Malofeev is leaving MTZ-RIPO

Eduard Malofeev, MTZ-RIPO head football coach, stepped down from his coaching position after coming back from the training camp in Germany and just 2 days before the first game of the new season. Also the reason of his departure is still unknown some sources in Minsk said he might be taking a new positon in the club or moving back to Scotland.

MTZ-RIPO in Turkey

MTZ-RIPO is leaving today for Turkey training camp. The team will prepare for the 2007 season with a two-week training camp in Belek, Turkey. MTZ-RIPO is scheduled to play three friendly matches:

February 10th - MFC Sopron (Hungary) and reserve team playing against Alania (Russia)
February 15th – both teams with Rabotnichki (Macedonia)
February 20th - FC Midtjylland (Denmark)

IRAN FRIENDLY ANNOUNCED

Yuri Puntus, Belarus National team and ex-MTZ-Ripo head coach has announced his squad to play Iran in an International friendly on Feb 7th in Azadi stadium, Tehran.

Included in the squad are no fewer than three players from MTZ-RIPO including the highly rated Vyacheslav Hleb and Oleg Strahanovich who recently helped FBK Kaunas on the CIS cup in Moscow.

MTZ-RIPO's Pre-Season Schedule Annouced

Minsk - MTZ-RIPO announced its preseason schedule earlier this week, as the club prepares for the 2007 Belarusian Premier League season. The team already spent week training on the mountain skiing resort “Logoysk” near Minsk. Three friendly games will be played in January with the last one against the cross-town rival Dinamo Minsk on January 27th. The team will head to Turkey for two weeks of training in February (7-21). While in Turkey, members of the first team will play a host of games.

MTZ-RIPO players nominated for 2006 "All-Star" team

Three MTZ-RIPO players were included on the Belarusian Premier League 2006 "all-star" team, following votes by Belarusian Football Federation, journalists and sport experts. Along with 2006 league's Player of the Season, Oleg Strahanovich, they included Artem Kontsevoy and Vyacheslav Hleb.

Eduard Malofeev has been appointed as the new head coach

Eduard Malofeev has been appointed as the new head coach of MTZ-RIPO. One of the goals for the next season would be winning Belarusian Cup and advancing in the UEFA Cup. “We will try to win everything that’s available” said new coach during the press conference.
Chairman Mikhail Yuferev also announced MTZ-RIPO will officially change its name at the start of the next season.

Eduard Malofeev was born June 2, 1942 in Russia. He played for Avandard Kolomna (1960), Spartak Moscow (1961-1962) and Dynamo Minsk (1963-1972). In 1962 he won the Soviet championship with Spartak. Malofeev led FC Dinamo Minsk to the championship in the Soviet Top League in 1982. He also coached the Belarus national football team from 2000 to 2003. He was capped 40 times for the USSR national team in 1963-1968 and scored 6 goals. In 1984-1986 he was the head coach for USSR. With Malofeev at the helm, the Soviet national team qualified for the 1986 World Cup but he was fired shortly before the World Cup started in favor of Valery Lobanovsky. The dismissal of Malofeev was considered by many an especially egregious example of backstabbing and intrigues which overshadowed Soviet football.
Malofeev's trademark was what he called "sincere football", characterized by passion for the game and attacking style. It was in sharp contrast to the pragmatic, analytical approach favored by Lobanovsky. Source: Wikipedia