres" (Rovno) and "Krivbass" (Krivoi
> Rog)).
>    The second Ukrainian championship has already been started. The format
> is: two-round tournament with 16 clubs participating.
>    These are the first results (played August 16-17 (approx.); sorry, no
> more info):
> 
>   "Metallist" - "Chernomorets" -- 1:1
>   "Dinamo" - "Kremen" -- 5:0
>   "Torpedo" - "Dnepr" -- 0:1
>   "Shakhter" - "Bukovina" -- 0:0
>   "Veres" - "Karpaty" -- 1:1
>   "Krivbass" - "Niva"(Ternopol) -- 1:0
>   "Volyn" - "Metallurg" -- 0:0
>   "Tavria" - "Zarya" (postponed)
> 
> 3.) Georgian League.
> --------------------
>    Georgians had one very good team in Soviet Premier League. That was
> "Dinamo" (Tbilisi), who used to be Soviet champions a few times, some-
> times got Soviet Cup, and once even got EC2 (in 1981). Sometimes another
> Georgian team ("Torpedo" (Kutaisi) or "Guria" (Lanchkhuti)) got promoted
> to Premier League from First, but not for more than 1-2 years... Also
> "Dinamo"(Sukhumi) and "Dimano"(Batumi) used to play in First Division...
> other Georgian teams played in Second one.
>    Yet in 1990 Georgians refused to play in Soviet League (though they
> didn't achieve independence from USSR until last December) and had their
> own League started. Since then, Georgians had three championships, all
> of them won by "Dinamo" (Tbilisi) (they used to call themselves "Iberia"
> in 1990 - 1992, but now they changed back to "Dinamo").
>    Unfortunately, I don't know much about last Georgian championship. As
> I already said, "Dinamo" (Tbilisi) won. "Gorda" (Rustavi) were runner-
> ups. Georgian Cup was won by "Tskhumi" (Sukhumi) (I suspect (but I'm not
> sure) that "Tskhumi" is just new name for "Dinamo" (Sukhumi).)
                               ^^^^^^^
   It is according to 'France Football' !!!


Final table (from Kent, you typed it in minutes before I intended to :-) )

TEAM                         P    W    D    L    GF-GA     PTS
==============================================================
Iberia Tblisi (ex-Dinamo)    38   27    6    5   115-41    87   CHAMPIONS (*)
Tskhoumi Soukhoum (ex-Dinamo)38   24    4   10   96-53     76   CWC CUP (*)
Gorda Roustavi               38   22    9    7   71-38     75   UEFA CUP (*)
Gouria Lanchkhuti            38   22    3   13   89-56     69
Kolkheti (**)                38   15   11   12   49-45     56
Odichi                       38   16    6   16   56-56     54
Mziouri                      38   16    5   17   53-65     53
Margveti                     38   14   11   13   60-58     53
Batoumi Dinamo ?             38   15    6   17   55-58     51
Dila Gori                    38   14    8   16   64-64     50
Koutaissi Torpedo ?          38   15    4   19   66-60     49
Samgouali                    38   14    6   18   41-55     48
Mretebi                      38   13    9   16   48-51     48
Samtredia                    38   13    9   16   55-62     48
Kolkheti (**)                38   13    9   16   57-66     48
Chevardeni                   38   14    5   19   56-72     47
Amirani                      38   13    8   17   48-56     47
Alazani                      38   13    8   17   45-70     47
Soulori                      38   13    7   18   53-82     46
Mertskhali                   38    4    6   28   29-98     18

Best scorer:  Khorgalidze (Gouria)     40 goals (!)

*   Should have played in UEFA competitions if not UEFA had decided that
    the security wasn't sufficient in the country.

**  Both teams are named the same, so I can't distinguish between them.
                                              ^^^^^^^^^^^
                                              Neither can I :-)
        
