Alan Dzagoev: It's a blow when the main tournament of life passes you by

Childhood and youth

Alan Dzagoev was born in Beslan on June 17, 1990. My parents lived in Georgia, my father had the last name Dzagoshvili. After moving to Ossetia, they decided to change it from Georgian to Ossetian. By religion, the football player, according to Spots.ru, is Orthodox.

Alan Dzagoev in 2018

Little Alan began to get involved in football from childhood. First he played with friends in the yard, and then in the Vladikavkaz Yunost, after which he went to the Tolyatti sports school to hone his skills. There, Dzagoev established himself as a creative player with excellent speed and the ability to make lightning-fast decisions on the field, which, combined with technique, allowed him to make a name for himself in the very first Leather Ball tournament.

Alan Dzagoev in childhood and now

He was noticed at the competition and invited to FC Krylya Sovetov - SOK from Dimitrovgrad, where Alan played until 2007, managing to play 37 matches on the field, scoring 6 goals. But Alan Dzagoev began his truly professional and successful career at CSKA, where he joined at the end of 2007.

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Winged

The first adult team for the young football player was Krylya Sovetov-SOK. The debut of the new player took place in the match against Tyumen, and Alan scored his first “professional” goal against Neftekhimik. Alas, he remained the only one in the 2006 season, although the footballer appeared on the field 12 times.

The following season, Dzagoev played 25 matches, scoring five goals against his opponents.

Promising "army man"

In mid-November 2007, three players immediately left Krylia Sovetov-SOK for one of the oldest and most prestigious clubs in the country. CSKA Moscow paid 360 thousand dollars for Alan Dzagoev, Anton Vlasov and Dmitry Ryzhov.

17-year-old Dzagoev made his debut in the main team of the club in a match with Khimki on May 11, 2008, in this match he scored a goal against the opponents and gave two assists. Even then he was considered a future star of Russian football and a potential player for the national team.

On September 21, 2008, in a match with Zenit, Dzagoev scored the first double and brought victory to his team, which won with a score of 3:1. In European competitions he started with a double. In total, in 2008, Dzagoev scored 13 goals against opponents, appearing on the field in 29 matches.

In the same season, he made his debut in the “adult” Russian national team (before that, Dzagoev defended the honor of the country in the youth team, and then in the youth team). On October 11, 2008, he took the field in an away match against Germany, but the Russian team lost with a score of 1:2. Dzagoev had a chance to level the score, but the ball he sent into the opponents' goal hit the post. The football player was disappointed. But journalists included him among the best players in another match, against Azerbaijan.

Football

Alan Dzagoev appeared on the field for the first time at the Channel One Cup in the match against Shakhtar Donetsk. The debut in official games took place only on April 26, 2008 against the Luch-Energia team. Alan Dzagoev revealed his full potential in the match against Khimki, where he appeared in the starting lineup.

Alan Dzagoev's first goal for CSKA

The footballer scored the first goal for CSKA and provided several assists, establishing himself as a first-class playmaker in the midfielder position. In the same year, Dzagoev won his first professional trophy - the Russian Cup. In the final, CSKA lost to Amkar Perm with a score of 0:2, but Alan, coming on as a substitute in the 61st minute, helped the team turn the tide of the game, reduce the game to a penalty shootout, in which the Muscovites won a landslide victory.

Due to his youth and inexperience, Alan Dzagoev periodically lost his place in the starting lineup. Not without scandals. The conflict with CSKA head coach Leonid Slutsky became widely known in 2011, when Alan was transferred to the youth team, but the footballer asked for forgiveness and was returned to the main team.

Alan Dzagoev as part of CSKA

There is an opinion that this decision, made by Evgeny Giner and Leonid Slutsky, was hasty. Some believe that the young and hot Ossetian football player should have been immediately reined in so that his explosive nature would not interfere with Dzagoev’s development of professional skills.

And in the 2012/2013 season, when CSKA won the national championship, Alan insulted his main competitor, Zenit St. Petersburg. Then the footballer, with the support of fans, chanted obscene chants. Then Dzagoev swore that he did not want to offend anyone. Allegedly, the euphoria of victory overwhelmed me, “there was space in my head, and the champagne also hit my brain after a rather exhausting game.”

