By Vladimir Dmitriev
On July 8th, the Dynamo-Yuni Stadium saw Dinamo Minsk draw 1:1 with Grodno Neman. The club was ranked fourth in the country’s championship but the leadership of the club wasn’t satisfied, leading to the announcement of the Sednev’s departure.
Protasov may be able to improve the situation, having seen significant success as a player and coach. As a member of the USSR national team, he was European vice-champion, claimed the European Silver Boot (as the second highest scorer playing in national championships of European countries) and was a record-breaker within the USSR championship for the number of goals scored in one season (35).
Mr. Protasov began his coaching career in Greece, heading Olympiakos in 2002 and helping the club claim gold at the country’s championship in 2003. He also took them to the Greece Cup finals in 2004. He then worked successfully in Romania, coaching Steaua from Bucharest. Under his guidance, the team won the country’s national championship within four years (their first such claim to fame) and did well at the UEFA Cup group stage, defeating German Gerta, Italian Sampdoria and French Lens. In 2005, Mr. Protasov was named ‘best coach’ in Romania. Over the years, he has also coached Ukrainian Dnepr, Kuban Krasnodar, AEL Cyprus (2004-2005), Greece Iraklis (2009), Russian Rostov (2010-2011) and Kazakhstan Astana (2011-2012).
Musing on his plans for Dinamo, Mr. Protasov notes that he wants ‘to develop football which will please people and gather full stadiums’. “Undoubtedly, results dominate but I also think we need to entertain fans,” believes the coach. “Of course, opinions differ but I think that we should focus on more than the final score; we should play for our fans, displaying quick and combinational football.”
