The best football coach of the national team in the XX century: how they remembered the triumph of the European Cup - 1960 Kachalina

Bobrov called Kachalin "the greatest psychologist"

July 10 marks the 60th anniversary of the triumph of the USSR national team at the European Football Championship under the leadership of Gabriel Kachalin. A native of pre-revolutionary Moscow remained in the memory of contemporaries as the most successful mentor in the history of the national team. In 1956, the Soviet team led by him won the Olympics in Melbourne, and four years later in Paris won the Henri Delaunay Prize - the first European Cup. In addition, under the leadership of Kachalin, the national team three times reached the quarterfinals of the World Cup: in 1958, 1962 and 1970. He happened to climb the coaching bridge three times. Not a single national team coach could boast of such achievements.

Kachalin was also a good football player. In the 1930s, he acted as a midfielder first for Gomel, and then for Dynamo Moscow, with which he won the USSR Cup and two league titles.

“It was hard to believe that Gavriil Dmitrievich played as a midfielder, who in the pre-war era was charged mostly with utilitarian shuttle work with a predominance of defensive functions. So he stood out in the football world with a high general culture, intelligence, amazing modesty. None of the players have ever heard a rude word from him. The most unpleasant word in his mouth was “scoundrel”, which in some cases served as praise, ”recalled Dynamo defender and USSR national team of the 1950s and 1960s, Vladimir Kesarev.

Kachalin's coaching career began in 1945. Later it was he who first invited the 18-year-old Eduard Streltsov to the team. And hockey player Vsevolod Bobrov called him "the greatest psychologist." According to Viktor Tsaryov, who spoke at the same time as Kesarev, Kachalin had a teaching talent from God. At the same time, before joining the national team, the mentor did not win anything with the clubs, having managed to work only with Labor Reserves and Lokomotiv.

“But the leadership of the Football Federation brilliantly guessed with the candidacy, knowing Kachalin as a highly educated man in love with football. He not only knew the subject perfectly, but also knew how to find an approach to every player, created an excellent climate in the team. Kachalin completely trusted the players, ”Tsarev noted.

Intelligent trainers in our time are often accused of excessive leniency in relation to wards. In the era of Kachalin, there were enough specialists of the "dictatorial" warehouse, as they say in football. Perhaps in the work he really lacked rigidity, which can be judged by eyewitness accounts.

But Kachalin remained a rare coach of the Soviet period, a good attitude to which was maintained by almost all players. In the opinion of the 1960 European champion Valentin Bubukin, Kachalin, as well as Nikolai Gulyaev and Mikhail Yakushin, were ahead of their time and were “coaches of the future”.

He often drove footballers to performances

In the first half of the 1950s, the Soviet team was going through a difficult period. After the defeat in the 1/8 finals of the Olympic tournament in Helsinki-1952 from Yugoslavia, with which relations were tense at that time, the team was actually dismissed at the direction of Joseph Stalin. The national team was again convened only in 1954 after his death. Raise the reputation of Soviet football called Kachalin.

At first he was appointed assistant Vasily Sokolov, but after a few months, in 1955, he was promoted to the position of head coach. Kachalin's assistant was Konstantin Beskov. The future titled specialist participated in matches with the Yugoslavs at the 1952 Olympics and, as a punishment for losing, among others, was deprived of the title of Honored Master of Sports of the USSR. After Stalin's death, Beskova regalia was returned.

“In those days, the approach to the results of the national team was very demanding, and the conclusions were quick and harsh. In 1955, Kachalin and I began to assemble a new team, ”Beskov said in the 1990s.

It was then that representatives of the new generation appeared and quickly turned into leaders in the team - Lev Yashin, Valentin Ivanov, Anatoly Maslenkin, Anatoly Isaev and others. After a revenge with Yugoslavia in the final of the 1956 Games, Kachalin's work was highly appreciated.

