Belarusian coach Vladimir Zhuravel has always been distinguished by his hard work and "sense of the ball". He easily found a common language with the players, taught them to play confidently and powerfully in any position in the match.
Biography
Vladimir Zhuravel was born in 1971 in the city of Semipalatinsk (Kazakhstan). He became interested in football from early childhood and began to play in the Mozyr Children's and Youth Sports School. The first mentor of Vladimir was A. Dergachev. At the age of eighteen he was noticed by the coaching staff of Minsk "Dynamo", so he got into this team.
He played for six years at Dynamo, acting as a defender, and then decided to try his luck at Israel's Hapoel. After spending one season there, which was not very successful for him, Vladimir returned to his native land. He was eagerly recruited by Dynamo and spent two more seasons with the team.
In the 1990s, the footballer decided to try his hand at Russian clubs. He played for Zhemchuzhina from Sochi, Kristall from Smolensk. In 2003, Vladimir Zhuravel returned to Belarus again. Having played in the teams "Darida" and "Torpedo", in 2005 he decided to end his playing career and go to the status of a coach.
This decision will turn out to be successful for him later - he will take the title of the champion of the country together with his charges six times.
For specialized education, Vladimir chose the Smolensk Institute of Physical Culture, which he graduated in 1997. Then he took retraining courses from BSUFK. Subsequently, he received a UEFA "Pro" license as a coach.
Coaching work
Vladimir Zhuravel made his debut as a coach in his last team - Torpedo Zhodino. Here he worked for four seasons. Then he worked with Shakhtar (Soligorsk), Dynamo (Minsk), Gomel and Dynamo Brest, and quite successfully.
During his coaching period, Minsk “Dynamo” won an unexpected victory for many in the Europa League over the team “Fiorentina” (an Italian club that became a two-time winner of the national championship). Won silver in the national championship. However, the club's management nevertheless terminated the contract with Vladimir Ivanovich, considering the team's achievements not too impressive.
Thanks to the coach, Gomel footballers were able to discover the Higher League. Before that, they played only in the second division. And Brest Dynamo moved up four positions in the rating - from eighth to fourth place.
Once again leaving the country, Zhuravel chose Kazakhstan for work. The last team he worked with was Shakhtar from Karaganda.
In the sports community, Vladimir Ivanovich was often called a "soft" coach. However, those who knew him personally, who worked with him or under his leadership, do not agree with this. First of all, they note that Zhuravel has always adhered to the principle: the player must understand what and why he is doing.
Zhuravel was a strong analyst and psychologist. Every little thing in the work was not left without his attention. Zhuravel could find common ground with all the players, even with those whose character was not distinguished by simplicity. He always carefully weighed every word, experienced a lot inside, without telling anyone.
Friends always remember his sense of humor, which helped to "resolve" controversial situations and smooth out conflicts, cheered up and made him move on.
Awards
Acting as a footballer, Zhuravel came to the championship title in the Belarusian championship six times, once he took second place. In 1992 and 1994 he won the Belarus Cup. Playing for the Israeli team, he reached the final.
As a coach five times with the charges, he became the silver medalist of the Belarusian championship. Among his trophies are the Cup of Belarus and first place in the First League of the country.
A family
Vladimir Zhuravel devoted almost all his strength to work. Outside of football, he loved simple home recreation. He did not like restaurants and clubs, preferring to just stay at home. His family lived permanently in Minsk, so they decided at the family council, so as not to constantly change schools for his daughter Kira. (Kira is the youngest child of Vladimir, there is also the eldest son, Cyril).
Friends called him an intelligent homebody. Of all the out-of-home activities, the only thing he really liked was fishing. He approached this process very responsibly, he could prepare for a long time, analyze the weather and natural conditions. In other cases and in his free time, he always preferred to rest with his wife and daughter.
Zhuravel never remained indifferent to the difficulties of other people. If possible, he always helped. As, for example, to the family of their first coach A. Dergachev. Already in the hospital in the last months of his life, he was primarily interested in the health of his friends and relatives, he never complained about his well-being.
Vladimir Zhuravel died early, he was only 47 years old. In November 2018, he was gone, and cancer is called the cause of death. According to his relatives and wards, he resisted the disease until the last moment. Many hoped for a miracle, but in the past six months he has become very weak. The main diagnosis was complicated by heart failure, pulmonary edema and persistent work-related stress. The famous coach and football player was buried in Minsk at the Northern Cemetery.
