Igor Belanov

Igor Ivanovich (or Ihor Ivanovych) Belanov (Ukrainian: Ігор Іванович Беланов; born 25 September 1960) is a retired Soviet and Ukrainian footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or second striker.
He made a name for himself at Dynamo Kyiv, winning five major titles and being named European Footballer of the Year in 1986. He then spent six years in Germany with two teams, with little success.
Belanov represented the Soviet Union at one World Cup and one European Championship.
In 2011, Igor Belanov together with Oleg Blohin and Vitaliy Starukhin was named as the "legends of Ukrainian football" at the Victory of Football awards.

Beginnings / Dynamo Kyiv

Belanov was born in Odessa, Ukraine, Soviet Union. He started playing professionally in his hometown, with SKA Odessa and FC Chornomorets Odessa, joining country giants FC Dynamo Kyiv in 1985, and scoring ten goals in his first season, which ended with league and cup conquest.

Along with teammates Oleg Blokhin and Oleksandr Zavarov, Belanov led the scoring charts at the 1985–86 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (five apiece) as Dynamo won the competition for the second time. He played the full 90 minutes in the final against Atlético Madrid (3–0).

Germany

Mid-way through 1989, 29-year-old Belanov got the long-awaited clearance to join a Western European side, making a move to Germany to join Borussia Mönchengladbach. His debut in the Bundesliga came on 4 November 1989 in a 0–4 away defeat against VfB Stuttgart, but he failed to impress overall, scoring only four goals in his one-and-a-half-season stint.

Belanov moved to second level's Eintracht Braunschweig in January 1991, after his wife had been involved in a shoplifting affair. He made his debut for his new club on 23 February, and went on to net just 13 times in the competition in three seasons combined, also suffering relegation in 1992–93 without making a single appearance.

Retirement

In 1995 Belanov returned home to Chernomorets for one season, retiring at almost 37 after a spell with FC Illychivets Mariupol, appearing in only five games in two seasons combined.

He expressed opposition against the Euromaidan events, and said that he'd prefer to see Ukraine and Russia to be united.

Belanov played 33 matches for the Soviet Union, scoring eight goals. His best performance came at the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, where he netted four and assisted for six others as the team (which comprised 13 Dynamo Kyiv players) reached the round-of-16; he scored a hat-trick in the game against Belgium, in a losing extra time effort (3–4).

This performance at the World Cup, along with Dynamo's Cup Winners' Cup success, helped Belanov win the European Footballer of the Year award. He was also part of the squad that reached the final of UEFA Euro 1988, where the national side faced the Netherlands. With the score at 0–2, USSR were awarded a penalty: he took it, but saw goalkeeper Hans van Breukelen stop the shot as the score remained unaltered.

International goals

Scores and results list Soviet Union's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	2 June 1986	Estadio Sergio León Chávez, Irapuato, Mexico	Hungary	3–0	6–0	1986 FIFA World Cup
2.	15 June 1986	Estadio Nou Camp, León, Mexico	Belgium	1–0	3–4	1986 FIFA World Cup
3.	15 June 1986	Estadio Nou Camp, León, Mexico	Belgium	2–1	3–4	1986 FIFA World Cup
4.	15 June 1986	Estadio Nou Camp, León, Mexico	Belgium	3–4	3–4	1986 FIFA World Cup
5.	11 October 1986	Parc des Princes, Paris, France	France	1–0	2–0	Euro 1988 qualifying
6.	29 October 1986	Lokomotiv Stadium, Simferopol, Soviet Union	Norway	2–0	4–0	Euro 1988 qualifying
7.	29 April 1987	Republican Stadium, Kiev, Soviet Union	East Germany	2–0	2–0	Euro 1988 qualifying
8.	28 October 1987	Lokomotiv Stadium, Simferopol, Soviet Union	Iceland	1–0	2–0	Euro 1988 qualifying

Club

Dynamo Kyiv

• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1985–86
• Soviet League: 1985, 1986
• Soviet Cup: 1985, 1987
• UEFA Super Cup: Runner-up 1986

Chornomorets Odessa

• Ukrainian Second League: 1995–96

Country

Soviet Union

• UEFA European Football Championship: Runner-up 1988

Individual

• Ballon d'Or: 1986
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: Top scorer 1985–86
• FIFA XI: 1991, 1998
• Golden Foot: 2008, as a legend

• Moore, Rob; Stokkermans, Karel. "European Footballer of the Year ("Ballon d'Or")". RSSSF. Retrieved 6 September 2014. 
• Jarek Owsianski; Davide Rota (18 December 2013). "Cup Winners Cup Topscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 20 November 2015. 
• FIFA XI´s Matches - Full Info
• "Legends". Golden Foot. Retrieved 23 September 2015. 

Club

• Other - USSR Super Cup, USSR Federation Cup & Bundesliga Play-Off

International

Belanov turned to business after finishing his playing career. He returned to prominence when he became the majority shareholder at Switzerland's FC Wil, in August 2003. His predecessor, banker Andreas Hafen, had been given a five-years imprisonment sentence after embezzling 51 million Swiss francs ($40 million) from the UBS Bank.

Belanov's first move at Wil was replacing first-team manager Martin Andermatt with his former Dynamo Kyiv teammate Oleksandr Zavarov, not taking note of the fact that he lacked the necessary UEFA licence to manage a European top-division outfit. That circumstance forced Belanov to sign former FC Karl-Marx-Stadt manager Joachim Müller. Due to the appointment of Müller, Zavarov's job was officially described as director of football; Müller did not last long as coach however, as Belanov sacked him just after three months, replacing him with Tomáš Matějček.

Matejcek's strict training regiment caused a quick revolt amongst Wil players. This forced Belanov to make amends for his decisions and to re-appoint Müller as manager, and hand the assistant-manager role to former Swiss international goalkeeper Stephan Lehmann. Those turned out to be Belanov's last series of actions as Wil's major shareholder as, in a quick sequence, he pulled out of his chairman and shareholder role of the club.

Additionally, Belanov also owned a football school in Odessa, Ukraine, which carried his name.