Today, the football community knows Rashid Rakhimov as a sensible, tough and qualified coach who is able to deliver a game to a team in a short time, even with insignificant resources. But his football career resembles an action-packed detective story, there were so many unexpected plots and sudden turns in it.
First steps
It all started in Tajikistan, more precisely in Dushanbe. Rashid Mamatkulovich Rakhimov was born on March 18, 1965 in a large family, becoming the fourth child. In total, he has five brothers and one sister. My father died when Rashid was only two years old. All the care fell on the shoulders of the mother, who worked in two places. Therefore, little Rashid was often left to his own devices, he grew up as a difficult child, but sport saved him from a sad fate.
He was fond of boxing, wrestling. However, in the end, his only sporting love and life's work was football. Rakhimov was very lucky with the first coach. Rashid, like many difficult teenagers, went to the Labor Reserves football team, which was coached by Sergey Nasyrov. Then, wise for years, Rashid Rakhimov admitted that the first coach not only taught basic football skills, but also replaced his father, instilled life principles and largely shaped his character.
The players of the “Labor reserves” made up the backbone of the youth team of Tajikistan, which confidently won the all-Union competition “Crossing”. Rakhimov was among the best players of the tournament, he came into the view of the coaches of the Dushanbe Pamir. In 1980, a 15-year-old football player was invited to play for the double of the main team of Tajikistan, for which the whole republic was a fan.
"Pamir"
All young Tajik footballers dreamed of putting on the Pamir uniform. Rashid Rakhimov played for two years in a variety of positions, he was a defensive and defensive midfielder, defender, but made his debut for the main team in 1982 as a left defender.
A few years later, when Rashid was already the main player and the leader of the team, the coach put him in the position of the last defender, the defense of the Pamir became impassable. It is no accident that during these years a rapid ascent of the Dushanbe club began. In 1988, he won the First League of the Soviet Union, leaving for the top division. In the same year, Rakhimov, together with partners, was awarded the title of Master of Sports of the USSR.
The USSR Championship was an extremely difficult competition; original and very strong clubs took part in it. But the Pamir did not shy away, always trying to give battle to the giants. The club was especially dangerous in its native walls, for example, the eminent metropolitan Spartak could not beat the Pamir in Dushamba, and once it was simply destroyed with a score of 5: 1.
In all the successes of the team, Rakhimov played a crucial role. It seemed that both the football player and his club had a wonderful future. But the Union collapsed, the championship fell apart, Rakhimov faced a dilemma: to stay in his beloved Pamir, playing in the weak and poor national championship, or to leave for a more prosperous sports and financial plan in Russia.
"Spartacus"
The choice was difficult. The departure from the Pamir was perceived by the fans as a betrayal. Rakhimova connected too much with the Dushanbe club: the first steps in professional sports, many years of leadership, the greatest victories, respect on a national scale, and nationality. Rashid Rakhimov thought for a long time, but in 1991 decided to try his luck in Russia.
He signed a contract with the capital “Spartak”, which was a formidable force in the domestic championship and constantly performed in European competitions. The composition of the Moscow club was very strong, Rakhimov could not break into the base, having played only 11 matches in a season. But moving to Moscow still became a springboard for the future career of a football player.
Cassettes with his game fell into the hands of the coaching staff of the Spanish Real Valladolid. The tenacious, intelligent and versatile player, confident in several positions, liked the leadership, and in mid-1993 Rakhimov left for Spain. For Valladolid, he scored 2 goals in 29 games, helped the club return to the Premier League, but then did not renew the contract due to too obvious a decrease in salary, he decided to return to Moscow again.
Return to Russia
In the summer of 1993, Spartak played a stable, established squad, so Rakhimov could hardly count on significant playing time. However, such a qualified defender could not remain idle for a long time. In the fall of 1993, Lokomotiv rented Rashid from Spartak. For the railway workers, the football player spent 14 matches, after which in 1994 he again tried to become the main one in the capital's Spartak. Having played just 15 matches in a year, he realized that something needs to be radically changed, the football biography of Rashid Rakhimov made another sharp turn.
Austria
The choice fell on prosperous Austria. In 1995, Rakhimov signed a contract at Vienna's Austria, for which he played for five years, scoring 12 goals in 120 matches. Fans of the team fell in love with a stern defender, including him in the list of the best football players in club history.
In 2000, Rashid turned 35 years old, he realized that age affects speed. Therefore, I decided to leave the "Austria" with dignity, and not a spare, vegetating on the bench. Even without speed, Rakhimov remained an excellent defender, reading the game perfectly, so that he easily found a new job. In the same 2000, he began to play for the Austrian club “Admira Wacker” from the city of Medling, and from it moved to the modest “Reed” in 2001, where he ended his player's career in 2002.
Trainer
Rashid Rakhimov was distinguished on the field by moral-volitional qualities, football intelligence and leadership character. These features predetermined his further fate. Football player Rakhimov almost immediately became a coach. From 2002 to 2004, he led the Admira Wacker team, which he knew to the smallest detail.
In 2006, he became the head coach of Perm Amkar. Return to Russia was happy. Rashid Rakhimov came to a ship in distress, Amkar was in the relegation zone from the Premier League, his game caused anguish and pessimism among the fans. In just a few weeks, the new coach changed everything: put things in order in the team, established discipline, quickly put the game on defense. Amkar brilliantly escaped, in the last third of the championship only three teams were able to score more points.
In 2007, no one remembered the risk of departure, the Perm team took eighth place, and Rakhimov in December 2007 was called up for promotion to Moscow Lokomotiv. However, the pressure of the press, management and fans was too great for a principled and faithful coach, in the spring of 2009 he was fired. From 2009 to 2011, he again coached Amkar, but the best result was the 8th place and semifinal of the Russian Cup.
For almost two years, Rakhimov was in no hurry to accept new proposals, comprehending the bad experience of recent years. Only in 2013 he signed a contract with the Grozny Terek. Season after season, he improved the team's results: in 2014 the club was in twelfth place, in 2015 - in ninth, in 2016 - in seventh, in 2017 - in fifth. However, in the spring of 2017, the leadership of the Grozny club made an unexpected replacement for the coach, but already in the fall of 2018, she realized a mistake, so she again returned Rakhimov to the coaching bridge. The team in the first match under his leadership sensationally won the Moscow Spartak in Moscow.
Achievements and marital status
Rashid Rakhimov - master of sports of the Soviet Union in football, winner of the First League of the USSR, winner of the USSR Cup, twice became the champion of Russia, four times played for the Russian team. But Rashid Mamatkulovich himself calls his own family his main achievement in life. He is married to a woman whom he met in his youth. She was there during all his ups and downs. Together they raised four daughters.