The first foreign player in the Ukrainian championship was nicknamed Vodka Andy and resembled a raccoon. His fate ended tragically.
The signing of Dynamo Dresden midfielder Andreas Zassen by Dnipro in the spring of 1995 was a true football sensation. Zassen arrived on the Dnipro banks under the guidance of the team's head coach Bernd Stange and became the first foreign player in the Ukrainian championship, as it was said back then, "from far abroad."
Take a ride with Vodka Andy in a taxi
Zassen's arrival in Ukraine was made possible by a chain of events. The previous sponsor of Dnipro, the company "Debut-Fidav," went bankrupt. The team lost head coach Mykola Pavlov, who took four key players with him to Kyiv's Dynamo – defender Serhiy Bezhenar, midfielders Yevhen Pokhlybaev and Yuriy Maksymov, as well as forward Serhiy Konovalov. Leonid Kuchma and Pavlo Lazarenko joined the search for a new sponsor for Dnipro. Ultimately, the two-time USSR champion found a strong partner – the Kyiv company "Intergaz" led by Ihor Bakai. "Intergaz" was engaged in the sale of Russian gas and promised to generously finance Dnipro. The company fulfilled its promise. Dnipro strengthened its midfield with players from Kyiv's Dynamo: Serhiy Kovalets, Volodymyr Sharan, and Dmytro Topchiyev. As a consultant, the new owners brought in the first president of Kyiv's Dynamo, Viktor Bezverkhniy. An unprecedented decision was also made – Dnipro was headed by 48-year-old German coach Bernd Stange.
Bernd had a decent coaching profile – from 1984 to 1988, he led the East German national team and coached Hertha and Leipzig in the early 90s. At the time of the offer from Dnipro, Stange had been unemployed for quite some time. German media reported that Bernd had collaborated with the Stasi – the East German equivalent of the Soviet KGB, so the prospects of finding a suitable job were slim. Dnipro became Stange’s first foreign club. Later, Bernd turned into a true football pilgrim, working in Australia and coaching the national teams of Oman, Iraq, Belarus, Singapore, and Syria. It was Stange's initiative that brought Zassen to Dnipro.
For 27-year-old Andreas Zassen, who played as an attacking midfielder, his journey to Ukraine was a sort of restart. Zassen needed to relaunch his playing career after a debacle at Dynamo Dresden. In Germany, everyone was aware of the player's alcohol problems, which regularly hindered Andreas from fully unleashing his talent. Moreover, by that time, he had already earned the nickname "Vodka Andy."
In the Bundesliga, Zassen made his debut for Bayer Uerdingen. In 1993, Hamburg bought the midfielder for 800,000 marks. There, the 25-year-old Zassen once again made headlines for the wrong reasons. While intoxicated, Andreas engaged in a taxi race through the city, even slapping the taxi driver, who was then forced to take the drunken passenger to the police. This incident became known to the press, and Hamburg fined Zassen 12,500 marks. The Hamburg fans came up with a new creative chant: "Take a ride with Vodka Andy in a taxi," they chanted from the stands.
Meanwhile, Zassen continued to lose his battle with the bottle, leading Hamburg to acknowledge their mistake and sell Andreas to Dynamo Dresden. However, the issues with his lifestyle did not disappear in Dresden, where, at the first opportunity, the scandalous midfielder was allowed to leave for Dnipro.
Resembled Rykun
Unfortunately, Dnipro did not become a restart for Zassen's career either. In just 4 months, the attacking midfielder played 11 matches for the Ukrainian team and did not score a single goal. His teammates at the time remembered Andreas more for his activity during team gatherings than on the football field.
"I can't say that Andreas strengthened our team," – tells Champion Volodymyr Sharan, who played in Dnipro's midfield at that time. – "His invitation was initiated by Bernd Stange, who had the full trust of the club's management. Andreas arrived with extra weight. He couldn’t deliver the workload expected from a player of his position. If he had been scoring regularly, we might have overlooked that. But goals were not forthcoming for Zassen in Dnipro. It turned out that Andreas was no better than the local players. At that time, Dnipro had Polunin, Topchiyev, and the experienced Bahmut in midfield. Eventually, Stange realized that too. In terms of playing style, the German could be compared to Rykun. He somewhat resembled Oleksandr. But Sashko was a much stronger footballer than Andreas.
As for communication within the team, the language barrier was a challenge for us. As a person, Zassen was simple and open. He lived at the training base in Prydniprovsk in a room with goalkeeper Kostya Ledovskyi. One time, they walked back from the city center to the base on foot. They tried to catch a taxi, but no one stopped for them – it was already late. They walked 18 kilometers on foot. "Honestly, we walked and talked the whole way," – Kostya confessed to us. "Do you speak German?" – we asked him. Kostya, of course, didn’t know any foreign languages. But they sat together for 3 hours, and that probably helped them overcome the language barrier. We never figured out what language they spoke."
"For us, the arrival of a German footballer was a novelty," – admits Champion’s former goalkeeper of Dnipro Mykola Medin, whose opinion on Zassen's playing qualities differs from Sharan's. – "The language barrier prevented us from communicating effectively with Zassen. Andreas learned a few words and phrases in Russian. We would jokingly tease him when he pronounced them with an accent. He fit into the team well – we regularly gathered as a team after matches. The German was always with us. It was clear that it was very difficult for him without full communication. Zassen lived at Dnipro's base – at that time, we didn’t yet practice renting apartments for legionnaires. As for football moments – it was evident that Andreas was a high-class player. He had a good pass and a well-placed shot. He gave his all on the field. It was noticeable."
"Zassen arrived unprepared physically," – admits us Valentyn Moskvin, who was playing in Dnipro's attack at that time. – "He started to regain his form. He was on his own wavelength. Slavik Syrota and I knew a bit of English, so we could communicate with him sometimes. I think he simply didn’t have enough time in Dnipro – Andreas was only with the team for 4 months. During training, it was clear that he was a quality footballer."
Threatened a tavern owner with a gas pistol
The playing career of 27-year-old Zassen ended just 4 months after he left Dnipro. Andreas signed a contract with the second Bundesliga club Wattenscheid. But soon he was drawn back to his old ways. The contract with Zassen was terminated in December 1995 after his latest binge. "I drank and lost everything," – Andreas soon confessed.
In August 1997, "Vodka Andy" reminded everyone of himself again – he threatened a tavern owner in his hometown of Essen with a gas pistol. In the last years of his life, Zassen worked as a gardener’s assistant and painter. On November 17, 2004, Andreas passed away in a university clinic in Essen due to a stroke. Zassen was only 36 years old.</