Childhood of Igor Akinfeev
Igor Akinfeev’s parents are Vladimir Vasilyevich and Irina Vladimirovna, and the football player also has a brother, Evgeniy.
Little Igor Akinfeev and his older brother Evgeniy
Igor loved football since childhood; when he was four years old, his parents began taking him to his first training sessions at the CSKA Children's and Youth School, and the boy was two years younger than the other students. After the second training session, Desideriy Fedorovich Kovach, the young football player’s first coach, realized that Igor was a born goalkeeper.
Russian national team goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev as a child
In 2002, Igor became the champion of Russia as part of the CSKA junior team. In the same year, he graduated from the football academy and signed his first professional contract (CSKA reserve team). Over the entire season, since joining the club in July, Igor Akinfeev played 10 matches, conceding a total of 14 goals. According to the results of the reserves championship, his team took eleventh place, and Akinfeev was called back to the youth team. In August of the same year, he made his debut in the youth team in a match against the Swedish team.
Igor Akinfeev, his friend Sergei Gorelov and Spartak goalkeeper Alexander Filimonov
Igor Akinfeev received his secondary education at Moscow School No. 704. In 2003, after graduating, he entered the Moscow State Academy of Physical Culture. In 2009, he successfully defended his thesis on the topic “Technical and tactical actions of a goalkeeper during a football match.” Thus, the youngest goalkeeper of the CSKA club became a certified football specialist.
Igor Akinfeev: biography and facts from life
The future gatekeeper of CSKA Moscow was born in April 1986 in Vidnoye, near Moscow. The boy spent his entire childhood there with his parents and older brother Evgeniy.
Seeing how attached the boy was to playing with the ball, Vladimir Vasilyevich Akinfeev sent his youngest son to the CSKA children's and youth school, where he was assigned to goal during the second training session. Igor studied at the Youth Sports Club PFC CSKA for eleven years, after which he made his debut for the main army team. At that time, the guy was only 16 years old, and he became the youngest goalkeeper in the Russian Premier League.
In the world of football there are not many examples of boundless devotion to the club and, as they say, an emblem kept close to the heart. Such players were Paolo Maldini and Francesco Totti, Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs. So far, Igor Akinfeev also belongs to this cohort. The biography of his performances for CSKA has been going on for 15 years now, and the Muscovites goalkeeper has every chance to repeat the success of the great and powerful of this world.
The CSKA goalkeeper is not only a famous football player. Igor Vladimirovich Akinfeev is the author of a book called “100 penalties from readers,” on the pages of which the goalkeeper of the capital’s club answers questions from fans. In addition, Igor is a graduate of the Moscow State Academy of Physical Education.
Igor Akinfeev in professional sports
Season 2002/03. Pre-season training camps with the main team took place in Israel. After the first match, the Sport-Express newspaper expressed an opinion about the new goalkeeper: “He made a splash with his confident, mature play, looked stronger than Mandrykin.”
2002: Igor Akinfeev - a young and promising goalkeeper for CSKA
On March 29, 2003, Igor Akinfeev played his first match at the “adult” level (1/8 finals against Zenit). In the second half, he came on instead of Viktor Kramarenko, demonstrating a good reaction - CSKA played a draw. On May 31, Akinfeev made his debut in the Premier League; In the match with Krylya Sovetov, the CSKA team won 2:0, and Akinfeev himself distinguished himself by saving a penalty in the last minute. Igor was recognized as the best player of the match.
Igor Akinfeev’s debut in the Russian Championship (2003)
At the championship of the 2003 season, Igor Akinfeev played 13 matches with 11 goals conceded, and became the champion of Russia - Akinfeev’s first achievement in big football.
In the 2003 season, Igor Akinfeev made his debut in the Eurocup against the Vardar football club. The match, which took place on July 30, ended in favor of Macedonia (1:2). Football star of the 80s, goalkeeper Rinat Dasaev expressed the opinion that Akinfeev was not to blame for the missed goals.
On September 5, Igor made his debut as a member of the Russian Olympic team in a match against the Irish national team, which ended with a score of 2:0 in favor of the Irish. The second match of the Olympic team with the participation of Akinfeev against the Swiss team also brought defeat to Russia (2:1).
Season 2003/04. Cup of Russia. Akinfeev made his debut in the match on November 5 against the Elets team. The competition ended with the victory of CSKA with a score of 3:1. In the second match of the 1/8 finals, Igor Akinfeev won 4:0 in favor of the army team.
Igor Akinfeev’s debut for the Russian national team (04/28/04)
On April 28, 2004, Igor Akinfeev’s first match took place in the main squad of the national team.
