What caused the death of Valentin Belkevich, the legendary Dynamo player. Performances for the national team

Belkevich Valentin is a former Belarusian football player and coach who spent most of his career in Ukraine. In 2014, he died at the age of 41 from a thromboembolism. As a player, Valentin Belkevich played in the position of left midfielder.

Carier start

Belkevich Valentin was born on January 27, 1973 in the USSR, in the city of Minsk - there he began playing football, first joining the Minsk SDYUSHOR, and then the Minsk Dynamo Academy. He went through all stages of preparation and played for youth teams of various age categories, until in 1991 he signed a professional contract with the then Soviet club. However, he played only two matches for the club from the USSR, because since 1992 Dynamo had been playing in the Belarusian championship. Belkevich Valentin at that time was a great talent and received as much playing time as any mature adult player. And he made a great contribution to the fact that in the first season of the newly formed Belarusian championship, Dynamo Minsk became the champion. During the five years that Valentin spent at the club, he played 131 matches, scoring 54 goals. And in each of these five years, Dynamo became the champion of Belarus, and twice also the winner of the Belarus Cup. However, in the summer of 1996, the time for change came - Belkevich received an invitation from Dynamo Kyiv, where he moved. It was this club that became the most important thing in his career.

Game for Dynamo Kiev

Valentin Nikolaevich Belkevich played for Dynamo Kiev almost his entire career - he came there in 1996, when he was only 23 years old, and left the team only when he was already 34 years old, in the winter of 2007. During this time, he played in 222 matches, scored 73 goals and was able to win a large number of trophies. Dynamo Kiev was one of the strongest clubs in the Soviet Union - and became one of the strongest clubs in Ukraine. During his stay at the Ukrainian club, Valentin Nikolaevich Belkevich actually became a legendary personality, largely thanks to his efforts, out of 11 national championships, Dynamo won eight, and also became the winner of the Ukrainian Cup seven times. Moreover, in 1999, the midfielder, together with his club, reached the semi-finals of the most prestigious club tournament of the Champions League. It is worth paying attention to the fact that Belkevich played most of the time for the club's reserve team for the first few years - only in 2001 did he begin to join the main team on a permanent basis. In January 2008, his contract with the Kyiv club came to an end - and thus ended the more than ten-year history of the football player and the club.

End of career

The biography of Valentin Belkevich as a football player was striving for completion. After Dynamo Kyiv, he spent six months without a club, thinking about retiring from his career, but in the summer of 2008 he nevertheless signed a short-term contract with the Azerbaijani Inter. In six months at the club, the experienced player entered the field only five times, without scoring a single goal. And in December 2008, when the contract with Inter expired, Belkevich announced that he was ending his professional football career.

Performances for the national team

Footballer Valentin Belkevich performed not only at the club level - he also became one of the defining players of the Belarusian national team, which turned out to be far from being as strong as the USSR national team, of which it had previously been a part. Belkevich was called up to the Belarusian national team almost immediately after its formation. His first match took place in October 1992. It was a friendly match between the national teams of Belarus and Ukraine. Belkevich scored his first goal for the national team in May 1994 - again in a match against the Ukrainian national team. Unfortunately, this was the only goal scored by the team, while the Ukrainians scored as many as three goals. In March 1996, Belkevich led the team with the captain's armband for the first time in a friendly match against the Slovak national team. At that time he was only 23 years old. In total, during his career, Valentin played 56 matches in the Belarusian national team, scoring ten goals and giving five assists. Belkevich played his last game for the national team in September 2005, after which he retired from it. And, as you already know, after just over two years he ended his playing career as a whole.

Coaching career

However, Belkevich did not retire from the sport when he finished his playing career in 2008. He spent some time obtaining a coaching license and in the summer of 2010 was appointed assistant coach of the Dynamo Kyiv reserve team, the club to which he devoted almost his entire career. He spent two years in this position, after which he was appointed coach of the Dynamo youth team. He coached her for one year, after which in the summer of 2013 he was appointed head coach of the reserve team. Belkevich gradually made his way higher and higher and could count on being offered a position on the coaching staff of the main team in the near future, and then, possibly, the position of head coach. But dreams and plans were not allowed to come true.

