Then I told the men that I would take Fedor Cherenkov to our hockey rink in Otradnoye, where we fought for two hours every week. They didn’t believe me! He told them: clean up the clearing, you’re too lazy! And here they were, stunned and not knowing how to behave. Only the youngest, the red-haired Leshka, could not resist: “And indeed she is!” The awkward pause was cleared up by Fedor himself: “Well, will you take me?” Everyone laughed, and Leshka became bolder: “Are you going to play in front or behind?” At that moment the guest feigned modesty: “Yes, it’s just me.”
Sergei Emelyanov
We spent two hours kneading unremoved snow in the cold. At first, everyone somehow looked at the star guest, afraid to step over his leg or hit him in the side in the heat of the moment. And then football equalized everyone. Cherenkov’s stardom has disappeared somewhere. He also ran, pushed and fell in the snow. But for some reason he did not shout either at his own or at others (in the box – something unprecedented!) and the snow porridge did not prevent him from handling the ball more easily than the others. A couple of times he gathered a group of opponents around him at the fences and threw a pass into the goal with his heel, putting his partner face to face with the goalkeeper. But each time it was so unexpected even for our own people that the moments were irretrievably lost. When everyone was already running and frozen and was ready to leave, Fyodor suddenly suggested playing again “for the cup, as many as three.” Only a dozen of the most persistent remained, who were later photographed as a souvenir.
Photo: Sergey Emelyanov
…This game took place at the end of December 1995. Then Fyodor and his wife Irina came to us. While we were frolicking in the garden, Ira and my Tanya set the table. Of course, I was worried about what and how to feed and water our dear guests. It’s nice that, among other things, we always have a win-win treat – northern shanezki, in which my wife is a great pastry master.
While Fyodor was washing himself in the shower, I asked him through the crack: “Can I have something to drink? I’ve prepared fruit drink, juices and mineral water…” In response, there was a whisper from the bathroom: “Seryozha, bring me a glass of quiet vodka if you can. We need to get away from the cold!”
So, in the bathroom, under a pickled cucumber cut in half, we celebrated the fulfillment of my secret dream: to lure Fedor into our box.
Photo: Sergey Emelyanov
Our guests did not stay with us for long: Denis, Fyodor’s adopted son, was filming a children’s TV commercial somewhere and his parents came to pick him up.
The most surprising thing happened on the night before New Year’s Eve. Fedor (at that time the coach of Spartak’s reserve team) called, congratulated, thanked for the game and suddenly: “And how old is that red-haired Leshka? Can you give me his phone number? at the first training camp in Sokolniki…” Leshka was about sixteen, and before that he had studied for some time at the Lokomotiv school, so, although I was surprised by this turn of events, I accepted it. But when Fedor asked about forty-year-old Yurka Kryukov, I laughed and offered to play…
By the way, this Leshka came to the Spartak training camp. Fedor later said: “I tell him, don’t be shy… I saw how well you played against men, but he was like a fool. He never let go…”
Photo: Sergey Emelyanov
Two years later, Fedor came to our yard to play again and again before the New Year. This time without his wife, but with Denis. Moreover, I did not convince him, he wanted it himself: “So I promised the guys!” This time the men cleared the box. I hung posters at the neighboring entrances, so a couple of dozen spectators gathered. And after the match, the four elders of the yard team were treated to a feast at home by the football legend. True, Cherenkov did not even take a sip: he was driving…
I communicated with Fedor often. I even visited him twice. I remember the cartoon on the wall with the message:
At 35, he is as young as ever.
It has a special role in football.
He is the teacher of our football,
At the same time, a visual aid.
…At Cherenkov’s farewell in October 2014 at the Spartak Stadium in Sokolniki, Tanya and I stood in line for three hours at the coffin. Not only red and white scarves rushed past, but also Tseskov, Dynamo, Zenit… Many, many thousands.
True talent is appreciated by all those who understand football…