“He was a very subtle psychologist, possessed the gift of suggestion. Each opponent was treated with genuine attention and respect. I don’t remember the case that before any team game we did not simulate the upcoming match in training. Now for some reason this is not. Kachalin could talk about football for hours. But at the same time he didn’t forget about cultural activities: Gavriil Dmitrievich was a big fan of the theater and often took the team to performances, ”recalled the striker of Spartak Isaev.

Before the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, the Soviet team was considered as one of the most likely contenders for medals. In combat, she really was capable of much. However, shortly before the start, the team lost three key players - Streltsov, Mikhail Ogonkov and Boris Tatushin, who became involved in the famous rape case. As a result, the national team went to the mundial seriously weakened in terms of staffing and dropping psychologically.

In the quarterfinals, Kachalin’s wards did not find arguments against the hosts of the competition. In October of that year, Soviet footballers lost to the British in a friendly game at Wembley. The defeat with a score of 0: 5 was the largest for the team at that time. Kachalin was dismissed, but at the beginning of 1960 he was called back. Gulyaev became an assistant. The post of team leader was entrusted to Andrei Starostin.

After Euro 1960, Kachalin was praised, after the 1962 World Cup - they scolded

In the final of the European Championship, the USSR national team once again measured their strength with Yugoslavia.

However, shortly before the continental championship - before leaving for France - an episode occurred that alarmed the leadership of the Soviet Union. In the control match, the Kachalin team tied with the youth team.

“The highest party and state officials immediately threw thunder and lightning on us, to which Kachalin replied:“ I believe in these guys, they will not fail. ” Everyone remembers how that championship ended, ”Bubukin was amazed at the intuition of the coach.

The team of Czechoslovakia in the semifinals, Ivanov scored two goals, another - Victor Monday. In a decisive meeting with the Yugoslavs, Slava Metreveli distinguished themselves, whom Kachalin used to jokingly call a "scoundrel", and this same Monday.

“After the first half, we lost 0-1, and it seemed that the situation could only change for the worse. During the break, Kachalin, a gentle man, did not give the team a thrashing. Instead, in his usual intelligent manner, he tried to clarify the purely football mistakes that we made. But then Starostin flew into the locker room. “So you, rastak,” he cried. - To whom are you losing? But you are a hundred times stronger than these Yugoslavs! ” And imagine, it worked! In the second half, we evened the score, and in extra time we scored a decisive goal, ”shared Ivanov.

In Moscow, players and coaches of the team were greeted as heroes. The celebration was held in the Luzhniki Stadium, where the triumphs were delivered in luxury cars. Then a gala reception was held in the Kremlin, where everyone was awarded government awards.

However, only two years later, the names of Kachalin and Yashin were bowed in every way. They were declared the culprits of failure at the World Cup in Chile-1962, where Soviet footballers lost to the hosts in the quarter-finals (1: 2). In the USSR, no one saw the broadcast of the game, but the fans willingly believed the newspapers that criticized the coach and goalkeeper. Kachalina was blamed for the outdated double-ve scheme, which many teams preferred a 4-2-4 set up.

As a result, the specialist was fired from the USSR team for the second time. It's time to prove yourself at the club level. In 1964, Kachalin led Dynamo Tbilisi to victory in the national championship. A little later, in the early 1970s, he twice took “bronze” with Tbilisi people. In 1973, the Moscow Dynamo took the third place in the standings under his leadership.

And in 1968, Kachalin was again placed at the head of the USSR team. At the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, his squad stopped at the “enchanted” stage of the quarter finals, losing to Uruguayans in extra time (0: 1). A participant in this mundial Nikolai Kiselev testified that the working methods of Kachalin did not change.

“Gabriel Dmitrievich tried to create, first of all, an atmosphere of harmony in the team and at home. He paid more attention to the tactical abilities of football players, ”stated the Spartak player.

The result, which in our time is considered overly successful for the national team, was then declared unsatisfactory. Kachalin was asked from the national team for the third time, and now - finally. In 74 matches at the helm of the main team of the USSR, he won 47 victories. None of the Soviet trainers succeeded either before or after.