Unfortunately, to date, Russian football players are not strong enough and upscale, they are not in demand in the leading European championships, so every young talent falls under the scrutiny of all fans of this sport. The same thing happened with the young goalkeeper Mikhail Yeremin, who for many seemed the real successor to the great Lev Yashin. But what was the fate of this player? Unfortunately, she was extremely sad.
Eremin Mikhail died in a car accident at a very young age, so he did not manage to achieve great heights in football, although an incredible future opened before him. If you have not heard about this young player in the late eighties and early nineties, then you should read this article. Here is information about this talented goalkeeper, who was just beginning to reveal his talent when he was overtaken by evil rock. Eremin Mikhail was forever left to live in the hearts of devoted fans of Moscow CSKA and Russian football.
Youth career
Eremin Mikhail Vasilievich was born on June 17, 1968 in the city of Zelenograd. From a very early age, the boy began to play football and was brought up in the local youth sports school, but quite quickly he was noticed by scouts from the capital. As a result, Mikhail was offered to move from Zelenograd to Moscow, where the leading club of the USSR CSKA was already eyeing him. Naturally, Eremin was happy, he was quite happy with such a development of events. When he ended up in the Moscow Sports School, which is under the auspices of CSKA, he tried to demonstrate everything he could to be seen and recognized in him as a talent and promising goalkeeper who could work wonders in the future. Eremin Mikhail had excellent performance, but his dreams did not immediately come true. He had an extremely difficult path to the top.
Career start at CSKA: 1986
Eremin Mikhail Vasilievich is a legend of Soviet sport, but he did not immediately become her. When he turned eighteen in 1986, it was time to sign a professional contract. All footballers who are minors are in the club system on the basis of a youth contract. He confirms that the player is studying in the club system, but is not yet a professional part of it. When he turns 18, the club decides whether the athlete is talented, hardworking, and whether he has shown himself well. And if the management decides that the player deserves to be promoted, then he is offered a professional contract with a serious salary and the opportunity to show himself in the main team.
Zelenograd guy tried his best, so he signed the contract, which he dreamed of, but the place at the base for him has not yet shone. Everyone saw that the athlete was talented, but no one was going to put on one of the most important positions a very young and unknown player. Therefore, Mikhail Vasilyevich Eremin began his appearances for CSKA in a double, where in the first season he played ten games at the highest level. It would seem that the time has come for change, but no. The management of the club did not consider that the young player is ready to become the main goalkeeper of the team.
Second season in double: 1987
Everyone knows that Mikhail Eremin is the goalkeeper of CSKA, who has become a legend. But in 1987, this 19-year-old guy who has not played a single match for the main team could not be said that way. During his second season, Misha became the main goalkeeper of the second team of CSKA and began to play much more often, however he was still not allowed to the main team.
Naturally, this did not go to the benefit of the goalkeeper, so it was decided to send him to another major Soviet club in Moscow Spartak. There he was supposed to spend a season and a half, after which he was to return to CSKA. So, it turns out that Mikhail Eremin, the goalkeeper of CSKA, became the goalkeeper of Spartak. But what awaited him in the new club?
Transition to Spartak: 1988
Eremin Mikhail, whose sports life was associated with CSKA, was in a completely new environment. Fortunately, he did not have to move to another city, as Spartak is also a Moscow club. Naturally, no one expected that in a new place the 20-year-old guy would be entrusted with a place at the gates of the main team. Eremin again became the goalkeeper in the double, but his results were much better.
In ten matches at Spartak, he conceded three times fewer goals than in eight games at CSKA. The management of the Moscow club saw that the goalkeeper is quite strong and promising, so in October 1988, Yeremin played his first official match. It was a game of the USSR Football Federation Cup against Torpedo Neftchi. Misha came on as a substitute in the second half and did not miss a single goal. The match ended in the defeat of Spartak Moscow, but at the same time became an inspiration for young talent.
Thus began the formation of one of the most remarkable Soviet young goalkeepers, whose name was Eremin Mikhail. The football career of this genius of goalkeeping was just beginning, and many had already prophesied a great future for him.