Death of a Legend

In the prime of his life, in the forty-second year of his life, Valentin Belkevich died when he had such an impressive career ahead of him. The cause of death of Valentin Belkevich was a blood clot. Accordingly, he passed away quickly and painlessly, but this does not make it any easier. After all, Belkevich was one of the most outstanding football players in the history of Belarusian football. Considering that the cause of death of Valentin Belkevich was quite banal, no additional investigations were carried out. In 2016, a memorial plaque was installed in Valentin’s hometown, Minsk, in memory of the life and career of the legendary Belarusian football player.

"Andrey Shevchenko introduced us"

Nikolai Belkevich, father: I was proud of Valik, he was very hardworking. I started playing football when I was still working as a power engineer at the Institute of Technical Cybernetics. I myself once played for the national team of the Minsk region, in the army, I have ranks, I am a candidate master of sports in skiing and athletics. Valik also passed on his athletic streak. I saw his potential and took him to Children's Sports School No. 5, to a familiar coach Andrei Tychyna. Valik was not yet six, but he began to play with older children.

Olesya Belkevich, wife: We met Valik in 1996, literally a week after he moved from Minsk to Kyiv. Andrey Shevchenko introduced us. Together with Valentin, we raised my son from our first marriage, Vladimir, who was one and a half years old at the time of our meeting. Valik insisted that he live with us from the first day.

Jozsef Szabo: I remember well how we were at a training camp in Sweden and Valentin Belkevich was brought there. The guy was just golden, he never quarreled with anyone. He was always full of energy. A talented player, he really wanted to work as a coach and was a promising specialist.

“Valya!” I shout to Belkevich. “Well, do something!”

Anatoly Baidachny, ex-mentor of the Belarusian national team: Such players always radiate some kind of hope. I believe in miracles. I remember we lost to the Slovenian national team - the game didn’t go well and that’s it.

Valya! - I shout to Belkevich. - Well, do something!

Now, Nikolaevich,” he nods. - We'll try!

And after a couple of minutes he accurately places the ball in the far corner.

Maxim Shatskikh: There was an ideal understanding with Valik. I knew he could, he knew I could. We understood what to give, where to give and how to give. I will not list further, because I take into account the line of attack. We had a game plan - it wasn’t like they laid out who was playing where on the field. There was interchangeability. I could end up in my own penalty area, and Fedorov, Vashchuk or Khatskevich in someone else’s.

Victor Leonenko: I couldn’t imagine Dynamo without him at all. Rebrov and Shevchenko should be grateful to him all their lives for making them scorers. Valya is Dynamo's best playmaker of the last twenty years, this is not even discussed. Personally, I equate him to Zavarov. He knew how to do everything on the field, he saw every point of it, every centimeter, every partner.

Anatoly Demyanenko: He was a great player who knew how to anticipate on the field. That's why we called him "professor". He enjoyed authority among his colleagues - it was not for nothing that he was captain for many years. You don't just choose a captain like that. He had many plans; he wanted to establish himself in the coaching field.

“He and Khatskevich could go anywhere for fishing.”

Olesya Belkevich: I gave my whole life to Valentin. Even when in 2004 we had a misunderstanding in the form of Anna Sedokova, we still did not part for a long time. Their marriage was short-lived and, according to Valik, forced. Now Anna does not mention this, but after the divorce, Valentin bought her and her daughter an apartment in Kyiv worth 100 thousand dollars.

