Igor Akinfeev is a football player, a permanent gate guard not only in CSKA, but also in the national team. During his entire career, he played for only one club. Igor is the team captain. He began to play for the national team since 2004. In 2016, he tried on the captain's armband in the national team. In 2005 he became an Honored Master of Sports.
Igor Akinfeev's date of birth is April 8, 1986. The future goalkeeper of the “army team” and the national team was born in the suburbs. Igor Akinfeev's father worked as a driver. Mom was engaged in raising children, working in a kindergarten. Another child was brought up in the family - Eugene. The first training took place when the child was 4 years old. Igor was taken to CSKA school by his father. The future goalkeeper of the national team was the youngest "student". But at the same time he immediately declared his desire to become a goalkeeper. Children were trained by Desiderius Kovacs. He highly appreciated Igor's capabilities, saying that he would make an excellent goalkeeper.
At the age of 7, Igor continued his career in the "army team" children and youth school. At the same time, he did not quit studying in a regular school, skipping only physical education lessons, tk. afraid of getting hurt. There was simply no time left for other hobbies and games. A year later, the first training camp took place in Chernogolovka. The training took place in difficult conditions. Work was required even in the rain. But the guy didn't complain. In addition, he washed his uniform on his own, which greatly impressed not only the coaching staff, but also his parents. The first games in Igor's career took place when he was only 10 years old.
Achievements in a sports career
Igor's career has developed brilliantly. Such qualities as excellent kicking, good reaction and confidence in their abilities played a huge role in the success. Already in 2002, the first medals were won. As part of the “army team” he became the champion of Russia.
A year later, he made his debut for an adult team. He defended the gate in the match against “Zenith”. In the course of the match, he entered the ⅛ final of the Russian Cup instead of Kramarenko. He successfully defended the gate, showing miracles of reaction and calmness even in the most dangerous moments. After a while, he defended the gate from the players of the Wings of the Soviets team. In my first match, I had to hit a penalty kick. He coped with this task successfully. With his successful actions he won the love of the fans.
The general mood was spoiled by participation in the European Cups. The team played against Vardar and lost, conceding two goals. The goalkeeper's game was later commented on by Rinat Dasaev. According to him, Igor played well and is not to blame for the goals conceded.
In 2003, Igor played for the first time in the Olympic team. The matches cannot be called successful. The national team lost to both Ireland and Switzerland. But no one even had any complaints about Igor. In 2004 he broke another record. He became the youngest goalkeeper in the history of the national team. On the defense of the gate in the debut match, he stood at number 35.
As the main goalkeeper of the "army" Igor began to enter the field, having played in the match of an inveterate opponent of "Spartak" for the Super Cup. He conceded only once, and his teammates scored three times.
Were in the career and removal. It happened in a match against “Wings of the Soviets”. Almost at the very end of the match, he was removed. The fight was started by the rival player Koroman. After a goal against Akinfeev, Ognen ran and hit the ball, which bounced off the net. As a result, the ball hit the CSKA goalkeeper in the face. It was this moment that provoked the scuffle. Igor was not only removed from the field. Subsequently, he was disqualified for 5 matches. However, this did not stop him from becoming the best goalkeeper in Russia.
Eurocups and injury
In 2004, Igor played in the Champions League for the first time. In the debut match, “CSKA” were opposed by “Neftchi” team. As a result of two meetings Igor did not concede a single goal. Then the team passed the Scottish “Rangers”. CSKA got into the group, but could not leave it, taking the third position, thanks to which they got into another tournament - the UEFA Cup. The 2005 season brought great success not only to Igor, but to the entire team. “CSKA” won the UEFA Cup, beating in the fight for the first line of “Sporting”.
The following years also became successful. Igor kept the goal of his team “dry” for 362 minutes. After that, the goalkeeper was called the most promising goalkeeper. In 2007, there were rumors of interest from English clubs. But Igor himself stopped these conversations, saying that he was definitely not going to leave CSKA in the next few years.