End of stay at Spartak: 1989
Eremin Mikhail, whose photos began to appear in many sports publications of the Soviet Union, in the remaining two matches of the Cup of the Football Federation of the USSR, he played all 90 minutes, replacing the Lithuanian goalkeeper Gintaras Stauce. The first match was with the Moscow “Torpedo”, and it was not the most pleasant for Mikhail. Already at the 22nd minute a penalty was awarded for Spartak, which the athlete could not repel, and at the 57th minute the second goal was scored. As a result, Spartak lost 1: 2, but the second game turned out to be much more successful for Eremin.
In the confrontation with Dynamo Moscow, the young goalkeeper showed his best side and did not miss a single goal, while his teammates managed to score. Spartak won a long-awaited victory. This game was the last for Eremin in Spartak, because he was waiting for a triumphant return to his native club CSKA.
Return to CSKA: 1989
When in the spring of 1989 the young goalkeeper returned to the location of his native team, he was very warmly welcomed there. And progress in sporting terms was obvious. Mikhail Eremin, whose biography in CSKA did not develop in the best way before, immediately got a place at the base. And the talented player took this chance more than successfully. He played in 18 matches, while defending the first five fights to zero.
He missed for the first time only in a match with Kairat from Alma-Ata, in which CSKA lost 1: 2. But even the successful performances of the new goalkeeper did not help the club in 1989 to climb the podium of the USSR Championship. The same applies to the USSR Cup, in which the club went on to success for a very long time and confidently, beating Kapaz, Sokol and Dnipro on its way. But the match with the Volgograd Rotor was decisive.
In a serious confrontation, Muscovites still lost 2: 3, having flown out in the 1/8 finals. Although Korneev scored the first goal, then three return goals followed, and the second goal of Broshin at 84 minutes could no longer save the situation. In any case, Mikhail Eremin showed himself to be the best: in 22 championship matches, he conceded only ten goals. But things were not going well in the Cup, and in four games he took the ball out of the net as many as seven times (moreover, the athlete missed almost half of them in the last match with Rotor). The next season was almost stellar for both Eremin and the whole team.
The fight for the championship: 1990
Naturally, with such a game, the place of the main goalkeeper was immediately received by Mikhail Eremin. CSKA found his genius, and now the club hoped that for a long time he would not have to think about who would take his place at the gate. In the new season in 15 matches, Eremin missed 13 goals, which turned out to be a very good result. If CSKA were a little luckier, the club could win the championship. This would be the first championship for Michael, but CSKA finished the championship race only in second place.
It is worth noting one interesting match in the framework of the championship: a meeting between CSKA and Rotor. It is interesting in that the army team was able to take revenge for last year's defeat in the Cup. CSKA won with a score 1: 0 largely due to the fact that Yeremin repelled his first penalty in his career.
As for the USSR Cup, here Eremin greatly helped his teammates get to the semifinals, where, unfortunately, the club lost to Dynamo Kyiv with a score of 2: 4. Thus, the year 1990 passed for CSKA under the slogan "everywhere second." But that didn’t end there, because next year the army team was able to achieve an incredible result.
UEFA European Youth Championship: 1990
Before considering the success of CSKA in 1991, it is necessary to pay attention to the fact that the 21-year-old goalkeeper at that time also defended the colors of the USSR youth national football team and, together with other young talents, was able to bring the team victory in the 1990 European Youth Championship. This was an outstanding achievement, as the main national team has not won serious trophies since 1960. Therefore, even a victory at the youth tournament gave hope that this generation of young talents would grow and become the backbone of a new, stronger team. However, this achievement nevertheless fades before what Yeremin managed to achieve in 1991, because it was a phenomenal result.
Total Success: 1991
In 1991, the young goalkeeper still remained the main part of CSKA, so we can safely say that the athlete brought a lot to the club, which was finally able to achieve the championship in a difficult fight. With Eremin at the core, the army team managed to almost never lose. The exception was the match with the former Moscow goalkeeper club Spartak, where Mikhail conceded two unanswered goals. But for the rest, both the goalkeeper himself and the whole team worked perfectly.
June 19, 1991 it became known that Mikhail Eremin - champion of the USSR. It was then that a productive draw with Dynamo Kyiv put an end to the championship, which remained for the army team. But this is not all that is worth telling, if we consider this year of Mikhail in CSKA. The fact is that the victory in the championship was not the only one - the army club managed to win another important trophy, the USSR Cup.
