Everyone knows the name of Valery Gazzaev in the football world. In the past, a player, coach, and now a politician, he made a great contribution to the development and popularization of sports in Russia.
Childhood and early career
Valery grew up in an Ossetian family. His father, a former famous wrestler, supported his son's interest in sports. The boy preferred the ball to children's toys, but he got into professional football late, as a teenager. The coach of the local Spartak did not believe in the success of the newcomer and waited for him to leave the team himself. But that did not happen. The will to win and great hard work allowed him to quickly reach the level of his comrades. At the age of 16, the footballer made his debut in the main team of Spartak. By that time, he had become a freshman at the Agricultural Institute. I had to leave my studies for the sake of football.
After two successful seasons, Gazzaev was drafted into the army. The service took place in the SKA Rostov football team.
At the age of twenty, Gazzayev's talent, a striker, was revealed. The young man became interested in the Moscow Lokomotiv and he moved to the capital.
Footballer and coach
The athlete played not only for the railroad club, but also represented the national team. The first big success was the victory at the 1976 European Youth Championship.
Gazzaev was able to demonstrate his football talent especially clearly in the Moscow Dynamo. Coach Alexander Sevidov helped the young striker to become a part of the legendary team. The final match for the USSR Cup between Dynamo and Zenit became a vivid example of successful cooperation.
Gazzaev did not have a good relationship with the new coach of the capital team, Eduard Malofeev, and in 1986 he moved to Dinamo Tbilisi. But even there, not finding mutual understanding with the coaches, the athlete decided to end his player career. He was 32 years old. Gazzayev has always been distinguished by leadership and a complex character.
During this period, Valery received two degrees: law and the Higher School of Coaches.
Years later, he returned to his native Ordzhonikidze. At the age of 35, a new page in the biography of the athlete Gazzaev began. He headed the coaching staff of the Spartak team, which gave him a start in life. The first season of 1979 was a disaster - 17th place in the standings. But already the next year, having returned to the First League, Spartak began to quickly rise in the ranking of football teams.
Gazzaev's successes as a mentor were noticed, and in 1991 he was offered to return to the Dynamo Moscow club as a mentor. A year later, the team took the third line of the Russian championship. But no new victories followed. After the devastating score 0: 6 with the German Eintracht Frankfurt, the coach could not cope with the psychological trauma and resigned.
Valery Georgievich returned to his homeland again. Now Ordzhonikidze had a new name - Vladikavkaz. By that time, Spartak, revived by him, had achieved unprecedented success, becoming the country's silver medalist. In 1995, under the new name "Spartak-Alania", coach Gazzaev led the team to the top spot in the Russian championship. He gave the Vladikavkaz club five years, and again the team received gold and silver in the championships.
The mentor devoted the next stage of his life to the CSKA club in the capital, where Gazzaev moved at the turn of the century. Since 2001, the era of glory has begun for the "army team". The very next year, beating Zenit in the final, they took the Russian Cup. A year later, they confirmed their gold and then for many years did not leave the top three. But the most triumphant victory for the Red-Blues was the 2005 UEFA Cup. This is the first time Russian football has reached such heights.
Gazzaev today
The recently renowned coach left his job as a mentor and devoted himself to politics. The United Russia faction supported his candidacy in the elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation. The 64-year-old deputy is in charge of the development of physical culture and sports in our country.
Valery Gazzaev and his wife Bella have been together for over forty years. They have two grown sons and a daughter.