> 
> 4.) Belorussian League.
> -----------------------
>    Only one Belorussian club used to play in Soviet Premier League. It
> was "Dinamo" (Minsk). They became pretty strong in 1980s (champions in
> 1982, 3rd place in 1983, 4th in 1985, 5th in 1984, 1987, 1989, Cup fina-
> lists in 1987...). Other 5 Belorussian clubs ("Dnepr" (Mogilev), "Khimik"
> (Grodno), "Dinamo" (Brest), "Gomselmash" (Gomel) and "Dvina" (Vitebsk))
> played in Second League. Only once (in 1982) one of them ("Dnepr") was
> promoted to First, but in 1983 was relegated back.
>    When Belarus got independent, the first championship was held. Pre-
> mier League was composed in Spring 1992 of 16 teams (including "Dinamo"
> (Minsk) (who was just 8th in 1991 Soviet Premier League) and 5 Soviet
> Second League teams), who had one-round tournament.
>    That is the final table (thanx to Karel):
> 
>  1.Dinamo Minsk                15 38- 5  25
>  2.Dnepr Mogilev               15 28- 4  24
>  3.Dinamo Brest                15 21- 9  20
>  4.Traktor Bobruysk            15 13-10  19
>  5.Khimik Grodno               15 21-17  18
>  6.KIM Vitebsk                 15 19-15  16  (former "Dvina" ?)
>  7.Torpedo Mogilev             15 16-14  16
>  8.Metallurg Molodechno        15 11-12  15
>  9.Vedrich Rechitsa            15 17-19  15
> 10.Shakhter Soligorsk          15 15-17  13
>    Torpedo Minsk               15 15-17  13
> 12.Obuvschik Lida              15 13-18  11
> 13.Stroitel Starye Dorogi      15 14-22  10
> 14.Lokomotiv Vitebsk           15 14-28  10
> 15.BELAZ Zhodino               15 13-31  10
> 16.Gomselmash Gomel            15  5-35   5
> 
> The first Belorussian Cup was won by "Dinamo" (Minsk), who beat "Dnepr"
> in final game -- 6:1.
> 
> 5.) Lithuanian League.
> ----------------------
>    When Lithuania declared her independence in 1990, Lithuanian clubs
> left Soviet League. From 1983 to 1989, one of them, "Zhalgiris" (Vilnus)
> played in Premier League and was considered pretty good team (in 1988
> "Zhalgiris" were 3rd). There were no Lithuanian teams in First League,
> and the only one Lithuanian team in Second League was "Atlantas" (Klay-
> peda).
>    Unfortunately, I don't know much about last Lithuanian League champi-
> onship. I just know that "Zhalgiris" won and that "Panerys" (Vilnus) we-
> re runner-ups. "Lietuvos Makkabi" (Vilnus) got the Cup.

Here is more:

Final table (again according to 'France Football'):

 1.Zhalgiris Vilnius		25 17  5  3 39-11 39  Champions-Cup
---------------------------------------------------- 
 2.Paneris Vilnius		25 16  6  3 47-10 38
 3.Sirijus Klaipeda		25 11 11  3 32-14 33
 4.Ekranas Panevezys		25 12  8  5 42-20 32
 5.Granitas Klaipeda		25 12  8  5 36-19 32
 6.Banga Granitas Kaunas	25 11 10  4 29-15 32
 7.Lietuvos Vilnius		25 10 11  4 31-16 31
 8.Sakalas Siauliai		25  7  9  9 26-31 23
 9.Jovaras Mazeikiai		25  8  5 12 25-32 21
10.Inkaras Kaunas		25  6  6 13 21-36 18
11.Snaige Alytus		25  5  5 15 20-48 15
12.Elektronas Taurage		25  4  5 16 16-42 13
13.Tauras Siauliai		25  3  1 21 14-57  7

The 14th team Vienybe Ukmerse must have withdrawn at the
halfway-stage. That will explain the odd number of matches played
and the difference between goals for and against. Thus all the
other teams retained the points obtained against Ukmerse in
the first half of the season.

Cup final: Lietuvos Vilnius	-Zhalgiris Vilnius 1-0


> 6.) Latvian League.
> -------------------
>    The only Latvian team average Soviet football fan knew was "Daugava"
> (Riga), who used to play in First League. In 1985 - 1987 they had excel-
> lent chances to get promoted to Premier League... but they didn't managed
> to do it... and in 1989 they were relegated to Second League... then in
> 1990 they got promoted back... but in 1991 (under new name "Pardaugava")
> they played very unsuccesfully.
>    Two other Latvian clubs played in Second League: "Zveynieks" (Liepaya)
> (now "Olimpia") and RAF (Yelgava).
>    Here is the final table of first Latvian League championship (thanx to
> Karel):
> 
>  1.Skonto Riga                 11 34- 8  20
>  2.RAF Yelgava                 11 12- 3  18
>  3.VEF Riga                    11 23- 7  17
>  4.Daugava Riga                11 20-10  16
>  5.Olimpia Liepaya             11 16-14  15
>  6.Pardaugava Riga             11 21-12  12
>  7.BJSS Daugavpils             11 14-18  10
>  8.Torpedo Riga                11 15-15   9
>  9.Gauya Valmiera              11 10-19   8
> 10.Vayrogs Rezekne             11 12-23   8
> 11.Start Brotseny              11  6-28   2
> 12.Dilar Ilukste               11  3-29   1
> 
> Cup was won by "Skonto", who beat "Daugava" in the final game.
> 
> 7.) Estonian League.
> --------------------
>    Estonians never had a single team even in Soviet First League (some-
> times even in Second).
>    All I know about last Estonian League is:
> 1."Norma" (Tallinn) won.
> 2.EP "Johvi" were runner-ups.
> 3.VMV (Tallinn) got Cup.