Igor Akinfeev became the youngest goalkeeper of the Russian national team in history
Season 2004. On March 7, in the Super Cup match against Spartak, Igor Akinfeev spent all 90 minutes of the game on the field, missing the only goal in the 14th minute. The score is 3:1 in favor of the army team. This season, he became a regular player in the team's main squad, and in the first three matches he invariably appeared on the field in the starting lineup of CSKA.
In the third round, in the match against Samara, Akinfeev received a red card for a brawl and was sent off the field in the last minutes of the game. The fight occurred due to the fault of midfielder Koroman, who, after the Cowboy scored a goal, hit the ball that bounced off the net and hit the goalkeeper in the face. For such a violation, Igor Akinfeev was disqualified for five matches. In total this season he played 26 matches and conceded 15 goals. As a result, the CSKA team won silver medals, and Igor was recognized as the best goalkeeper in Russia, as well as, according to the Fox Sports TV channel, the best young goalkeeper, included in the list of “33 best” at number 3.
Akinfeev began the fight for the Russian Cup from the 1/8 finals. In the final, the army team beat Khimki with a score of 1:0 and won the Cup for the second time. Akinfeev played seven matches with three goals conceded.
Igor Akinfeev at CSKA training
On July 27, 2004, he made his debut in the Champions League in a match against the Azerbaijani club Neftchi. The match was drawn. In the return game, CSKA won with a score of 2:0. Having beaten the Scots, the team entered the group stage, during which Igor played all six matches on the field, conceding five goals. As a result, CSKA took third place and got the opportunity to continue playing in the UEFA Cup.
2005: victory in the UEFA Cup
In the 2005 season, Igor Akinfeev won the UEFA Cup.
Season 2006. At the group tournament, Akinfeev managed not to concede a goal for 362 minutes. During this period, many fans compared him to Lev Yashin, Igor’s authority as a goalkeeper grew so much that he began to be considered the most promising goalkeeper.
Season 2007. In the spring, information appeared that the London Arsenal were interested in a promising player. But in an interview, Igor Akinfeev said that he is not going to leave CSKA for the next 4 years.
Injury of Igor Akinfeev (Rostov - CSKA, 2007) On the 8th round of the Russian Championship on May 6, in a match against Rostov, Igor was injured: while fighting for a penalty ball, he landed unsuccessfully, tearing the cruciate ligaments of his knee. Doctors predicted the goalkeeper's absence from big-time football until the end of the season, but Akinfeev returned to the team before the end of the championship thanks to intensive treatment.
2007: Akinfeev returned to the field after injury
On November 3, as part of the 29th round of the championship against Kuban, Akinfeev played his first match after injury. CSKA won with a score of 1:0.
Akinfeev brought CSKA many victories
Season 2008. In January, Igor Akinfeev extended his contract with CSKA until 2011. The 16th round of the Russian Premier League in the match between CSKA and Krylia Sovetov became his 100th clean sheet; it ended in a draw. Igor became the youngest goalkeeper with such an impressive result.
In the Russian Championship this season, Akinfeev played 30 matches, conceding 24 goals. He missed part of the qualifying cycle for Euro 2008 due to injury, but still played 5 matches, conceding 8 goals: Four goals in the first game against Spain, one in the quarter-finals against the Netherlands, and three in the semi-finals with Spain. At the end of the championship, Russia took bronze place.
2008: third place at Euro
Season 2009. At the Russian Championship in the 4th round match on April 12 (CSKA - Lokomotiv), Igor Akinfeev missed his hundredth goal. In the same year, he entered the top five best goalkeepers in the world according to the International Federation of Football History and Statistics.
Season 2010. In the fall, Akinfeev played with varying degrees of success. In the match with the Slovak national team, the army team was defeated - the match ended with a score of 0:1. In the match with the Macedonian national team, the goalkeeper took a penalty, the match ended in victory with a score of 1:0. The match with the Belgium national team ended in defeat.
Interview with Igor Akinfeev (All life in gloves) Season 2011. On May 22, CSKA won the 5th Russian Cup. On August 28, on the 22nd round of the championship in a match against Spartak, Igor was injured again. On September 7, he underwent surgery, and on February 4, 2012, he began individual training.
Akinfeev's return to the field after injury
On March 11, Akifeev flew with the team to the return match with Real Madrid in Madrid, but was not included in the squad. On April 14, in a match with Zenit, the footballer entered the field for the first time after an injury. The match ended with the score 0:2. Akinfeev played his 50th match for the national team (against the Serbian national team) on August 10, 2011, thus joining the symbolic “Igor Netto club”. CSKA won this match with a score of 1:0.