Alan Dzagoev's best goals for CSKA

At the age of 18, the young talent rejected Chelsea’s invitation, although Dzagoev believes that Russian football players must play in the Bundesliga, English Premier League or Serie A. European football is the only way to develop in this sport. But then Alan understood that he could only get the second team, if he was lucky - to participate in the FA Cup or Premier League games. But the Russian dreamed exclusively of the foundation.

Playing for CSKA, Alan Dzagoev played 144 matches, scoring 36 goals. He became the champion of Russia twice (seasons 2012/2013 and 2013/2014), won the Russian Cup 4 times (in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2013), and in 2009 and 2013, together with the club, he won the Russian Super Cup . Personal achievements are no less. So, in 2008, Alan was recognized as the main discovery and the best young player, and in 2009 he entered the top ten best young football players, taking 8th place.

Ossetian CSKA midfielder Alan Dzagoev

Alan Dzagoev received his first call to the national team in 2008. He made his debut in the Russian national team in the match against the German national team in Dortmund, where he came on instead of Renat Yanbaev. After that, he came on as a substitute several times, but only appeared in the starting lineup on October 14, 2009, in a match against the Azerbaijani national team, where he formed a real attacking tandem together with Andrei Arshavin, who was shining at that time, repeatedly becoming the author of assists and earned penalties.

Alan scored his first goal for the Russian national team in the match against Ireland on October 8, 2010. At Euro 2012, Dzagoev became one of the top scorers of the tournament, scoring 2 goals against the Czech national team and 1 against the Polish national team. Unfortunately, the national team was unable to advance beyond the group stage.

Alan Dzagoev in the Russian national team

At the end of the 2011/2012 season, Dzagoev was out for 1.5 months due to a broken little finger. The next season, the Ossetian's character again hindered him - Alan hit an opposing player in the face and earned himself a deletion. Then the football player suffered more serious injuries. During his sports career, the athlete had to treat his Achilles tendon and back, knees and foot.

Alan is the right player, a wild card of sorts due to his versatility. He can strengthen the right flank by playing as a traditional midfielder and, if necessary, as a winger. In the supporting zone, Dzagoev reads the game perfectly and sees the field. Fabio Capello used him as a central attacking midfielder (player behind the strikers).

Such a wide role, according to the chief physician of CSKA, involves sudden movements and increased loads; injuries simply “stick” to the players. Moreover, Alan’s injuries are recurrent, repeating from year to year. Unsatisfactory form did not allow Dzagoev to participate in the 2016 European Championship, and he was not included in the application for the Confederation Cup in the 2016/2017 season.

At the home World Cup 2020, Alan missed most of the tournament and left the field, accompanied by doctors, in the very first match. The footballer recovered for the game with Spain, but the coaching staff then decided not to take risks and did not release Dzagoev.

Alan Dzagoev was injured at the opening of the 2018 World Cup

The midfielder shone in the meeting with Croatia, giving hope with a pass to Mario Fernandez and a penalty kick. But this turned out to be not enough.

Missing key championships and injuries affect the transfer value of a football player. In 2012, they paid $25 million for a CSKA player, then $23 million, $20 million, $16 million. In June 2018, Dzagoev’s value was estimated at $15 million. But Alan doesn’t have to complain about his salary. In 2016, according to information from a number of sites, the athlete received € 1.75 million, a year later – € 2.2 million.

Dzagoev Alan Elizbarovich

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Personal life

Personal life is personal for that matter; among Ossetians, whose nationality is a football player, it is not customary to talk about it. However, for a number of sports sites, Dzagoev made an exception.

Alan married in July 2012 Zarema Abaeva, a dancer of the Ossetian ensemble “Alania”. The wife is 3 years older, so at first she rejected the athlete’s romantic advances. We met through a mutual friend - the girl gave Dzagoev her friend’s phone number. Later Alan will say that he won the heart of his beloved with “Barcelona pressure”.

Alan Dzagoev with his wife

Previously, young people corresponded on Odnoklassniki, but then the football player deleted all accounts from social networks. Now on the same Instagram, Dzagoev has only fan pages. There you can find photos of family members, footage from tournaments and informal moments.