Final table of the final round (top 4 from each preliminary group
(West/East) of 7 qualified):

 1.Norma Tallinn		7 5 2 0 22- 4 12 Champions-Cup
------------------------------------------------
 2.Johvi EP			7 3 4 0 23-14 10
 3.VMV Tallinn			7 3 2 2 23-13  8
 4.Flora Tallinn		7 3 2 2 17- 9  8
 5.Vigri Tallinn		7 3 0 4  9-16  6
 6.Kalev Tartu			7 1 3 3 11-18  5
 7.Narvatrans Narva		7 1 2 4  9-28  4
 8.Parnu JK			7 1 1 5 10-22  3


> 
> 8.) Other leagues.
> ------------------
>    Here is all I know about other 8 ex-Soviet republics' leagues:
>    In Tadzhik League, former Soviet Premier League team "Pamir" (Dushan-
> be) was leading in June (no idea what happened after that).
>    In first Moldovian Cup final, "Budjak" (Komrat) beat 1991 Soviet First
> League leader "Tiligul" (Tiraspol) -- 5:0.
>    No idea about what's going on in Armenian, Azerbajzdhani, Kazakh, Kir-
> ghiz, Uzbek and Turkmenian Leagues...
> 
> 
> B.) EuroCups and ex-USSR.
> -------------------------
>    Everyone knows, that in EuroCups Soviets usually were among top 10...
> In 1991/92, 5 Soviet teams started in new EuroCups cycle... 4 of them
> (all Russian) were out before the end of the USSR, and "Dinamo" (Kiev)
> was the only team who reached quarterfinals (but couldn't get thru the
> EC1 semifinal mini-league).
>    Several ex-Soviet republics applied for the participation in EuroCups
> in 1992/93. Russia was granted ex-Soviet places in all 3 Cups (1 in EC1,
> 1 in EC2, 2 in EC3). CSKA (the USSR champion of 1991) went to EC1,
> "Spartak" (Moscow) (the CIS Cup 1992 winner) -- to EC2, "Torpedo" (3rd
> in Soviet League in 1991) and "Dinamo" (Moscow) (6th in Soviet League in
> 1991 (4th and 5th were Ukrainian teams)) -- to EC3.
>    Ukraine got 3 places (1 in each Cup). "Tavria", "Chernomorets" and
> "Dinamo" (Kiev) (according to Ukrainian League championship and Cup re-
> sults) went to EC1, EC2 and EC3 respectively.
>    Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian teams got permission to play... only
> in EC1. The official reason for such idiotic UEFA decision was the bad
> conditions of the stadiums in all three Baltic countries. Thus, only
> champions of these countries ("Norma", "Skonto" and "Zhalgiris") were
> allowed to play in EuroCups this year.
>    Georgians were refused in the last minute (because of "unsecurity" in
> this country (very standard refusal !)). Other republics were just igno-
> red by UEFA.
> 
>    On August 19, the 1st leg games of the preliminary round were played,
> and some ex-Soviets also participated:
> 
> EC1.) "Shelbourne" (Ireland) - "Tavria" -- 0:0 (good !)
>       "Klaksvikar Itrottarfelage" (Faroes) - "Skonto" -- 1:2 (not bad !)
>       "Olimpia" (Slovenia) - "Norma" -- 3:0 (well, who had doubts ?)
> 
> EC2.) FC "Vaduz" (Liechtenstein) - "Chernomorets" -- 0:5 (it would be
>                                                            shame not to)
> 
>    2nd leg games will be played on September 2. All ex-Soviets (except
> "Norma") have good chances.
> 
>    And here is the schedule of first round for ex-Soviet teams:
> 
> EC1.) AC "Milan" (Italy) - "Norma" (if qualifies)
>       "Lech" (Poland) - "Skonto" (if qualifies)
>       PSV (Holland) - "Zhalgiris"
>       "Sion" (Switzerland) - "Tavria" (if qualifies)
>       "Vikingur" (Iceland) - CSKA
> 
> EC2.) "Olympiakos" (Greece) - "Chernomorets" (if qualifies)
>       "Boltfelagid 1936" (Faroes) or "Avenir" (Luxembourg) - "Spartak"
> 
> EC3.) "Manchester United" (England) - "Torpedo"
>       "Dinamo" (Moscow) - "Rosenborg" (Norway)
>       "Dinamo" (Kiev) - "Rapid" (Austria)
> 
> 
> C.) New national teams.
> -----------------------
>    After being one of the best in Europe in 1960s, Soviet national team
> had kind of crisis in 1970s - 1980s. However, in 1986 - 1988 things got
> better: Soviets showed very good play in World Cup 1986 and became run-
