Valeriy Porkujan

Infobox Football biography
playername= Valeriy Porkuyan
fullname = Valeriy Semenovych Porkuyan
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1944|10|4
cityofbirth = Kirovohrad
countryofbirth = Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
height = height|m=1.74
currentclub = FC Chornomorets Odessa (assistant coach)
position = Forward
youthyears =1958–1962
youthclubs = FC Zirka Kirovohrad
years = 1962–1964 1965–1966 1966–1970 1970–1972 1972–1975
clubs = FC Zirka Kirovohrad FC Chornomorets Odessa FC Dynamo Kyiv FC Chornomorets Odessa FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
caps(goals) = ? (21) 21 (3) 58 (12) 64 (18) 103 (18)
nationalyears =1966–1970
nationalteam = USSR
nationalcaps(goals) = 8 (4)
manageryears = 1976 1977–1978 1982–1983 1983–1993 1994–1999 1999–2000 2002–present
managerclubs = SC Tavriya Simferopol FC Okean Kearch FC Chornomorets Odessa FC Blaho Blahoeve FC Chornomorets Odessa FC Chornomorets-2 Odessa FC Chornomorets Odessa|

Valeriy Semenovych Porkuyan ( _ru. Валерий Семенович Поркуян, born 4 October 1944 in Kirovohrad, Soviet Union, now Ukraine) is a former Ukrainian footballer who played for Dynamo Kyiv, and is currently an assistant coach with FC Chornomorets Odessa.

Playing career

Club

Porkuyan began playing for the youth team of Kirovohrad’s local club, Zvezda. In 1962 he made the transition to the senior team of Zvezda. After three successful seasons there he was spotted by a former Chernomorets Odessa player and then assistant coach, Matvey Cherkassky, who helped him transfer from the Soviet Second League B to the Soviet Top League club Chernomorets. That season he played along side Valeri Lobanovsky, who was finishing up his playing career in Odessa. His form there attracted the attention of many top clubs, including Spartak Moscow and Dnipro, but he was eventually moved to Dynamo Kyiv. At 21 years of age he made the first team in his first season with the team. On the strength of that first season, when he scored 7 goals, he was chosen by the head-coach of USSR national football team, Nikolai Morozov to travel to the 1966 FIFA World Cup. Porkuyan won three Soviet Top League championships with Dynamo Kyiv (in 1966, 1967 and 1968), as well as the Soviet Cup in 1966. But despite those triumphs he failed to secure a spot in a very competitive team at the time. In 1970 he made a return to Odessa to once again play with Chornomorets. He had two solid seasons there, despite the club being relegated to the Soviet First League. In 1972 he was invited to move to Dnipro, who were coached by his former teammate Valeri Lobanovsky. He made the majority of his playing appearances with Dnipro in the 4 years he spent there. He retired from playing in 1976.

National

He earned 8 caps and scored 4 goals for the USSR national football team. Incredibly he scored his four goals in his first three international matches during the 1966 FIFA World Cup. He also was selected to play in the 1970 FIFA World Cup, but did not play any matches. He is the only active player of FC Chornomorets Odessa to have featured in a World Cup team.

Coaching career

After retiring from playing he moved into coaching the following year in 1976, becoming assistant coach with SC Tavriya Simferopol. Along the way he had stints coaching amateur teams playing in the lower divisions. But since the 1980's he, almost continuously, has been connected with Chornomorets Odessa in a coaching capacity.

Honours

* Soviet Top League Champion: 1966, 1967, 1968
* Soviet Cup Champion: 1966

External links

* [http://rusteam.permian.ru/players/porkuyan.html Russian National Team history page] ru icon
* [http://football.odessa.ua/person/?151 Statistics at Odessa Football] ru icon