Zarema Dzagoeva is a lawyer by training, but, as is customary in Caucasian families, she looks after the house and raises children - son Khetag and daughter Elana. According to the same customs, the wedding was celebrated 3 times: for Moscow friends and at home - in Vladikavkaz and Beslan.

Alan Dzagoev with his daughter

Alan treats close people very warmly. He dedicated the first goal scored at Euro 2012 to his parents, and the second to his wife.

In 2012, Dzagoev defended his diploma with excellent marks at Togliatti State University and received the qualification “specialist in physical culture and sports.”

Premier League star Alan Dzagoev

In 2018, the media mistook Zarema’s usual departure with her children for a vacation to Beslan as a separation from her husband. After a wave of rumors, the woman wrote an appeal to fans on the footballer’s personal website, asking not to spread gossip and not interfere with Alan’s preparations for the Champions League games.

Personal life of Alan Dzagoev

The football player is married. His chosen one is Zarema Abaeva. They dated for several years. The wedding took place in Moscow in July 2012, and then in Vladikavkaz according to all national customs. Zarema is an artist of the capital's ensemble "Alania".

Wedding of football player Alan Dzagoev and Zarema

The footballer himself tries to talk about his personal life as little as possible. However, it is known that in July 2013, a daughter, Elana, appeared in the family, and in April 2020, a son, Khetag.

Alan Dzagoev now

Since 2020, in his homeland in Beslan, Alan has been holding a football tournament in his own name. Boys aged 8-10 years from clubs in Ossetia, Stavropol, Dagestan and Kabardino-Balkaria take part in the competition. Dzagoev presents the prizes personally; distinguished players receive personalized T-shirts from the midfielder’s colleagues. In 2020, the sports uniforms included the names of Sergei Ignashevich, Igor Akinfeev, Fyodor Chalov and Alexander Golovin.

Alan Dzagoev at home

In 2018, the Italian press reported that Alana Dzagoeva wanted to see the Roman club Lazio in her ranks. The team's sports director sympathizes with the Ossetian and considers the departed Felipe Anderson to be the first candidate to replace him. According to rumors, the footballer will have to think hard, since Lazio does not pay more than € 2 million, and Alan’s current salary exceeds this amount.

The athlete spent the summer profitably. Dzagoev was invited to voice the Yandex services – Transport and Navigator.

Alan Dzagoev in 2018

In the fall, Dzagoev received a call to the Russian national team to participate in the UEFA Nations League matches. Before this, the footballer spent 1.5 months recovering from another injury, which he received in the game against Lokomotiv for the Russian Super Cup. A few days later, CSKA beat the reigning Champions League winner Real Madrid in the new season's tournament.

In addition, Alan was included in the main team of the “army team” in the Russian Championship games. The Ossetian football player did not participate in the national team’s training before the match in the Nations League.

Alan Dzagoev is looked after by his older brother

When Alan Dzagoev moved to CSKA last December, knowledgeable people called him the most talented junior in Russia. Few football fans attached serious meaning to those words: you never know how many of them were, these talented ones... However, by the summer, the 18-year-old midfielder had become the main player of his club, and the other day he received an invitation to the national team. To understand how in one year this guy managed to break through from a second league club to the country’s main team, Izvestia’s correspondent followed his entire almost 10-year journey in football.

Beslan, 1999

In the lives of many future sports stars, there were random episodes that seemed to direct them along the right path. But no matter how hard Alan’s relatives tried to remember something similar in his life, they could not. On the contrary, his entire biography seems to confirm that it could not have turned out any other way.

At the age of 9, Dzagoev played in the “Leather Ball” tournament in his native Beslan with guys who were a year or two older than him. But Alan stood out among them for his technique and vision of the field. That’s why the coach of the leading Yunost school in Ossetia, without hesitation, invited him to train on his team.

Of course, there was no need to persuade the boy. But for this it was necessary to travel to Vladikavkaz every day, which is almost 30 kilometers. In those years, Alan’s father either started his own small business or hired himself out to work. But every day he found time to take his son to training in his old Zhiguli. Tariel Dzagoev was born in the village of Pechkhovani in Kakheti, and football in Georgia is not just an adored game, but almost a religion. True, in 1989 the Dzagoevs left Tbilisi for the homeland of their ancestors. This was not an escape, but at work Tariel increasingly asked questions like “why were the Ossetians not at the Government House on April 9?”

