Sergei Nikolaevich Ignashevich is a Russian footballer, from 2004 to 2018 he was a constant player of the Moscow club CSKA, who played for the Russian national team in more than a hundred games. In 2018, he turned 39 years old, and the famous athlete ended his career.
Childhood
From a young age, physical education fell in love with an active child. In the second grade, the boy fell in love with football and it became his life's work. At the age of 9, Sergei began attending the Torpedo football school, and after another 9 years he became a defender at Spartak-Orekhovo, where he was able to prove himself at a decent level.
The coaches appreciated Ignashevich's game, and at one of the screenings the coach of the Samara Krylia Sovetov got interested in him. The player scored his debut and draw goal for the new team in a match in which another Russian football club, Alania, became a rival. Ignashevich joined the Russian youth team, and then became a member of one of the Moscow clubs Torpedo and Lokomotiv. Sergei gave preference to "railroad workers".
Career at Lokomotiv
2001 saw Ignashevich's debut appearance on the field as a defender of Lokomotiv. During the season, the talented footballer played 33 matches at the club and won the Russian Cup for the first time. It is hard not to notice that the team's defense was at a brilliant level - during this season only 14 goals were scored against Lokomotiv, which was the absolute minimum of the championship.
In 2002, the sensational CSKA - Lokomotiv match took place, where the latter received the title of Russian champion for the first time. As a result, Ignashevich was on the list of the best players, which will not leave for the next 15 years. In the game against CSKA in 2003, Lokomotiv won their debut Russian Super Cup, but further failures followed - the club did not manage to win a single title. At the end of 2003, Sergei Ignashevich became a CSKA defender.
CSKA
In CSKA Ignashevich became the captain and successfully held this post until 2008. In the 2005 season, CSKA received the UEFA Cup, the national cup and won the championship. Ignashevich owns 7 goals in 44 matches of the season. Both Zenit St. Petersburg and Spartak Moscow tried to outbid the player, but they were refused.
In 2008 Sergey handed over his post of captain to Igor Akinfeev, but he was still the central player of the team, and two years later his value reached unprecedented values - Ignashevich was estimated at 6 million pounds. In 2011, Sergei celebrated his anniversary in his football career - he played the hundredth match in UEFA tournaments.
In subsequent years, the football player's game was assessed either as the highest level of professionalism, or as the worst games in his career. Nevertheless, Ignashevich constantly became the first in the ranking of the best players in the championship. For the first time since 2001, he did not make this list in the 2016/2017 championship. In April 2017, the player entered the field with CSKA for the 500th time, playing against Rostov.
Russian team
Back in 2002, being a Lokomotiv player, Sergei Nikolayevich joined the national team in the match against Sweden. For many years, journalists and Western clubs have repeatedly noted a worthy level of professionalism of the player. In 2009, the 50th match with the participation of a football player in the national team took place, and the 2014 World Cup witnessed Ignashevich's 100th game.
In 2018, Sergei also became a player of the national team, having played successfully against Saudi Arabia and Egypt and for the first time reached the playoffs of the World Cup. After reaching the quarterfinals, Russia lost to the Croatian national team, and Ignashevich announced the end of his football career, creating an excellent sports biography. During the time as part of the national team, the footballer played more than 120 games, being the absolute leader of our team in terms of the number of matches played.
Personal life
After the first unsuccessful marriage, the famous football player married a second time. The journalist Natalya became Sergei's chosen one. Two marriages gave the footballer 4 sons, two of whom are studying at the CSKA football school.
Sergey devotes a large amount of earnings, efforts and time to charity in order to help seriously ill children, he does not part with his book and loves to visit theaters.