Season 2013/2014. On May 15, 2014, Akinfeev broke Lev Yashin's record by playing his 204th match to a clean sheet. On the same day he became a five-time Russian Champion. In the same year, Akinfeev broke the record for playing time without conceding goals - 761 minutes
Akinfeev achieved the longest dry streak in the history of the Russian national team
The World Cup in Brazil was not the most successful period in Akinfeev’s career. In the match with the South Korean national team, he absurdly, in his own words, missed a goal. Akinfeev's ridiculous goal (Russia - South Korea) The series of failures continued in the match with the Belgium national team. True, according to Fabio Capello, Igor Akinfeev had nothing to do with it - someone shined a laser pointer in the goalkeeper’s eyes for ten minutes. However, the Belgians' victory (1:0) was counted. During the match with the Algerian national team, Akinfeev made an unsuccessful interception attempt, and the opponents tied the score (1:1). As a result, Russia failed to leave the group, and Igor Akinfeev was included in the symbolic team of “football players who failed the World Cup” (according to the Italian sports publication La Gazetta dello Sport).
After the failure, Igor Akinfeev apologized to the fans for his game
The 2014/2015 season was marked by new records for Akinfeev - he broke Sergei Ovchinnikov's record for the number of clean sheets at the Russian Championship (130), and exceeded Sergei Semak's record for the number of matches within the national championship (283).
At a match against the Montenegro national team, which took place on the opponent’s territory, a Montenegrin fan threw a fire at Akinfeev. As a result, the goalkeeper of the Russian team received burns and a concussion in the 40th second of the game. The goalkeeper was taken away on a stretcher, the match was interrupted for half an hour, then continued, but in the 67th minute it escalated into a serious brawl. The judges decided to count Montenegro a technical defeat (0:3).
Igor Akinfeev was hit with a firecracker (Montenegro - Russia) Later it turned out that the fan who threw the fireworks, Luka Lazarevich, did it unintentionally - he threw away a firecracker thrown at his feet by an unknown person. Video footage from the stadium confirmed his words. He went to prison for 3.5 months, and Igor Akinfeev did not make any claims against him.
Igor Akinfeev became the goalkeeper of the Russian team at the Confederations Cup, held in St. Petersburg in June 2020. Alas, the Russian team under the leadership of Stanislav Cherchesov did not show the best result. In particular, many experts said that it was Akinfeev’s uncertain play that allowed the Mexican national team to score the second goal against Russia. At the same time, no one could name anyone equal to Akinfeev in terms of experience. Soon after this, information appeared in the media that Akinfeev threatened the coach with leaving the national team.
Igor Akinfeev. Russia – Mexico
Sport
In 2002, Akinfeev, as part of the CSKA youth team, won the Russian championship, after which he was invited to the national junior team.
Football experts noted Igor’s phenomenal game, which, according to some experts, was superior to the game of many professional goalkeepers.
Soon, Igor Akinfeev made his debut in the Russian Premier League against Krylia Sovetov. This fight became one of the most striking in his sports biography.
The goalkeeper kept a clean sheet and also saved a penalty at the end of the match. The match ended with a score of 2:0 in favor of Akinfeev's team.
Igor Akinfeev in his youth
The coach more and more often trusted Igor with a place in goal. The guy played skillfully with his feet and showed excellent reactions.
In 2003, Akinfeev participated in 13 matches, conceding 11 goals. In the same year, CSKA became the national champion. The following year he played his first game for the national team, becoming the youngest goalkeeper in its history.
Igor Akinfeev was recognized as the best goalkeeper of the Russian Federation. They wrote about him in all sports publications, predicting a great future for him.
In 2005, Igor became a member of CSKA, with whom he won the UEFA Cup. It is curious that the team became the first Russian club to win a European tournament.
Igor Akinfeev with the UEFA Cup
This historic victory was written about in the media and discussed on television. The footballers turned into real national heroes, drowning in compliments from their compatriots.
In the national team, 19-year-old Akinfeev was also number one. He saw the field perfectly and interacted well with the defensive line.
However, Igor Akinfeev’s sports biography was not without falls. Many CSKA fans said that he played well in the Russian championship, but looked weak in international competitions.
An interesting fact is that Akinfeev holds the anti-record in the Champions League. For 11 years, starting in the fall of 2006, he conceded goals in 43 consecutive major matches. However, in general, the guy still remained the best goalkeeper in his homeland.
In 2009, Igor Akinfeev was in the TOP 5 best goalkeepers in the world, according to IFFHS.
In May 2014, the goalkeeper sensationally broke Lev Yashin's record, managing to keep a clean sheet in his 204th match. At the same time, he was able to set a record for playing time without conceding goals.
For 761 minutes, not a single ball flew into Akinfeev’s goal. As of today, this is the longest “dry” streak in the history of the Russian team.
In 2020, a serious problem occurred in the footballer’s biography. In a game against the Montenegro national team, an opposing fan threw a burning fire at Igor.
The goalkeeper received serious burns, along with a concussion, and Montenegro was given a technical defeat.
In 2020, Akinfeev set a new record for the number of clean sheets in the national team - 45 matches.