Nikolai Belkevich: He was the highest paid football player at Dynamo Kyiv. But it is important not only to be able to earn money, but also to manage money wisely. Valik did not have this. He objected to me: “Dad, but this is my money, I don’t demand anything from you.” But I wasn’t worried about myself, about him and his health. All of my son’s Achilles, inguinal rings, and menisci were operated on. Once he was accused of doping. How did he know that the doctors were injecting him so that he would recover faster after the operation?

Anna Sedokova, singer, ex-wife: At some point I realized that my marriage had burst like a soap bubble. I probably came up with it myself. But life is much tougher. I don't judge him or say who is bad. It’s just that one person feels good in one place, another feels good in another. This is his life. I respect his right. And my daughter and I feel good too. But for me it was a difficult story.

Vladimir Muntyan: I headed the Dynamo double team and was very glad that Valentin decided to start a coaching career and become my assistant. We didn't work together for long, just one season. He is a very decent person, he loved life and football. Sometimes taciturn, but very demanding and disciplined. It was a pleasure to work with him.

Victor Leonenko: We used to communicate often. They loved to chase balls in billiards. You know, I never beat him even once. In December 2011, when Ukrainian football turned 20 years old, after the award ceremony we went to play with it. And they rubbed some calluses while playing. That's how many kilometers we walked around the table!

Valka was also a fishing fan. She and Khatskevich could go anywhere for her. Once I went with them 500 kilometers and then cursed them all day. We got up at 3-4 in the morning - and at least something: the eyes were sparkling, the mood was great. Valka has probably traveled all over Ukraine, visiting all the fishing spots.

Alexander Khatskevich: Valik's two-year contract with the Dynamo U-19 team has ended, and he was offered a job in the club's academy. But, as far as we know, he did not plan to devote himself to children. I know that Valentin met with Igor Mikhailovich Surkis, and he asked him to wait until the end of August. Then it would be decided what position Valik could occupy in the club. That is, in fact, he had two or three months free.

I wouldn't say that he had any depression about this. It’s just that with free time he began to go fishing more. One - for two or three days. But, as a rule, we communicated regularly: on Tuesday we played tennis, and the next day we played football. And then on Monday I wrote to him, saying you’ll be at tennis, we’ve always played in pairs. He didn’t answer and didn’t come, he wasn’t there on Wednesday either, and on Friday everything happened...

All these days, Valik did not answer calls or text messages, although, as Lesya later said, he felt absolutely normal. But I am not at all surprised by this fact. Sometimes he wanted to be alone. On weekends it was usually impossible to reach him by phone.

"A blood clot broke loose, the heart stopped..."

Nikolai Belkevich: He worried everything inside himself, never complained... On the eve of the tragedy, they were going to go to the dacha, Valik was watching football, at the last moment he said that he was not feeling well, and stayed to sleep on the sofa. At night, Olesya heard unnatural snoring. They called an ambulance, they tried to revive him for about 40 minutes... And the conclusion: a blood clot came off, his heart stopped.

I talked to medical friends and they said that in people who have undergone many operations, some of the blood vessels do not work. And it is necessary to thin the blood all the time, otherwise blood clots will form in them. I know that Valik carried aspirin in his pocket. But did he accept it?..

It’s mystical, but less than a day before Valik’s death, my wife and I were at our dacha in Raubichi, and I suddenly began to experience terrible heart pain. They even thought of calling an ambulance. It seemed to let go, we fell asleep, and at one in the morning my wife called, she didn’t speak - she just sobbed into the phone. I immediately understood everything...

Oleg Luzhny: He was a great football player and a wonderful person, a sociable guy. He loved life, loved all sorts of pranks and jokes. Could cheer anyone up. The last time we saw him we were playing tennis - I was paired with Rebrov, and Valik was with Sasha Khatskevich. Many people joked and had fun... Everyone loved him, he was always ready to help his friends. And there was a fighter on the field; his opponents respected him and were even afraid of him.

Vitaly Kosovsky: The connection with Valentin was cut off at the end of the week... I called every day, he didn’t pick up. And on the night of August 1 he was gone. This is a real shock for me!

