Stepan Betsa () was a Soviet and Ukrainian midfielder. He is a Master of Sports (1991). He died in a car accident.

Biography

Stepan Betsa was born in

Mukachevo Mukachevo (, ; , ; see name section) is a city in Zakarpattia Oblast, western Ukraine. It is situated in the valley of the Latorica River and serves as the administrative center of Mukachevo Raion. The city is a rail terminus and highway junct ...

, but he started his first steps in his football career in

Dnipropetrovsk Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper River, Dnipro River, from which it takes its name. Dnipro is t ...

. Until his 18 Betsa played for a junior squad of

Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Football Club Dnipro (, ) was a Ukrainian football club based in Dnipro. The club played its last season in the 2018–19 Ukrainian Amateur League. The club was owned by Ukrainian businessman Ihor Kolomoyskyi. In 2018, FC Dnipro was forced i ...

winning a tournament for junior squads in 1987. After he was not able to make to the main squad, Betsa left for the second league team FC Shakhtar Horlivka and after a half of season moved to the first league

Tavriya Simferopol Sports Club Tavriya () was a Ukrainian football club from Simferopol. Tavriya was a member of the Ukrainian Premier League from its founding and won the first Ukrainian Premier League 1992, Ukrainian Premier League making them one of three team ...

. During that season Betsa played over 30 games scoring for both clubs. In 1989, he moved again back to the continental Ukraine signing with the first league participant

Metalurh Zaporizhia The Sports club "Metalurh Zaporizhzhia" (, ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Zaporizhzhia. Reestablished in 2017, it is a " phoenix club" of the original Soviet factory "team of masters" Metalurh that existed in 1935–2016 o ...

. In Zaporizhia he was noticed by the

Dynamo Kyiv The Football Club 'Dynamo Kyiv', also known as Dynamo Kyiv, or simply Dynamo, ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society ...

scouts and upon completion of a successful season signed with the best club of the Ukrainian football. His first season in Dynamo in 1990 Betsa spent in a junior squad winning a champion title with it as well. Since 1991 Betsa became a key player of the club earning the most caps in the last Soviet championship. After the start of the independent Ukrainian championship Betsa status in the club has not changed and he participated in the final game of 1992 in

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

. His career, however, was suddenly cut short after a car accident.

Car crash

On December 21, 1992 the car accident took lives of two young Ukrainian footballers at once: Stepan Betsa (

) and Oleksiy Sasko (

). As the first half of the Ukrainian championship ended the players took vacations and Stepan decided to visit

. As later Volodymyr Sharan pointed out in his interview,В.Шаран: Sabo swore at us in Hungarian
/ref> they (him, Betsa and Sasko) left

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

in two cars, but Sharan turned to

Kryvyi Rih Kryvyi Rih ( ; , ), also known as Krivoy Rog ( ), is a city in central Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Kryvyi Rih Raion and its subordinate Kryvyi Rih urban hromada in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. The city is part of the Kryvyi Rih Metropo ...

, while Betsa and Sasko continued on to Dnipropetrovsk. After some time Sharan received a call from Betsa's wife that Stepan is in the emergency room (Sasko died at the crash site). After three days in a hospital Stepan Betsa died. According to a police report, the crash happened as a car that was moving crossed an icy portion of a road and a driver lost control of the vehicle. The auto ran right into a tree.

Awards

;Dynamo Kyiv *Master of Sports *1992 League runner up

References

External links

*
Is there a "lunar day"?
*
Profile at allplayers.in.ua
{{DEFAULTSORT:Betsa, Stepan 1970 births 1992 deaths Footballers from Mukachevo Men's association football midfielders Road incident deaths in Ukraine Soviet men's footballers Ukrainian men's footballers Ukrainian Premier League players FC Dynamo Kyiv players FC Metalurh Zaporizhzhia players SC Tavriya Simferopol players FC Shakhtar Horlivka players