City where football clubs constantly die
Nizhny Novgorod is one of the most important millionaires in the country. Argentina, England, Croatia and other top teams will soon arrive there, and then one of the quarterfinals of the 2018 World Cup will take place. At the same time, clubs are regularly buried here: an outrageous project with the first legionnaires in Russia, and a team full of aging stars, and a lamp team named after the region. Alexander Plekhanov went to Nizhny Novgorod and figured out why such a fragile region has such a fragile football.
“Do you know what“ Russian roulette ”is? This is when you are given the task of taking the sixth place, and otherwise you threaten to disperse the whole team, ”said Valery Ovchinnikov about the goals of the Nizhny Novgorod Lokomotiv. He was engaged in the team from 1989 to 2002 – at first he only coached, and then became the club president. Continue reading
I earn so much that I can buy your life. ” The most fierce brawler of our time
“Such a life. It’s just me, ”Marco Arnautovich said with a helpless gesture when he crashed a club car two days after receiving it. In “Twente” they understood what they were going for: in 2006 a great talent appeared in the team, but with an unstable mentality, a difficult character and a reputation as a bully.
The Austrian practically grew up on the street where his friends looted houses and shops, and then went to prison. Marco recalled that time like this: “We specifically looked at people in the eye to provoke fights, although I was not some kind of gangster and did not kill anyone.” Street education Arnautovich moved to football.
Even before moving to Holland, Marco roared in his native Vienna, where he replaced more than one team. Continue reading
I saw the Champions League final from the inside. It was magical
Any trip to a match for a journalist begins with an accreditation. But the Champions League final is a special procedure. You need to fill out a bunch of documents and leave detailed information about yourself, after which the UEFA spokespersons make inquiries about the existence of the media and people who want to be accredited. Anyone can both refuse and confirm the application. The answer has to wait about a month. All this time you live impatiently from waiting, and every day, convulsively, 10 times a day, you check the mail, where the answer should come from just one main word: confirmed or rejected. This is something like a childhood at school, when you are waiting for a test grade or exam and are afraid that the teacher will say loudly to the whole class that you are not satisfied.
The distribution of elephants begins one day before the match in the Kiev Palace of Sports. Continue reading
Fighter pilot became a star of football and journalism
“It was a terrible time: a sea of murders, explosions”
Sunderland paid 18,000 pounds for me. Damn it, for those times it was a lot of money. Someone from the team joked, saying that my legs are made of gold, which is why I got such a large amount. The most interesting thing is that some fans believed in this nonsense: they met me on the street, rounded my eyes and avoided it if I didn’t hurt or injure, ”lied Ivor Brodis, the former England striker, in conversation with the journalist The Telegraph.
Actually, his name was Ivan. The captain of the Tottenham farm club, where Brodis played before the war, is to blame for the miraculous transformation of the name. Continue reading
Football was being killed in my hometown. But he still survived
Kirzhach – a city on the border of the Vladimir region with a population of about 30 thousand people. In the summer it is filled with Moscow summer residents, and the rest of the time this place lives a quiet and measured life. At the district and regional championships, football players from Kirzhach sometimes give out something good, but they do not make it any further. Below is a story about amateur football that ordinary teens tried to save.
There is no professional football in Kirzhach. Championships of the region and the region – the ceiling for all who know how to do something with the ball. Stadiums are maintained in good condition, but often only mothers with children walk on them. Coaches-activists carry children to football tournaments from football sections. They are few, and none of the players still make their way somewhere higher. One of the guys tried out for a large-scale view at CSKA – I didn’t get to the final list. Teens love football, so chase the ball in the yards. Moreover, organized entertainment in a small town is no longer to be found. Continue reading