> ner-ups in Euro-88. Then, World Cup 1990 was a failure (Soviets couldn't
> even pass the first round). However, Euro-92 qualifiers were passed by
> Soviet team very confidently.
>    After the dissolution of the USSR CIS team (which actually was the
> same team that managed to win in the qualifiers) replaced USSR team in
> Euro-92 finals. It was a disgrace: after ties with Germany (1:1) and Hol-
> land (0:0) CISers lost to... Scotland -- 0:3. That was the fameless end
> of CIS team.
>    Meanwhile, it was unclear what to do with Soviet participation in
> World Cup 1994. The draw of it, held in December 1991, had considered
> USSR as the united country (that was a few days BEFORE the end of the
> USSR) (actually, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania got separate places in
> World Cup qualifiers -- but that was just because they already were inde-
> pendent from September 1991). So what had to be done with USSR place in
> 5th European qualifying group ?
>    Ukrainians suggested fair tournament between ex-Soviet republics' na-
> tional teams, winner of which would take USSR place. But brainless FIFA
> bastards.. gave this place to... Russia, who was considered by them as
> successor to the USSR. (Why ???)
>    Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia and Armenia also were admitted to FIFA, but
> without any World Cup participation so far...
>    Well, how are newborn national teams doing ?
> 
> 1.) Russia.
> -----------
>    This team was founded a month or two ago, after the dissolution of
> the CIS team (after Euro-92). Pavel Sadyrin, the coach of CSKA, became
> the coach of Russian national team.
>    So far this team played only one game -- and it was the win over Me-
> xico in Moscow -- 2:0. Karpin and Popov scored.
> 
> 2.) Ukraine.
> ------------
>    This team was founded in April. Viktor Prokopenko, the "Chernomorets"
> coach, became the coach of Ukrainian national team, after Valery Loba-
> novsky, who used to be the famous coach of "Dinamo" (Kiev) and Soviet
> national team, refused this offer.
>    Two games were played so far: with Hungary at home (1:3) and with US
> in New Jersey (0:0). Also I heard (but I'm not sure) that another game
> with Hungary (away this time) was played -- 1:2.
> 
> 3.) Estonia.
> ------------
>    I know precisely only about three games: two friendlies (with Slove-
> nia -- 1:1 and Latvia -- 1:2) and one shameful World Cup qualifier (with
> Switzerland -- 0:6).
> 
> 4.) Lithuania.
> --------------
>    A couple of friendlies were played (all lost, as far as I remember)
> and three World Cup qualifiers, too (all away: with North Ireland -- 2:2,
> with Albania -- 0:1, with Latvia -- 2:1).
> 
> 5.) Latvia.
> -----------
>    A couple of friendlies and two qualifiers were played. In qualifiers
> Lativans first lost to Lithuanians (1:2), but then (on August 26) managed
> to tie with European champions -- the Danes ! (0:0)
> 
> 
> Well, that's all so far. All comments and updates are strongly encoura-
> ged and positively welcomed !!!
>                                         Regards,
> 
>                                              Pavel.

 All results are taken from the excellent French magasin 'France
Football'. So ,as Kent said, all complains especially about the 
spelling (:-)) should be directed to them not me :-).

Regards

+---------------------------------------------------------------+
|  Lars Thore Aarhus                  e-mail: larsaa@ifi.uio.no |
|  Department of Informatics                                    |
|  University of Oslo                   'GO Villa,GO'           |
|                                                               |
|  'Lyn for the Norwegian championship 1992'                    |
+---------------------------------------------------------------+


 
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