Rest in peace, Fyodor Cherenkov, Russia's brightest star
Russia football icon Fyodor Cherenkov has died at the age of 55.
Fyodor Cherenkov was the ultimate Russian legend, the most idolised player of all time and the greatest artist imaginable. He was a ray of light in a ruthless and cynical world, a source of pure joy and a reminder how people should behave. His death at the age of 55 is a great loss.
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Cherenkov was loved by everyone, which is surprising considering he was a Spartak Moscow hero. They are the most popular team in Russia and thus naturally one of the most hated.
Usually, their players were loathed by Dynamo Kiev, CSKA and Zenit fans but not Cherenkov. He was universally admired, and Spartak away games were celebrated all over the country as people just wanted to go and watch him play.
Fyodor -- or Fedya as he was called -- was a one-of-a-kind phenomenon. His status reached mythical proportions when he played, and the legend became even stronger after he retired in 1993.
Spotted as a kid by Spartak's Nikolai Starostin and promoted to the first team by legendary coach Konstantin Beskov in 1977, Cherenkov stood out thanks to his amazing vision. He read the game like nobody else and possessed technical abilities to perform passes nobody could predict. Beskov took the youngster under his wing as he promoted short passing at Spartak, and Cherenkov fit in instantly, becoming the soul of the team. With a slight build, it looked like he would be blown away by physical opponents, but Cherenkov always found space to avoid tackles and create magical moves.
People fell in love with him instantly not only because of his genius but also due to his modest character and quiet charisma. Cherenkov, the biggest superstar in Soviet football in the '80s, never changed as a person. He was shy and soft spoken, never raised his voice and stayed away from any controversies. As Starostin said: "I witnessed him closely for almost 20 years, and he has never pushed an opponent, never kicked out at anyone and never simulated an injury." Cherenkov was a role model in every sense of the word.
Spartak with him were the most attractive team in the country by a distance but not the most successful. Many times they lacked killer instinct and finished runner-up. During 13 years in the Soviet championship between 1978 and 1990, Cherenkov won only three league titles while Valeri Lobanovsky's Dynamo Kiev were crowned champions six times during the same period. The well-oiled Kiev machine often outpowered the artistry of Spartak, which was the main reason behind Cherenkov's omission from the national team.
The fact that Cherenkov never played at the World Cup or even the European Championship is a criminal injustice. Lobanovsky was in charge of the Soviet team for most of the '80s -- albeit together with Beskov in 1982 -- and he never found room for Cherenkov's silky skills in his system that saw improvisation as secondary. The midfielder got only 32 caps for the USSR but still managed to score 12
goals.
Cherenkov's genius was never really appreciated and enjoyed outside of Russia. One of the most talented players in the world at the time, he remained relatively unknown, even though Arsenal and Aston Villa fans will certainly remember his contribution to their teams' UEFA Cup demolition by Spartak in 1982 (5-2 at Highbury) and 1983 (2-1 at Villa Park).
Cherenkov would walk into any team in the world in his prime, but his only adventure in Western Europe after the Soviet Union fell apart was rather bizarre and short-lived at French second-division club Red Star Paris. He promptly returned home and retired at the age of 34 after winning the Russian league.
To this day, Cherenkov remains the most capped player at Spartak, with 515 games in all competitions. Despite always preferring passing to shooting, he scored 121 goals for the Red and Whites. The number of assists is unknown, but there is an unofficial estimate of 136. He was the ultimate playmaker, the type of player that is called "Fantasista" in Italy.
Generations of young Spartak fans grew up dreaming of playing alongside Cherenkov and emulating him. The lucky ones, like Yegor Titov, fulfilled their aspirations. Spartak's youth academy is named after Cherenkov, and he contributed a lot to it, working with the kids.
Now the club is in mourning, and plans are in the pipeline to immortalise Cherenkov. Team president Leonid Fedun promised that one of the stands at the newly opened Otkritie Stadium will be named after the club's best player and a statue will be raised. In the meantime, fan organisations are discussing whether to retire the No. 10 shirt forever.
Former striker Nikita Simonyan, a legend in his own right who starred for Spartak in the '50s, said: "Fyodor was a great footballer and a saint, amazingly modest person. He was the symbol of Spartak."
Cherenkov was the symbol of pure football, and that's why all of Russia is in a state of deep shock following his untimely death. Rest in peace, Fyodor. Your shy smile will forever remain in the hearts of fans and so will your football.
Michael Yokhin is ESPN FC's European football writer. Follow him on Twitter: @Yokhin