Alan was born in Beslan. But, like his older brother Gela, he literally dreamed of football. He came home from training dancing and jumping up to the ceiling. His parents laughed and “threatened” to send him to a dance club or jiu-jitsu section, where Alan’s cousins ​​trained. But he was not interested in anything other than his favorite game. When Alan became the best player at the Black Sea Cup tournament in Sochi, he was awarded a prize - a real fishing rod with all the tackle. “Dad, what is this?” — the young football fan made his parent laugh.

At the age of 12, the future CSKA playmaker showed independence - he began to go to training alone. In Vladikavkaz, he did not linger anywhere and managed to return by minibus to Beslan on time - both for classes and home. So his parents weren't worried about him.

Tariela Dzagoeva felt afraid for her son only once - on September 1, 2004. Then he was at the counter of his store when a breathless neighbor burst in and reported that terrorists had captured School No. 4, where Alan studied. Dzagoev Sr. rushed there, but almost immediately returned with his son - school No. 1, located very close to their house, was in the hands of the bandits. And soon Tariel’s mobile phone received the first call from Togliatti, from coach Yuri Osinkin.

Primorsky village, 2005

A year later, Osinkin invited Alan, who turned 15, to the football academy in the village of Primorsky near Tolyatti. This time the parents objected at first. More precisely, not both, but the mother of the future star. By that time, the Dzagoevs’ eldest son Gela was already trying to start an independent life, but things didn’t work out for him at the Moscow Torpedo school. So the parents doubted whether Alan would succeed in his new place.

In the end, six of us went from Beslan to Tolyatti - Dzagoev Jr. with two classmates and their fathers. When the parents saw that the living conditions at the academy were not inferior to those in which adult football players of elite Russian clubs train, all doubts disappeared. And Alan stayed in Primorskoye.

Dzagoev made his debut in men's football at the age of 16 - the academy entered its team of masters into the second division of the Russian championship. And just a year later, high school students started talking to adults on an equal footing—they took 7th place among 18 teams.

Almost half of the Premier League clubs were already hunting for the best player of the Volga team, Dzagoev. But CSKA still had the best chances. After all, the Togliatti school was at that time patronized by the National Football Academy, created with the participation of businessman Roman Abramovich. Namely, it is in his company that the president of the army club, Evgeniy Giner, often watches football.

Alan's future was finally decided after he became the top scorer with seven goals in the final tournament of the Russian Peer Championship, although he played as a defensive midfielder. Army selector Oleg Shirinbekov was present at those matches. And soon Dzagoev became a CSKA player.

Moscow, 2008

Alan did not make it into the army team’s team in the 2008 championship right away - he first appeared in the starting lineup only in the 10th round match against Khimki. He came out and scored immediately. In the next 13 rounds, he played 11 matches for CSKA, becoming the team's most productive player. Now Dzagoev has 7 goals and the same number of assists. It is not surprising that Guus Hiddink also paid attention to Alan.

Dzagoev, and as part of Valeria Gazzaeva’s team, sees the field better than anyone, just like in childhood. Therefore, he manages to both lead the game and complete attacks after super dashes, although he is not a sprinter by nature. “He will never become Zhirkov,” says Osinkin about Alan, comparing his pupil’s speed with the fastest CSKA player. “But he has a sense of exactly when to make the decisive push.”

Dzagoev managed to settle down in Moscow. He has not yet acquired a driver's license - his strict father is against it. But together with his older brother, who now plays for one of the amateur clubs and at the same time looks after Alan, he found a rented apartment a five-minute walk from the CSKA office, from where the club bus takes the players to the base in Vatutinki. Their mother has already come to Moscow to feed the children special Ossetian potato pies. And to cheer for the Russian national team in matches with Germany and Finland, in which their son may also play, Tariel and Lyana Dzagoevs will be in Beslan in front of the TV - a year ago Alan installed a satellite dish for them at home.

His father does not hide the secret of the army man’s modesty and lack of stardom. He often repeats to his son a phrase that he once told him at Alania matches in Vladikavkaz: “You see how people respect famous football players. And for it to always be like this, you need to remain as you are.”