Anatoly Korobochka has claimed that he was sacked from his position as joint manager of Hearts after he refused to play the club’s owner, Vladimir Romanov, in a friendly against Barcelona.
Korobochka, a former midfielder who played for CSKA Moscow, joined the club as the director of football in the summer of 2006. However, in the absence of Valdas Ivanauskas, who the club said was “away on football duty”, Romanov appointed Korobochka as manager to the Edinburgh club in March 2007 alongside Stephen Frail, despite the fact that Korobochka spoke little or no English at the time.
During his first summer in charge, Hearts played a friendly at Murrayfield against the Catalan club, whose squad featured such players as Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto’o, Thierry Henry , Yaya Touré, Andrés Iniesta and Xavi; Lionel Messi had yet to return to training following Copa América commitments.
“We played Barcelona in a friendly match and there were almost 60,000 fans there,” claimed Korobochka according to the Edinburgh Evening News. “Ronaldinho was at his peak and [Barcelona] were terrific.
“Before the game, Romanov approached me and told me he wants to play in the game. He wanted me to pick him. He wasn’t joking. I refused and told him he had done no training and therefore he couldn’t play. He said to me: ‘Fine, but you will not be the coach for long.’ He sacked me soon after.”
Hearts fans got their hopes up when Juho Makela equalised Ronaldinho’s early penalty but the Brazilian added another with his head before Henry set up Giovanni Dos Santos to score in the second half and ensure victory for their side.
Korobochka was sacked in January 2008 and returned to his role of director of football before leaving the club “pursue other football interests abroad” in July 2009.