Artem Milevsky: Valik's death... I still can't believe it. When I flew to Kyiv with Hajduk for the game with Dnepr, I went to see him at the cemetery, I’ll be honest, there were even tears. This man was a great authority for me, a man with a capital M, a football legend.

Sergey Rebrov: We still need to look for such decent guys. Valik never acted on the sly or said anything behind his back. Loved football. And he loved to work hard. He communicated quite closely with many of the guys from the team. This is a huge loss for them. Shock.

Maxim Shatskikh: I won't forget him for the rest of my life. I spent ten years in the same room with this man. I knew his every move, every thought. He comes in, and I already know what he will say. Just like on the field.

Oleg Babiy, Football 24

14:09 01.08.2014

Today, August 1, Belarusian football player Valentin Belkevich, the first husband of singer Anna Sedokova, died. Ivona invites you to learn the beautiful and sad love story of an athlete and an artist.

Anna and Valentin got married in 2004. While still very young, Sedokova wanted to quickly become an adult, and the 18-year-old girl plunged headlong into family life with the famous football player Valentin Belkevich, who was 10 years older than her. The wedding of Belkevich and Sedokova took place on a grand scale and became one of the most publicized events of that time.

Anya quit the stage and left the Ukrainian group VIA Gra, which was at the peak of popularity at that time. The girl doted on her husband, waited for him at home with a hot dinner and listened to every word of her loved one. Soon their union bore fruit - in December 2004, their daughter Alina was born.

True, happiness turned out to be not cloudless. After Alina was born, rumors began to appear in the press that a crack had formed in the marriage of Belkevich and Sedokova. Anna denied this information for a long time, but at the beginning of 2006 the union broke up and they officially divorced. As Anya admitted some time later, at the time of her marriage she felt like a 13-year-old girl, she was inexperienced and stupid, it seemed to her that marriage to Valentin was the first and only one in her life. But fate prepared a different path for her. Sedokova had to face treason and betrayal, and she dared to talk about this only some time after the divorce.

As it turned out, Valentin had another woman. Anna guessed this thanks to female intuition. The husband began to move away from her, linger after work, and then completely stopped coming to spend the night. The young woman could not tolerate such behavior from her husband, packed her suitcase, took the child and left. Belkevich did not insist that she stay, since he really had another woman. She existed in his life even before Anna appeared, he continued to communicate with her during his marriage and after it broke up, he got back together with his former mistress.

“At some point I realized that my marriage had burst like a soap bubble. I probably invented it for myself. But life is much tougher,” Anna admitted.

Anya was left alone with her two-year-old daughter in her arms. According to her, she does not hold a grudge against her ex-husband, because she now understands how different they were: “I don’t judge him and don’t say who is bad. It’s just that one person feels good in one place, the other in another. This is his life. I respect his right. And my daughter and I feel good too. But for me it was a difficult story."

Anna and Valentin did not remain friends after the divorce, but the father took part in raising his daughter Alina and could see her whenever he wanted. “I told myself that I would never - even if he was the most terrible person in my life - say a bad word to my daughter about her father,” Sedokova said in one of her interviews.

After this story, Anna married a second time, and again unsuccessfully - her marriage to businessman Maxim Chernyavsky lasted only two years. But a different story awaited Valentin. After his divorce from Anna, he never married. In one of her interviews, Sedokova said: “I know that my daughter and I will always be the most beloved women in his life. I think Valentin will never marry again,” and she was right. Anna Sedokova was the only legal wife of the famous football player, who gave birth to his only daughter Alina.

Today, August 1, 2014, the death of Valentin Belkevich became known. The man died from a blood clot at the age of 42. Anna Sedokova has not yet commented on the death of her ex-husband.

Let us remind you that Anya Sedokova’s nine-year-old daughter Alina fell from a swing and seriously injured her arm when the ex-VIA Gra went on tour to Ukraine.