Looking Down From the Heights

Practically all football teams, no matter how glorious and brilliant, and no matter how much they are heralded, have eras of decline. These are times when a Club often has to be kept afloat through the rallying and love of the fans – the supporters who are on its side no matter what.

This was the case with Olympiacos, when the Club experienced the desperate “barren years”. For older fans, the 1987-1997 decade is known by this moniker. The reason was because the Reds failed to win the first division championship during the period, as the team, in fact, teetered with collapse at one point. Even then, however, there were players whose performances and merit kept Olympiacos standing proud, while offering its millions of fans moments of delight.

Three such world-class players were Oleh Protasov, Yuri Savichev and Hennadiy Lytovchenko, known in the Greek press when they arrived for the 1990-91 season as the “Soviet MIGs”, as they arrived from the Soviet football league. Their transfer to the Reds caused a sensation at the time, both for fans and rival teams, with the newly appointed Olympiacos manager, himself a football legend, Oleg Blokhin, instrumental in their acquisition.

The surprise transfer of Protasov to the Reds came at the peak of his career, and while he was on the ‘radar’ of several top European clubs

Oleh Valeriyovych Protasov (born February 4, 1964) was born in Dnipro, Ukraine. He started playing at the age of 8, when his local team added him to their academy. He played in the junior teams until 1981, when he then joined the senior’s team. With the Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk’s jersey he played continuously until 1987, winning the Soviet Union championship once (1983) while he was named the top scorer of the league three seasons in a row (1985, 1986, 1987), as well as best Soviet footballer in 1987. He then transferred to Dynamo Kyiv with whom he played until 1990, winning the Soviet Union championship once (1990).

At the end of his tenure with Dynamo Kyiv, he was considered as one of the best attackers in the world. He scored a total of 125 goals with Dnipro and Dynamo Kyiv, making him the eighth all-time scorer in the country’s first division league.

His transfer, which came at the peak of his career and while he was on the “radar” of top European clubs – such as Fiorentina and Juventus – generated excitement with the fans. Yet in the end, other reasons, both competitive and non-competitive, prevented him from winning the Greek championship title. In the four years he played for Olympiacos, he failed to win a championship, but he did win the Greek Cup once (1992) and the Super Cup (1992). While a championship with Olympiacos as a player eluded him, he achieved a measure of satisfaction by winning the title as the manager of Olympiacos in 2003 – which was the seventh consecutive won by the Club — one punctuated with a 3-0 win against rivals Panathinaikos at the Rizoupolis field to seal the title.

All total, he played in 83 games with Olympiacos and scored 48 goals.

A world-class midfielder who would easily advance towards the penalty box as the come-from-behind striker, one of Protasov’s highlights with the Reds came on April 8, 1992, when he made a penalty shot as injury time had expired, giving Olympiacos the qualification against Panathinaikos in a Cup qualification. Earlier, in the opener of the 1991-92 season, Olympiacos hosted AEK Athens at  Karaiskakis Stadium and won 4-2, with a hat-trick by Oleh and another goal added by Nikos Tsiantakis.

The Soviet Union’s center forward, Oleh Protasov, went from the final of the Euro 1988 in Germany to Greece in 1990 for Olympiacos, which was stuck in the era known as the “barren years” for the Club.

The second “MIG” to set foot in the port city was Yuri Savichev.  He was born on February 13, 1965 in Moscow and is Russian, while Protasov is Ukrainian. He played for Torpedo Moscow from 1985-1990, scoring 47 goals and is the eighth highest scorer in the club’s history. In 1990 Blokhin brought him to Olympiakos along with Protasov (and Lytovchenko shortly after) and until 1992 he had scored 17 goals in 45 games.

He belongs to the so-called “Grigory Fedotov Club”, an unofficial honorific title for Russians or Soviets who have scored more than 100 official goals in their career. Savichev scored 101 (two with the Russian national team, seven in European Cups, 47 in the Russian league, eight in Russian Cup play and 37 with foreign clubs).

He was included on the Soviet Union national team for the 1988 Seoul Olympics, playing in the final against a Brazil team that featured the likes of Romario, Bebeto and Taffarel. Savichev, who had come on as a substitute, scored the winning goal (2-1) in the 103rd minute for the Soviet Union to collect the gold medal for his teammates and himself in front of 73,000 spectators.

He didn’t stay long with Olympiacos, but his performance and goals endeared him to the Reds’ fans. Savichev made his debut on September 23, 1990, against Levadiakos (3-0), while his first goal came against Panserraikos the following week (a 2-2 final score). His last goal with Olympiacos came on May 10, 1992.

Regrettably, he played with Olympiakos during the team’s most difficult years and managed to win only one Cup. A ‘dandy’ striker, nimble and with playmaking skills, he knew the secrets of the “round goddess”, allowing him to also make his mark with the Legend.

“Lito”, as he was called, joined the Reds at the age of 28 in January 1991, to become the third “MIG” to arrive in Piraeus at the beginning of the new decade.

Hennadiy Volodymyrovych Lytovchenko was born in Soviet Ukraine, and specifically in the city of Dniprodzerzhyns’k (today’s Kamianske) on Sept. 11, 1963. He started playing organized football with the Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk youth academies, starting in 1975. In 1981 he was promoted to the senior team and at the age of 18 he signed his first professional contract. He remained with the club until the end of 1987, making a total of 183 appearances and scoring 36 goals. In 1984 he was named the best Ukrainian footballer of the season. With Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk he managed to win one championship and one Cup of the former Soviet Union (1983 and 1986, respectively). In January 1988 he transferred to Dynamo Kyiv.

With the then Soviet football powerhouse he remained for two seasons as a starter. He recorded 82 appearances and scored 20 goals, winning both the championship and the 1990 Soviet Union Cup.

“Lito”, as he was called, joined the Reds at the age of 28 in January 1991, to become the third “MIG” to arrive in Piraeus at the beginning of the new decade.

For the national team of the Soviet Union, he played as a tireless box-to-box midfielder on this excellent team. Exemplary in defense and unique in getting the ball forward, he provided assistance to the offensive, creating the right conditions for goals. Another advantage was his strong shooting ability.  He remained with the Piraeus team until 1993, while in 1992 he managed to win the Greek Cup with the red and white jersey.

While making several assists to teammates during his first months with the Reds, he finally managed to find the net himself after about five months. His first goal with Olympiacos came on May 19, 1991, in a 3-0 win over AEK Athens.

Overall, he didn’t make many goals for the Piraeus side. In a total of 86 games, he managed to score 15 times. His last goal came against Panathinaikos in a 3-2 win at the Athens Olympic Stadium on May 2, 1993, in what would be one of his last games in red-and-white.

Lytovchenko didn’t appear on the field as your flashy possession player, yet trying to get the ball from him was a challenge for any opponent. He was a player produced from the old Soviet school of football, where the essence was teamwork and not individuality. As such, Lytovchenko selflessly served the team and not himself.