In 2007, she was seriously injured. Rebounding the ball after a free kick in the game against the Rostov team, he landed not very well. As a result, the cruciate ligaments were torn. The doctors said that Igor would have to be treated until the end of the season, and he would definitely not appear on the field. However, the goalkeeper showed character and returned to the field in the 29th round.
Two years later, several events happened at once. Not the most pleasant thing - the 100th goal of his career was conceded. However, later Igor became one of the five best goalkeepers in the world.
Failures and new successes
In 2011, CSKA became five-time Russian Cup winners. In the match against “Spartak” Igor again receives a serious injury during the meeting with the forward Welliton. It turned out that the cruciate ligaments were torn again. In September, he went to surgery, and in February he was already actively training. But he was able to defend the gate again only in April.
In 2014, Lev Yashin's record was broken. Igor Akinfeev has not conceded in 203 matches. On the same day, the team won another championship. Success accompanied the national team's games as well. In 2012, he celebrated 174 clean sheets. In the game against Azerbaijan, he reached a record mark - 708 minutes without a conceded goal. The dry run was interrupted in the match against the Portuguese. As a result, the dry run was 761 minutes. There were also annoying blunders against the national team of the Republic of Korea, Belgium and Algeria.
Another trouble happened with Igor in the match against Montenegro. From the side of the fans, a fire flew into it. Igor received severe burns and a concussion. At the 40th second he was carried off the field on a stretcher. The match itself was interrupted in the second half. After that Igor played with varying degrees of success. There were brilliant rescues (for example, in the match against England , and mistakes (against Mexico).
The home championship for Igor and the entire team was successful. At the end of three matches, he conceded 4 goals. Moreover, 1 - from the penalty spot, and 3 - against Uruguay in a match that did not play any role. At the same time, the Russian national team played in the minority. In ⅛, the team played with Spain. The hero of the match was Igor Akinfeev, who successfully repelled all the attacks of the Spaniards. The winner was identified only by a penalty shootout. Igor again showed miracles of reaction, having beaten off 2 penalties. The Russian national team went further, and Igor's salvation after the strike of Iago Aspas was recognized as “the moment of the day”.
He showed a lightning-fast reaction in the match against the Croats, reflecting one blow from the penalty spot. However, the mistakes of teammates did not allow Russia to advance to the semifinals.
Season 17/18
In the period from 2017 to 2018, the anti-record streak in European Cup battles was finally interrupted. Igor defended the goal in several matches in the qualifying rounds. Then there was 1 more match in the group, in which the rivals could not hit the gate of Akinfeev. As a result of 6 matches, “CSKA” entered the Europa League. Igor successfully defended the goal in 2 more matches.
In the same season, the famous goalkeeper won a new victory. Igor became the record holder for the number of victories over an inveterate rival - “Spartak”. In August, due to another injury, he missed a couple of games. Playing against Lokomotiv he successfully deflected a penalty kick. This salvation turned out to be the 20th in the biography of the genius goalkeeper. In the Europa League, the team successfully reached ¼. In the Premier League, the second place was “taken away” from “Spartak”.
Personal life
Igor cannot be called an open person. He rarely gives interviews and participates in photo shoots. There are no social media accounts for him. According to rumors, the tragedy with the fan was the reason for this. The girl committed suicide. The answer from an unknown person brought her to such an outcome. On a social network, she talked with a guy who "pretended to be" the goalkeeper of the "army" and the national team. Of course, Igor is not to blame for this. But he was very worried, eventually abandoning social networks.
For this reason, fans have to learn about all the events in Igor's life from various sources. Not all information can be called reliable. For example, for a long time it was believed that the goalkeeper's wife was Valery Yakunchikova. They have actually been in a relationship since 2008. However, it was subsequently decided to part.
After a while, it turned out that the wife of Igor Akinfeev was the model Ekaterina Gerun. A mutual friend introduced them. Children grow up in the family. The son's name is Daniel, and the daughter's name is Evangeline. Although Igor tries to spend all his free time with the children, his wife is mainly involved in the upbringing. Igor and Ekaterina rarely attend any events. Husband and wife are published only at the request of their friend Sergei Zhukov.
