Dynamo pay tribute to Lobanovskiy

FC Dynamo Kyiv and former Ukraine coach Valery Lobanovskiy has died.

Emergency surgery
The 63-year-old failed to recover from emergency brain surgery carried out on Saturday in Zaporizhzhya and Dynamo confirmed his death tonight. He had collapsed during a match last Tuesday.

Cause uncertain
"Today at 8:35pm local time the heart of the great Ukrainian coach Valeriy Lobanovskiy stopped beating," Dynamo spokesman Serhiy Polkhovskiy said. "We can't say with any certainty at this point what caused his death, but it is almost certain that he never regained consciousness after surgery."

History of problems
Lobanovskiy, who also coached the former Soviet Union national team, gave up the Ukrainian post he had held since 1994 last year due to health problems, and has a history of heart complaints.

Long career
He first coached Dynamo in 1974, and led them to eight Soviet and five Ukrainian domestic league titles. He also took the Kyiv team to the last four of the 1999 UEFA Champions League.