Vladimir Maslachenko is a sports commentator, goalkeeper and football expert. The career of this outstanding person could have been completely different if it had not been for competition from Lev Yashin. Our hero was able to constantly remain in the shadow of the legendary goalkeeper and leave sports early enough. He became a real celebrity in a different role - a football columnist. Today, Vladimir Nikitovich is a real icon for young journalists who cover sports events. Let's look at the biography of commentator Maslachenko.
Childhood
Future commentator Maslachenko Vladimir Nikitovich was born on March 5, 1936 in the village of Vasilkovka, Dnipropetrovsk Region, URSR. Our hero’s father was a retired military man, and his mother was an ordinary housewife.
Volodya’s childhood passed in the city of Kryvyi Rih, where the family moved to permanent residence. The boy began to play football in domestic teams, where he played in a variety of positions. Most of all, the guy liked to reflect the balls while in the goal range. Soon our hero became the goalkeeper of the school football team, having at that time a sports rank in decathlon.
Young years
After graduation, Vladimir received an invitation to the club "Metallurg" from the city of Dnepropetrovsk. The team participated in the second division of the championship of the Soviet Union. Here fully revealed the talent of the young goalkeeper. Unexpectedly for all, the team reached the semifinal of the USSR Cup. The skilled goalkeeper began to attract the attention of clubs from the big leagues.
When Maslachenko reached the age of 20, functionaries of the Moscow Spartak laid eyes on him. After moving to the capital, the player suddenly gave preference to the “locomotive”. Coach Nikolay Morozov, who also received an offer from the "railroad", lured the team of the young footballer.
The beginning of the journey in big sport
The jumping goalkeeper quickly entered the main team of the “Locomotive”. Together with the team, Maslachenko in 1957 won the Cup of the Soviet Union. Two years later, the team won the silver medals of the national championship.
The young goalkeeper received an invitation to the USSR national team. Despite successful performances at the club level and outstanding talent, our hero did not manage to become the main player of the national team. At that time, Lev Yashin, who was considered the best football player in his position around the world, occupied an unconditional place in the goal.
In 1961, a significant event took place in the career of Maslachenko. The player received an offer to move to Spartak. Thus, the cherished childhood dream of our hero about speaking for the best club of the Soviet Union came true. In the same year, Vladimir managed to take away the title of the best goalkeeper of the country from Lev Yashin.
Career development
The best years of his career, Vladimir Maslachenko spent in Spartak. Together with the team, the eminent goalkeeper won gold awards of the football championship of the Soviet Union. Twice the club players got silver championship medals. Upon arrival to the team, our hero almost instantly managed to become one of the leaders of the team. In 1966, he was offered a captain's armband. For Spartak, Maslachenko played an impressive 196 matches in the union championships.
The outstanding goalkeeper did not have enough of a little to re-become the champion of the country. The second time the Spartacists won the title in 1969. However, at that time Maslachenko had already left big sport, unable to withstand competition from the young player Anzor Kavazashvili.
Vladimir Maslachenko - commentator
Having completed his football career, our hero did not even think to relax and part with the world of sports. Vladimir Nikitovich became interested in journalism. One day, during one of the matches, in the late 70s, a former player received an offer to say a few phrases into the microphone offhand. The event launched the career of the once successful goalkeeper as a columnist for events on the football field.
Soon, the newly made commentator Maslachenko got a job on Mayak radio. In 1972, he made a forced break in a new field of activity. Vladimir Nikitovich was invited to train the team of the national team of Chad. However, a year later, our hero decided to return to journalism.
Commentator Maslachenko, whose photo can be seen in the article, gained real star status in the late 90s. During this period, the eminent football expert received a position on the new sports channel NTV-Plus. Vladimir Nikitovich turned out to be a truly talented speaker, surprising and entertaining the audience with sparkling phrases. During the matches, the observer resorted to a deep analysis of the actions of the teams and the players, he analyzed the tactical subtleties, not forgetting about the preservation of eloquence.
Maslachenko began to secure coverage of major competitions for the football commentator. At that time, the famous journalist formed an individual style of communication with the audience. Our hero in an easy, relaxed manner explained to the audience the important nuances of the game. However, Vladimir Nikitovich was not allowed to fully reveal his talent in strict Soviet censorship. For this reason, commentator Maslachenko was not able to talk on the air all that he wanted to tell the audience.
The famous journalist worked on television until 2010. During his career, commentator Maslachenko managed to make himself known on the NTV-Plus Football and NTV-Plus Sport channels. Vladimir Nikitovich conducted the program “Football Club”. Our hero has repeatedly been given the opportunity to cover the final matches of the Champions League.
Achievements
Throughout his career, Vladimir Maslachenko managed to win the following awards:
- European Cup Winner;
- champion and silver medalist of the football championship of the Soviet Union;
- USSR Cup Winner;
- the best goalkeeper of the country in 1961 according to the popular magazine "Spark";
- Laureate of the TEFI State Television Award.
Interesting Facts
Several films have been made about the legendary Soviet goalkeeper and journalist. One of the most recent programs is the Commentator project on Match TV. Here you can hear about Maslachenko from the lips of colleagues and television people.
Vladimir Nikitovich is known as the first Soviet man to bring snowboarding to the country. A landmark event occurred in 1988. It was at this time that the allied government elite began to be more loyal to penetration through the border of Western things.
An interesting story happened during the coverage of events on the football field by Vladimir Maslachenko in the final match of the Champions League season 98/99. Observing the meeting between the teams of Manchester United and Bayern, the journalist showed too violent reactions to goals scored. As a result, a chair broke down under Maslachenko, on which he was sitting in a commentatorial cabin.