In the ¼ finals, the club met with a very strong opponent - Minsk Dynamo. But the result was surprising - the army team, which are on the rise, defeated the Minsk team with a score of 4: 1, and Yeremin did not miss a single goal in this match. In his place was the reserve goalkeeper Guteev, when there was a prestige goal against CSKA. In the semifinals, the rival turned out to be even more formidable - it was the Lokomotiv Moscow club, which at that time was considered one of the strongest in the entire USSR.
And again, CSKA showed that 1991 was simply obliged to become an army. Three unanswered goals were scored against Lokomotiv, and Eremin’s club reached the final, where the Moscow Torpedo was waiting for him. The final match, held on June 23, 1991, turned out to be far from as simple and unambiguous for the army team as the previous two. The first half was goalless, but at 43 minutes Tishkov scored a goal for the army team in the locker room. And if the time had ended, the outcome of the match could have been different. But on 45 minutes Korneev equalized, and the second half began with a clean slate. Korneev repeated his success at 67 minutes, but on the 75th Tishkov equalized the score, restoring the status quo. And only at 80 minutes, ten minutes before the end, Sergeyev put his team ahead, ensuring CSKA victory in the Cup.
This day was supposed to be incredibly happy, because the army team scored a champion double, winning two trophies at once. But the happy events were overshadowed by an incident that happened later in the evening.
Team appearances
Before telling about what the day of June 23, 1991 was clouded with, it is necessary to look at the performances of Yeremin for the national team. You already managed to find out that he won the European Youth Championship, but whether he was able to achieve something in the main national team of the USSR. Unfortunately, the athlete was too young, so he could not compete with more impressive goalkeepers. During his short career, Mikhail spent only two friendlies in a T-shirt of the national team.
The first was at the end of August 1990 - then the USSR team met with the Romanian team. Eremin, who was then only 22 years old, was in the main team. But already in the 13th minute, a penalty was awarded to Michael's goal, which was confidently realized by Lacatus. The USSR national team for a long time tried to recoup, but could not - it only led to the fact that at 64 minutes Eremin missed another goal, already from Lupescu. Only in 71 minutes Mikhaylichenko was able to hit the goal of the Romanian goalkeeper Stela. The match ended with the defeat of the USSR national team with a score of 1: 2.
The second game, in which Yeremin was able to take part, took place in October of the same 1990. Then the Israelites became the opponent of the national team. Mikhail started the match on the bench, from where he watched as in the third minute Juran scored the first goal against Israel, and in the 19th success reinforced Litovchenko. At the 70th minute, Eremin came on as a substitute, letting Cherchesov, who stood in this match at the goal, rest, and for twenty minutes he kept the gate locked. At the 80th minute, the third goal was scored, the author of which was again Juran, and the second (last) match of Yeremin for the national team was successful. Unfortunately, the young football player was not destined to wear a USSR national team t-shirt for the third time.
Tragic death
On June 17, 1991, Mikhail Eremin, whose achievements at that time were still rather meager, celebrated his twenty-third birthday. Two days later he was facing a game with Dynamo Kyiv, after which it became known that CSKA was the new champion of the USSR. This time the club managed to win gold, not silver medals, as it was the previous year. Four days later, the Moscow Torpedo was defeated in the USSR Cup final. It was a real triumph for the whole club, and for the young goalkeeper in particular. And the celebrations would be very long if they were not interrupted almost immediately by mourning.
On June 24, Mikhail and his friend were returning home by car after the incredible victory of CSKA in the USSR Cup. Everything was perfect, Eremin was in the passenger seat, while his friend was driving. Nothing boded ill, but suddenly a wheel snapped at the car. The driver lost control, the car drove into the oncoming lane, where there was a terrible collision with a bus, in which Mikhail Eremin ended his promising career.
The car accident, unfortunately, deprived him not only of a great future in big football, but also of his life. Mikhail was taken to the hospital, where he stayed in a coma for about a week, after which he died from his injuries on June 30, 1991. Doctors said that, unfortunately, he had no chance of survival - the injuries were too serious.