For more than a decade, Sergei Zuev held an honorable place among the best mini-football players. The sports star of the football player lit up in the 80s, when this fascinating type of sports began to actively develop in the USSR. A skilled goalkeeper defended the honor of his club and the Russian Federation at the highest level competitions. There were also failures in his career: sports of the highest achievements cannot do without them. However, there are much more successes in the goalkeeper's piggy bank.
From the biography of Sergei Zuev
The future mini-football master was born in Severouralsk on February 20, 1980. In this small mining town, located in the Sverdlovsk region, five hundred kilometers from Yekaterinburg, Sergei spent his childhood. Bauxite ore has been mined here for a long time.
At the age of seven, Zuev began to play hockey in a courtyard club, where his parents were assigned. For a long time Seryozha tried on the goalkeeper's position. Until the age of 12, his parents helped the boy to carry a heavy bag with ammunition to training: the armor of the "gate guard" weighed a lot. Sergei had a chance to participate in regional competitions.
In training, the young hockey player often played football. Over time, he mastered a variety of this game, which is called "futsal". An exotic sport at that time captured Sergei. He played in the futsal team at the city championship and won it. The talented player was noticed by the coach of the Ural Polytechnic team. It was he who suggested that the young man apply to this university so that he could not only get a good education, but also speak for the institute.
Futsal career
In 1997, Zuev began his career in the Major League of mini-football of the Russian Federation. As part of the student team, Sergei played dozens of matches. He becomes the first goalkeeper of his team. After three years of hard training, Zuev entered the expanded composition of the Russian national team to participate in the World Cup (Brazil). The footballer recalls with a smile how his knees were shaking when he went out against the strongest world-class players. And he was also impressed by the stadium of many thousands: the Ural student had never seen such a number of fans before.
In that tournament, Russian footballers won the bronze. The success of the team made Sergei Nikolaevich a master of sports.
In subsequent years, Zuev played for the Ural club "VIZ-Sinara", again in the position of the guard of his gates. The very first season in this team allowed Zuev to become the best goalkeeper of the regular futsal championship.
Success followed one after another. Zuev firmly takes the place of the first goalkeeper of the national team. In 2005 and 2007 he added silver and bronze medals of the European Championship to his achievements. Zuev is also the owner of the prestigious UEFA Cup (2007-2008 season).
Champion's personal life
Sergey practices qigong gymnastics, adding such exercises to his workouts. He also tries himself in the craft of writing, trying in this type of creativity to share his ideas about sports with the audience.
The footballer loves aquarium fish and perfectly knits, competing on equal terms in this purely female occupation with his wife and daughter. Sergey believes that knitting develops attention and fine motor skills of the fingers: and these skills are extremely important for a goalkeeper.
