Some of them left their names in the history of our club while others were just adored by Dynamo fans.
Lucky IDAHOR – pioneer
Nigerian striker joined Dynamo in 2000. Before that he featured for Iwuanyanwu Nationale. He made his debut for Kyivans on July 21 2001 as the White-Blues faced FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk away (0:0). Lucky was the first African player to perform for Dynamo in Ukrainian league.
Dynamo most memorable match with the participation of Idahor is the Champions League group stage game against Borussia Dortmund (2:2) as he managed to hit the target that night.
In 2000/01 season he won the Ukrainian league with Kyivans and in 2003 – Ukrainian Cup.
Lucky made 96 appearances for the White-Blues (44 for the main squad) and netted 18 goals (10 for the main squad). Idahor mentioned that the key episode of his career happened when he met Dynamo legendary coach Valeriy Lobanovskyi:
- I’m happy I used to work under his charge. He’s my idol in Ukrainian football. He believed in me and thanks to him my debut for Dynamo was a success.
Lucky recalls years he spent in our country with pleasure:
- I lived in Ukraine for a long period of time and I love this country.
Ismael BANGOURA – meteor-striker
Guinean forward Ismael Bangoura was signed by Dynamo in 2007.
This skillful striker, who got squad number 10, made fans love him at once.
He made his debut for Kyivans on July 15 2007 in away match against FC Shakhtar Donetsk (1:1). He substituted Oleh Husiev 84 minutes into the game. Ismael scored his first goal on August 19 2007 in the Ukrainian league matchday 6 fixture against FC Karpaty Lviv (7:3). In that game he hit the target three times and thus became Dynamo first African performer to get a hat trick to his name in domestic league.
He made 70 appearances for the White-Blues and netted 30 goals! Very remarkable are his goals against FC Spartak Moscow, Manchester United FC, PSG and FC Shakhtar Donetsk.
Anyway Ismael spent only two seasons in Kyiv. In 2008/09 season he won the Ukrainian league with our club. Then he joined French side Rennes.
- My career in Dynamo was a success. There were a lot of interesting episodes, for example when we defeated Shakhtar 2:1 and I scored both goals. That was the first time I played despite such heavy snow.
I’ll remember that day forever! I also like Ukrainians. I didn’t have any problems in Kyiv.
Dieumerci MBOKANI – unstoppable football machine!
When Dynamo signed Congolese striker Dieumerci Mbokani in June of 2013 our club desperately needed effective forward.
Mbo, as fans call him, started living up to advanced billing very quickly. He hit Dynamo opponents’ target regularly. In his first season he scored 13 goals in 25 UPL matches and became the best finisher of the team.
The following seasons Mbokani had health problems and eventually joined Norwich City FC, where he performs at the moment.
Still maybe he’ll return to the capital of Ukraine where he feels comfortable:
- Kyiv is a great city, I got used to it quickly. Ukrainians are more benevolent than they seem, just like Africans. There are a lot of people of color featuring in Ukrainian league and I never had problems with that. It’s more difficult to perform in Ukraine than in Belgium, but I lived like a king in Kyiv!
Oleh Zadernovskyi
Copyright © 2015 FC Dynamo Kyiv
