Igor Korneev belongs to that galaxy of football players who played in two championships of the Soviet and post-Soviet period (USSR and Russia). He also played for three different national teams (Soviet Union, CIS, Russia). Currently, he works as an adviser to the selection sports department at the Sparta club (Prague).
Dossier
Korneev Igor Vladimirovich is a Soviet and Russian football player, honored coach of Russia (2009). He was born on September 4, 1967 in Moscow. Citizen of Russia and the Netherlands. The playing position on the football field is a midfielder. Growth 174 centimeters, body weight 70 kg. Years of performance in big football - 1987-2003. Since 2004 - on coaching.
Football career
As a soccer player, Igor Korneev played in the championship of the Soviet Union, Russia, Spain and the Netherlands for 6 different clubs. He played 390 matches in which he scored 106 goals:
- 1987-91 - CSKA;
- 1991-94 - Espanyol (Spain);
- 1994-95 - Barcelona (Spain);
- 1995-97 - Heerenveen (Holland);
- 1997-02 - “Feyenoord (Holland);
- 2002-03 - “Breda” (Holland).
Igor Korneev played for three different national teams from 1991 to 1994. He played 14 matches and scored three goals scored:
- 1991 - USSR national team;
- 1992 - CIS national team;
- 1992-94 - Russian team.
Coaching career
Igor Korneev began his career as a coach in the Dutch Feyenoord. From 2004 to 2006, he worked as a children's coach for the famous school of the Dutch club. In 2006-2010 he was an assistant coach of Sat. Russian Guus Hiddink. After the failure of the Russian national team at the 2010 World Cup, he worked as the sports director of the Zenit club (St. Petersburg). Since 2014, he holds the position of sports adviser to Prague Sparta.
Achievements
As a football player, Igor Korneev became the owner of gold medals in the USSR Championship (1991) and the Dutch Championship (1999), the USSR Cup (1991) and the UEFA Cup (2002). As a coach, he is a bronze medalist (third place) of the 2008 European Championship.
Stages of the football path
A pupil of the Moscow youth school “Spartak” began his football career in the backup team of the club “Krasnaya Presnya”. Next was the Spartak double, a six-month service in the army, a performance in the CSKA-2 team, and finally, in the main army club - CSKA.
For 5 years of speaking in a team, Igor Korneev has witnessed loud falls and sensational ups of the club. These were two seasons spent in the first league, and champion gold of the last USSR championship draw. 1991 is becoming one of the best in his career for Igor Korneev. He is recognized as the best football player of the championship, holds the first matches in the national team.
It is not known how the player’s career in CSKA would have continued, but then the Soviet Union suddenly collapsed, and with it the Soviet football. The star army team began to slowly disintegrate. Most of the players in search of a better football share went to various foreign clubs. Igor Korneev was no exception. In 1991, he signed a contract with the Spanish team "Espanyol". His teammates also moved here: Dmitry Kuznetsov and Dmitry Galyamin. A little later they were joined by Spartak Andrey Mokh. Such a peculiar Russian diaspora helped Espanyol to stay in the top division of the Spanish championship.
Further, the football paths of Russian players began to diverge. The new team coach Jose Antonio Camacho made it clear that he is betting on other players.
After a four-year contract, Igor Korneev in the status of a free agent goes to the Barcelona club. Having proved himself well in a double (4 goals in 14 matches), he regains his place in the main team, takes part in the Champions League matches (scores a goal against PSG). But, unable to compete in the position of an attacking midfielder with Romanian Georgy Hadji, Igor leaves the club, having played only 12 matches for the Catalan club.
In 1995, he signed a contract with the Dutch Heerenveen for two years. Having staked out the place of a solid player of the main squad, Korneev plays a lot, scores a lot, forcing the attention of the giants of the Dutch championship. His efforts were not in vain. In 1997, he joined the Feyenoord team. This will be the second and last successful period in the career of a football player. For five seasons in the Rotterdam club he holds 79 matches, scores 20 goals, becomes the winner of the Dutch championship, the owner of the UEFA Cup.
Since 2002, Igor Korneev is a football player of the Breda club. Here he played his last ten matches and hung his boots on a nail. Numerous injuries and age (36 years) made themselves felt.
Unlike club appearances, a career in the national team of a football player did not work out. The team that won the selection at the European Championship-92 went as the CIS team, without having its own flag or anthem. Not surprisingly, the performance itself was a failure. Igor Korneev himself played only one match. The performance of the Russian national team at the World Cup-94, in which our hero took part, was not the best.
Igor Korneev is a football player whose family did not work out. He has two sons (Christian and Jordan) from different marriages living in Barcelona (Spain). Igor himself is dating a girl named Julia.