In the 80s, Soviet football lived in the confrontation between Moscow “Spartak” and Kiev “Dynamo”. There was a struggle between our great coaches, Beskov and Lobanovsky, with their vision of the game, with their tactics and concept. The great athletes who made up the backbone of the national team took to the field. People who created the history of Soviet football became legends. One of the participants in this epic confrontation was the main striker of the red-white Sergey Rodionov.
Biography: the beginning of the path
Sergey Rodionov was born on September 3, 1962. An ordinary Moscow boy from an average Soviet family. Sergey spent all his free time on the street, playing football with friends in the yard. Already in childhood, the boy dreamed of this game, constantly persuading his parents to give him to the section. At some point, dad could not stand the pressure of his son, and the search began for a suitable football school.
First, there was an attempt to get into the Lokomotiv school, since the Rodionov family lived near the place where Cherkizov’s base was located. Unfortunately, for a teenager his year was not gained. The same story was repeated in Sokolniki, at the Spartak school. As a result, Sergei ended up on the famous Shiryaevka, in the club team of Spartak. That's how the boy from childhood became a Spartak, although his parents were rooting for CSKA at that time.
Bombardier
According to Sergei himself, from childhood he was attracted to the role of striker. Already during the games in the yard, the boy tried to take a place on the field closer to the opponent’s goal. The skills of domestic football helped the teenager find himself on a more serious level. Rodionov's first coach, Nikolai Ivanovich Parshin, immediately identified the teenager in the attack. Tall, thin Sergey looked great at this place. Rodionov’s coach justified the trust in full, becoming the top scorer of the Moscow championship in 1974. Even then they started talking about the teenager as a possible talented footballer.
Adult football debut
Sergey’s path from childhood to adult football was surprisingly short. From the Spartak school, the athlete was invited to the Krasnaya Presnya team, which, under the leadership of former Spartak players Sergei Salnikov and Anatoly Korshunov, played in the second league of the USSR Championship. Rodionov’s career in Krasnaya Presnya was record low. Coming out at the end of the match for a substitution, in the allotted 15 minutes Sergey Rodionov managed to impress the stadium Nikolai Petrovich Starostin, head of Spartak Moscow, who was in the stands. And the very next day Rodionov trained on the field in Tarasovka, together with the players of the main team.
Moscow "Spartak"
So Sergey had a dream come true to play in a club, for which he had been a fan since childhood. It was 1979, at that time Rodionov was only 17 years old, it would be naive to seriously apply for a place in the first team. Sergey Rodionov is a football player who spent the first season playing for the backup squad, scoring 4 goals against opponents. The very next year, he became a full-fledged player in the main squad, having played 30 of the 34 games played by Spartak in the USSR championship.
In these meetings, Sergei managed to distinguish himself seven times, while becoming the team's top scorer. By the way, it was in that season in Spartak that a bunch of Cherenkov-Rodionov played, which for many years became a real headache for the rivals of the team. The next season was productive. Rodionov Sergey Yuryevich (Spartak) scored 11 goals. It was clear that another very striking striker appeared in our football.
USSR team
A successful game at the club level did not go unnoticed by the coaches of the USSR team. Sergey's debut in the main team of the country took place in 1980, in a friendly game against the national team of Hungary. Our team won 4-1, and it was Sergei Yuryevich Rodionov who scored one of the goals against the Hungarian team. Unfortunately, constantly being in the cage of the national team, Sergei could not become the main striker of the national team.
Having played 37 official games in the USSR national team from 1980 to 1990, Rodionov scored 8 goals in these matches. The peak of his career was Sergei's performance at the Mexican World Cup. Then our team was very highly rated by football specialists, who predicted a high place for our team. Unfortunately, biased refereeing in the 1/8 finals match against the Belgian national team put an end to the hopes of our players. Rodionov played all four matches at that championship, having managed to score one goal against the Hungarian national team.
Trip to france
In the middle of the 1990 season, Moscow “Spartak” received an offer to conclude a contract with the French club “Red Star”. The French were interested in two players: Sergey Rodionov and Fedor Cherenkov. One of the main conditions for moving to a foreign club was an agreement with his best friend, Fedor Cherenkov: if you go somewhere, then only together.
Friends played for the French club for three seasons. To fully realize their potential, Rodionov was prevented by the injuries sustained in France. Of the three seasons, Sergey Yuryevich missed one and a half due to injuries. First, there was a cruciate ligament injury that knocked Rodionov out of action for eight months, and then another seven months were missed due to a fracture of the shoulder joint. As a result, Sergey Yuryevich played 57 games for the French club, scoring 9 goals in these matches.
After the contract with the French club Rodionov ends, he decides to return to his homeland. Sergey returned to his native FC Spartak, in which his career in big football began. It is symbolic that the first club of the athlete was the last in the career of the current player. In total, for the Spartak FC, Sergey Yurievich played 384 games, scoring 153 goals in these matches.
Trainer
Having finished the career of an acting player, Sergey Yuryevich Rodionov did not say goodbye to big football. Remaining in his native “Spartak”, he worked as a coach with his backup team. Later Rodionov became the second coach of the main team. In 2011, he switched to administrative work, becoming the president of the Spartak Football Academy. In June 2015, Sergei Yurievich Rodionov went on an increase. He was appointed general manager of the Moscow Spartak.