One of the brightest and most promising goalkeepers of the Russian championship of the late 1990s - early 2000s is Sergey Perkhun. His career developed rapidly and rapidly, just as suddenly and tragically interrupted. According to many experts, he can rightfully be considered one of the most promising goalkeepers of recent decades, however, he failed to fully demonstrate his talent.
At the dawn of a career
Sergey Perkhun was born in Ukraine, in Dnepropetrovsk, in 1977. From the age of 7 he began to actively engage in football. The first club, not surprisingly, was Dnipro. For the first time, Sergei played for him in 1993, at the age of 16. In the team, the goalkeeper spent 5 seasons at the very beginning of his career, playing a total of 23 matches, in which he missed 31 goals. A good indicator for a young, beginner goalkeeper.
During the performance for Dnipro, Sergei Perkhun twice went on loan to other clubs. First in the Novomoskovsk Metallurg, who played in the championship of the Dnipropetrovsk region, then in the double of the main Dnipro.
In 1999, he left his hometown and went to the championship of Moldova, in one of the strongest championship clubs - Tiraspol “Sheriff”. In the 1999/2000 season, he was the team’s main goalkeeper, having played 29 matches on the field, winning the country's silver medals and the Moldavian Cup with the team.
To Moscow
A bright and promising player could not help but notice in the Russian championship. Army scouts took it on a pencil. In 2001, Sergei Perkhun joined CSKA.
That season was very difficult for CSKA. At the start, the team lost to “Chernomorets” and “Wings of the Soviets” with a total score of 0: 5. Therefore, in the third round, the position in the goal instead of the unsuccessfully played Andrei Novosadov was taken by Perkhun Sergey Vladimirovich. The first rivals were the Moscow “Spartak”, in the derby, the army team lost 0: 1. However, Perkhun proved himself to be the best.
The next match, again 0-1 defeat from the capital “Torpedo”, Sergei misses only from the penalty spot. In the fifth round, CSKA scored the first point, tied with the “Rotor" - 1: 1.
Team Challenge
On August 15, 2001, Perkhun made his debut as part of the national team of Ukraine. His legendary Valery Lobanovsky called for a friendly match with the Latvian national team. The game took place in Riga at the Skonto stadium.
Guests brought forward Melashchenko in the 20th minute. The gates of the Ukrainian team in the first half were defended by Maxim Levitsky, who was then playing for Moscow Spartak. During the break he was replaced by Perkhun. Like his predecessor, he showed a reliable game, as a result, the national team achieved a minimum victory of 1-0, and Sergey became one of the main contenders for a place in the goal before the upcoming qualifying matches.
Last match
However, many of the dreams and plans of the young goalkeeper were not destined to come true. On August 18, he left the main team in the match of round 22 against “Anji” in Makhachkala. The game was tense, without goals scored, at the 75th minute in the jump Perkhun Sergey Vladimirovich ran head-on with striker of Makhachkala residents Budun Budunov. Both players could not continue the match. Budunov was seriously injured, lost his memory, but managed to survive. In the future, Budunov moved away from a serious injury and was even able to pursue a career.
Perkhun was conscious until the end of the meeting, at first his injury seemed moderate, he talked with partners, was interested in the result of the match (the game ended 0-0). However, on the way to the airport I fell into a coma. In Moscow, he was urgently hospitalized at the Burdenko Institute of Neurosurgery, but he did not regain consciousness, irreversible processes began in the brain. After 10 days, without regaining consciousness, Perkhun Sergey Vladimirovich died. The cause of death is cerebral edema. Doctors say the injury was so serious that nothing could be done.
The memory of a football player
Perkhun Sergey Vladimirovich 09/04/1977 - 08/28/2001, such an inscription appeared on August 30 at the cemetery in Dnepropetrovsk on the grave of a young football player. About 10 thousand people came to say goodbye to the athlete. And not only CSKA and Dnipro, for which Perkhun played, but also other clubs. In all the remaining matches of the season, army fans put up a T-shirt in the stands with the player’s number and surname. He was only 23 years old.
Sergei left his wife Julia, two-year-old daughter Catherine and Anastasia, born 4 months after the death of her father.
His statistics in the championship of Russia are truly impressive. In 13 matches, Sergey conceded only 6 goals, one of them from the penalty spot. 7 games defended “to zero”. Never missed more than one goal per game.
In addition, he became the youngest goalkeeper in the history of the Ukrainian football championship, who played in the major league match. Despite the fact that he had very few meetings in the championship of Russia-2001, he was included in the list of 33 best players in the championship.
Since 2001, in the hometown of Perkhun, Dnepropetrovsk, tournaments among young men in memory of the famous football player have already become traditional. There is a monument near the stadium. In the near future it is planned to open a museum dedicated to one of the most promising goalkeepers in the modern history of Ukrainian football.