In the rich history of Ukrainian football there are many examples of continuity between generations. There are also cases when sons continue the football traditions of not only their father, but also their grandfather. In particular, this can be said about referee Nikolai Balakin Jr. However, today we are not talking about the referee, but about the players.
On Saturday, November 23, the son of Dynamo Kyiv forward Oleg Salenko, Roman, made his debut in the UPL. The 19-year-old football player took the field shortly before the final whistle in the match of the 14th round of the Ukrainian Premier League between Dynamo Kiev and Chernomorets Odessa (3:1). In less than ten minutes spent in this game, Salenko Jr. acted in the center of midfield, showing diligence. However, he was unable to fully demonstrate his abilities due to the small amount of time. I remember that Oleg Salenko’s debut with the Dynamo jersey also did not turn out to be productive. Unlike his son, everyone expected him to score a goal as a striker, but not everything worked out as expected.
It is interesting that Salenko Sr.’s debut game in the Kyiv team did not come at the start of the 1989 USSR Championship, as everyone expected, but only in the third round. As part of it, Dynamo hosted Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk on their field and prevailed with a minimum score of 1:0. Having spent all his playing time on the field, the young debutant looked good in the company of such famous masters as Chanov, Bal, Kuznetsov, Demyanenko, Rat, Mikhailichenko, Litovchenko and Protasov. After this match, Salenko firmly secured his place in the starting lineup of Valery Lobanovsky’s team, only missing a number of games at the height of the season. However, having returned to Dynamo’s main team, he still could not score a goal for a long time. The forward had enough chances, but the opponents’ goal was as if under a spell.
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Oleg Salenko “broke through” only shortly before the finish of the championship – on October 1, when he scored two effective shots at once in an away match with Shakhtar Donetsk (3:3). He scored one goal in the next match, sending the ball from long range into the top nine of the Yerevan Ararat goal. In two more scoring episodes out of three, he assisted Vasily Rat and Oleg Protasov, which helped to win a major victory (4:1).
In the 1989 season, Oleg Salenko did not score any more goals, but his scoring abilities were fully demonstrated in three subsequent championships – two union and one national.
More than a decade has passed from the day Salenko Sr. debuted in the Dynamo uniform to the debut of Salenko Jr. – 35 years and 8 months. If this period of time is converted into days, then there were 13,025 of them!
– What can I say, a lot of time has passed, – says Oleg Salenko. – But this is already an indicator for statistics lovers. I’m glad for Roman that he made his debut for the first team, and in a victorious match at that.
– Until yesterday, my son played for the Dynamo team (U-19), so we should assume that the time has come to involve him in the main Dynamo?
– I hope so. In the meantime, Roman will continue to play in the reserve team and be involved in the games of the first team, with whom he trains. After yesterday’s debut, the son has already gone abroad, where he will play in the UEFA Youth League with Dynamo (U-19). I am full of hope that everything will go well in his career. I always follow his performances and, if necessary, share my impressions with him.
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