Shura Uvarov is well known to many in Israel due to his history with Maccabi Tel Aviv, as even before he arrived in Israel he had had an incredible career. One of his highlights was no doubt the 1990 World Cup held in Italy where Shura was able to showcase his skills on the game’s biggest stage. 28 years have gone by and just as the 2018 World Cup is about to begin we went back in time to when he met Diego Maradona, arguably the greatest player ever and the Argentina National Team.
Uvarov was part of the USSR National Team just after the fall of the Berlin Wall and roughly half a year before the breakup of the Soviet Union. His National Team was in a group that included the defending World Champion Argentina, Romania and the legendary Roger Milla’s Cameroon who in that same World Cup became a household name.
Shura’s love affair with Maccabi began a year after the World Cup in 1991, but he had had an opportunity to visit the Holy Land in the summer of 1990. The Soviet Union played a friendly against Israel but the shot stopper didn’t come with his comrades. “I was supposed to be a part of the match (Israel 3:2) but my club team Dynamo Moscow wouldn’t release me due to a Cup tie.” The keeper for the contest ended up being Víktor Chanov who eventually played for Maccabi Haifa and was a good friend of Shura’s. Goals by Ori Malmilian Nir Levin and Tal Banin helped the Blue & White to the victory. “Following the match, the National Team flew to Germany and I joined them there,” he recalled.
The train of friendly matches ended and on June 8th the opening whistle sounded for the beginning of World Cup 1990 in Italy. Einat Dasayev was the keeper for the USSR’s first contest and was also in goal when Marco van Basten scored one of the most gorgeous goals in the Euro 1988 Final. Dasayev also received the starting nod by Coach Valeriy Lobanovskyi but in the first game against Romania, the Soviets fell 2:0 and a change was made between the pipes.
Uvarov was the one who benefited from the move and became the team’s first choice keeper. On June 13, 1990, which was also Dasayev’s birthday, Shura Uvarov left the dressing room to start in his first ever World Cup contest, facing the defending champions Argentina. If that wasn’t enough, he would also have to play against one of the all-time greats, Maradona. The Argentinians came into the match desperately needing a win after a shock defeat in their first game at the hands of Cameroon, the darlings of the tournament. To top it off, the match was to be played at the Stadio San Paolo in Napoli, the place where Maradona turned into a God in the 1980’s, leading his side to a pair of championships and a UEFA Cup. “It was really something that we played them there and it was extraordinary,” Uvarov explained. “60,000 fans, what an atmosphere. The fans were going wild supporting Maradona.”
Argentina also had a goalkeeping issue to deal with when they lost their shot stopper Nery Pumpido due to a broken leg in a very infamous World Cup moment. Despite the injury, the support in the stands helped give the South American side a lead in the 27th minute when they put the ball behind Uvarov, “The goal was created by a cross that came in from the left side. Pedro Troglio was able to head the ball into the top corner of the goal which was impossible to stop.” The USSR then lost a player due to a red card in a controversial decision Uvarov remembered, “Volodymyr Bezsonov was issued a red card at the start of the second half. The referee killed us with that decision and we were left with only 10 men at such an early stage of the game.”
With just 11 minutes left in the match, Jorge Burruchaga took advantage of the extra man and scored the second goal for Argentina sealing the win. Maradona and friends (who made it all the way to the finals) waited for the final whistle that handed them a crucial victory in the battle to get out of their group. Uvarov as usual made sure to speak his mind, “The referee called a foul in our favor and the ball should have been given to us, but Maradona refused to give us the ball. He started to jump around, you know how he was. I went over to take the ball away from him and I stepped on his foot, I don’t remember which one but I just wanted to get the ball back in play and get the game going again.”
Although they lost, Uvarov was back in goal for the Soviet Union’s next match and kept a clean sheet on a 4:0 win over Cameroon, but it wasn’t enough to advance to the knockout round despite a 1:1 draw between Argentina and Romania. “I was taken for a drug test at the end of the match and they didn’t find anything,” Shura recalled with a smile which was the last game played by the USSR in the history of the World Cup.
Win over Cameroon Highlights:
