Viktor Prokopenko

Viktor Prokopenko (24 October 1944 – 18 August 2007) was a Ukrainian football player and coach who played for the Soviet occupational forces in East Germany and the Ukrainian SSR including teams of the Soviet Top League and later worked as a coach in Russia and Ukraine.

Career

Prokopenko was born in Zhdanov, Ukrainian SSR, now known as Mariupol, Ukraine. In 1975, he graduated from the Odessa State Pedagogical Institute of Ushynsky and later the Moscow Higher School of Coaches.

Prokopenko was the first manager of the Ukraine national team since dissolution of the Soviet Union. He also authored Flexibility, Strength, Endurance, a popular book on stretching.

Prokopenko was elected to the Ukrainian parliament for the Party of Regions as no.45 on their election list in the 2006 Ukrainian parliamentary election.

Prokopenko died from a fall in Odesa. He was 62 years old.

Managerial statistics

Honours Chornomorets Odesa USSR Federation Cup: 1990 Ukrainian Cup: 1992, 1993–94

Shakhtar Donetsk Ukrainian Cup: 2000–01