Two years before that USSR national team reached the European Championship final for the second time in a row, but lost against Spain.
That defeated was considered to be an unsatisfactory result and the head coach Konstantin Beskov was fired.
Nikolai Morozov took charge of the team.
Best in qualification
USSR demonstrated the best result in qualification among all groups. In May and June of 1965 Soviet players defeated Greece (3:1), Wales (2:1) and Denmark (6:0) at home arenas and in October were victorious as they faced Greece (4:1) and Denmark (3:1) away. Morozov’s men suffered narrow defeat only in the last fixture against Wales (2:1), which didn’t mean anything.
Three FC Dynamo Kyiv performers featured in qualifiers – goalkeeper Viktor Bannikov, halfback Yozhef Sabo and forward Vitaliy Khmelnytskyi.
Sabo scored against Denmark in Copenhagen
The most successful performance ever
USSR faced Italy, Chile and North Korea within the World Cup group stage.
Five FC Dynamo Kyiv representatives were included to players’ list of the Soviet team – goalkeeper Viktor Bannikov, defender Leonid Ostrovskyi, halfbacks Yozhef Sabo and Viktor Serebrianykov and forward Valeriy Porkuian.
On July 12 USSR defeated North Korea in Middlesbrough – 3:0. Leonid Ostrovskyi played for defense very confidently and Yozhef Sabo got two assists to his name.
The most intriguing fixture of the group stage between Italy and USSR took place in Sunderland. Soviet players won by one goal to nil. Yozhef Sabo was booked.
On July 20 Morozov’s men defeated Chile – 2:1. Leonid Ostrovskyi, Viktor Serebrianykov and Valeriy Porkuian took the field in that game.The latter scored brace.
In the quarterfinal USSR faced Hungary. The match took place in Sunderland at Rocker Park Stadium.
Yozhef Sabo and Valeriy Porkuian performed in that game. In he second half the latter scored after assist from former. The final score of the game is 2:1 for Soviet Union.
On July 25 USSR featured against BRD in the semifinal. Same FC Dynamo Kyiv representatives took the field as in previous match.
Germans played very roughly. Yozhef Sabo was injured early in the game. Later Chyslenko was sent off. Germany netted two goals – 42 and 68 minutes into the match. Three minutes before the time Porkuian hit the target, but still USSR didn’t manage to equalize.
On July 28 Morozov’s men lost against Portugal in consolation match – 1:2. Viktor Serebrianykov took the field in that game.
Twists of fate
Valeriy Porkuian became one of the openings of the 1966 World Cup. Still he was included to the USSR players’ list in the nick of time instead of Vitaliy Khmelnytskyi.
Anyway he didn’t become FC Dynamo Kyiv first team regular after the world contest. In 1969 he joined FC Chornomorets Odesa. From 1972 till 1975 Porkuian featured for FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. Today he works for Chornomorets as assistant coach.
Valeriy Porkuian is the Order of the merit of the Third Class chevalier (2004).
Goalkeeper Viktor Bannikov made his debut for USSR national team on November 29 1964 (USSR – Bulgaria – 0:0).
He didn’t make a single appearance at the 1966 World Cup.
In 1970 Bannikov became “Goalkeeper of the year”. He featured at Euro-1972.
Viktor performed for FC Dynamo Kyiv from 1961 till 1969 (151 appearances, 122 goals conceded).
He was the president of Football Federation of Ukraine from 1991 till 1996.
Bannikov passed away on April 25 2001 at the age of 62.
Leonid Ostrovskyi was called up to USSR national team in 1958 for the first time.
He took the field in four matches of 1962 World Cup.
In 1963 Ostrovskyi joined FC Dynamo Kyiv (135 appearances in the Soviet Top League). In 1968 he finished his career because of injury.
In 1990th Ostrovskyi worked as a coach in DynamofootballAcademy.
He passed away on April 16 2001 at the age of 65.
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