As of 2020, Akinfeev is the highest paid player at CSKA. According to one source, the club paid him €180,000 per month in 2020.
Personal life of Igor Akinfeev
Igor Akinfeev talks little about his personal life, perhaps because one of his many fans once opened her veins when someone unknown insulted her on behalf of Akinfeev on a “fake” blog.
Igor was terribly worried when he learned about this incident. However, from the early stages of his career he showed severity in this regard, answering all questions that he had no time for girls. For 6 years (from 2008 to 2014) Akinfeev dated Valeria Yakunchikova. The 15-year-old daughter of the CSKA administrator, the granddaughter of the famous coach of the Tom team, Valery Nepomniachtchi, attended all the army matches from an early age and literally charmed the young goalkeeper. She was a professional dancer, starred in music videos (for example, for Timati) and advertising, received a higher education at the RUDN University, in a word, she was not only a beauty, but also an interesting conversationalist. However, for a reason unknown to the press, their relationship failed. The media circulated information about Akinfeev’s betrayal, but the rumors remained rumors.
Igor Akinfeev and Valeria Yakunchikova, the goalkeeper’s ex-girlfriend
The public learned that Igor Akinfeev was married only in May 2014, when the footballer’s first-born, Daniil Igorevich, was born. Igor Akinfeev’s wife’s name is Ekaterina Gerun, a model from Ukraine. In September 2020, on the eve of the match with the Swedish national team, Akinfeev’s daughter Evangelina was born.
Igor Akinfeev and his wife, Ekaterina Gerun
In an interview, the footballer repeatedly emphasized that their family observes Orthodox traditions, but the couple do not intend to impose any religion on their children, taking into account their personal choice.
Igor Akinfeev is a happy husband and father
The name of one of Igor Akinfeev’s best friends is also known - he is the lead singer of the group “Hands Up!” Sergey Zhukov. Their friendship has continued since 2004. The footballer even became the godfather of Zhukov’s daughter, Nina.
Igor Akinfeev and Sergei Zhukov are friends
What is Akinfeev doing now?
Igor Akinfeev still did not leave professional football and continues to play for CSKA Moscow. On December 2, 2020, the football player became the first goalkeeper in the history of the Russian championships to keep 300 clean sheets. And if he does not suffer a serious injury, Igor will play for several more seasons and continue to improve his performance. Moreover, he has no competition in CSKA, which means that Akinfeev will be a regular starter.
At the same time, the athlete is already making plans for the future outside of football. Currently he is a correspondence student at the Russian State University of Gas and Oil and is studying at the Faculty of International Energy Business. The choice of this direction is probably not accidental, because the owner of CSKA, Evgeny Giner, owns companies in the energy sector. Most likely, a place is already being prepared for Igor after his final end to his football career.
Akinfeev is the best Russian goalkeeper in the post-Soviet period. Moreover, he is among the top 15 best goalkeepers in the world of the 21st century according to FIFA. The athlete had a bright and successful career, set several records, won the love of Russian fans and left the national team at the peak of popularity. All that remains is to wish Igor good luck in his future activities, whatever he decides to do.
Igor Akinfeev today
Igor Akinfeev was called up to the national team on the eve of the 2018 World Cup and received the right to wear the captain's armband for the duration of the World Cup. The championship will take place from June 14 to July 15.
Igor Akinfeev in training
During the match between the Russian national team and the Spanish national team in the 1/8 finals, Igor Akinfeev’s save in the penalty shootout after extra time led our team to victory. The footballer saved two 11-meter goals, including kicking a shot from Iago Aspas. Thus, Russia reached the quarter finals of the World Cup for the first time.
Thanks to Igor Akinfeev's save, Russia defeated Spain in the 1/8
Personal life
Igor cannot be called an open person. He rarely gives interviews or participates in photo shoots. There are no social media accounts for him. According to rumors, the reason for this was a tragedy with a fan. The girl committed suicide. The answer from an unknown person brought her to this outcome. On a social network, she communicated with a guy who “pretended” to be the goalkeeper of the “army team” and the national team. Of course, this is not Igor’s fault. But he was very worried, eventually giving up social networks.
For this reason, fans have to learn about all the events in Igor’s life from a variety of sources. Not all information can be called reliable. For example, for a long time it was believed that the goalkeeper’s wife was Valeria Yakunchikova. They have actually been in a relationship since 2008. However, a decision was subsequently made to separate.
After some time, it turned out that model Ekaterina Gerun became the wife of Igor Akinfeev. They were introduced by a mutual friend. Children are growing up in the family. The son's name is Daniel, and the daughter's name is Evangelina. Although Igor tries to spend all his free time with the children, his wife is mainly involved in raising them. Igor and Ekaterina rarely attend any events. The husband and wife go out into the world only at the request of their friend Sergei Zhukov.
