In Kuban they choose the athlete of the year

PFC Sochi has announced a new head coach. Transfer rumors are circulating around FC Krasnodar. PFC Kuban and FC Chernomorets are fighting for survival in the first league. In the Krasnodar Territory they choose the athlete of the year. “MK in Kuban” is about the main sporting events in the region.

Appreciate and attract interest

While Russian football is on winter break, the main news concerns club transfers. Traditionally, there are a lot of transfer rumors around Krasnodar. The club traditionally does not comment on them.

The main rumor reported by a number of media outlets is that defender Junior Alonso may leave the Bulls. Allegedly, they want to see the Paraguayan at FC Vasco da Gama. The head coach of the Brazilian club, Alexander Matos, worked with the defender back in the Atlético Mineiro club. Brazilian journalists believe that Krasnodar can get five million euros for the player, but at the same time they say that the Brazilian club is ready to pay one and a half million euros. Alonso’s contract with the City runs until the summer of 2025. The Transfermarkt portal estimates the defender’s market value at nine million euros.

Domestic media are already reporting that if Alonso leaves, the “black-greens” will consider the candidacy of Georgy Dzhikia, the captain of Spartak, as his replacement. This season, the thirty-year-old defender played six matches and was not effective.

Western clubs are still interested in Eduard Spertsyan. Various rumors constantly circulate around him. But it’s hard to believe that the Krasnodar graduate will leave in the middle of such a season, when the Bulls have the greatest chance of winning the first championship in their history.

The media also reported that the “bulls” were interested in the 22-year-old striker of the Vasco da Gama club, Gabriel Peck. But then the player’s agent, Carlos Leite, said that the transfer was impossible.

Meanwhile, the entire Krasnodar team, according to Transfermarkt, has risen in price by 9.55 million euros in six months. According to the overall team indicator, the Bulls are in second place after Zenit in the Russian Premier League. The transfer price of the City midfielder, Eduard Spertsyan, rose from fifteen to eighteen million euros. The footballer became the most expensive in the Russian Premier League, along with Zenit St. Petersburg forward Mateo Cassierra and Krylia Sovetov Samara midfielder Benjamin Garre. At the same time, Spertsyan became the second most expensive player in the Russian championship after Zenit Wendel (twenty-two million). Krasnodar goalkeeper Matvey Safonov and Zenit midfielder Claudinho have the same transfer value as Spertsyan (eighteen million euros).

The Bulls’ dispute with their former striker Erik Botheim continues. Hearings in the case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the Norwegian “Bode-Glimt” (from this club the footballer transferred to the “citizens”) are scheduled for February 21, 2024. Before this, on December 19th, the Black and Greens will participate in an appeal hearing against Salernitana regarding the Norwegian’s departure from the team (at the time of writing, the result of the hearing is unknown). In July 2022, the striker became a player of the Italian team.

Let us recall that the International Football Federation has already rejected Krasnodar’s complaint against Botheim, who, with the outbreak of the military conflict in Ukraine, terminated his contract with the club unilaterally. The striker moved to the Citizens in December 2021 and did not play a single official match with them. At the same time, FIFA ordered the “bulls” to pay the player five hundred thousand euros.

Domestic ones were busy

Barca announced the name of their new coach. The Sochi management decided that the team would be led by 46-year-old Spaniard Roberto Moreno. A contract has already been signed with him. According to media reports, the agreement is valid until the end of the current season with an option to extend for another two years. If Sochi leaves the Russian Premier League, the Spaniard will be allowed to leave. According to other journalists, the contract with the Spaniard was signed for two and a half years. If the cooperation is successful, the agreement may be extended for another two years. The club’s management does not comment on the terms of the contract.

Moreno will form the coaching staff. The names of the assistants have not yet been determined. At the same time, goalkeeper coach Dmitry Borodin remained at the club, former head coach Alexander Tochilin left the Leopards.

“We understood that we would be looking for a foreigner. Those Russian specialists who hired us are already busy and have jobs. Therefore, we looked at the foreign market,” said Sochi General Director Dmitry Rubashko.

Moreno’s last place of work was the Spanish “Granada”. Previously, the specialist headed the French Monaco, worked as an assistant to the head coach in the Spanish Barcelona and Celta, as well as in the Italian Roma. Moreno was part of the coaching staff of the Spanish national team, leading the team in 2019 as head coach in ten matches.

Moreno is the winner of the Champions League (2014/15), champion of Spain (2014/15, 2015/16), winner of the Spanish Cup (2014/15, 2015/16, 2016/17), Spanish Super Cup (2016/17), European Super Cup (2015/16) and winner of the Club World Championship (2015/16). He received all these trophies as a coach, since he did not play football at a professional level.

The Spaniard will be the resort’s fourth coach this season. Let us remind you: Sochi began the current championship under the leadership of Dmitry Khokhlov, but in September he left his post. The team was then headed by Alexander Tochilin, who was also fired. In the last match in 2023, the team was led by his assistant Denis Klyuev.

Fighting for survival

Kuban clubs playing in the first league went on a winter break. “Kuban” managed to win a strong-willed away victory (1:3) over Saratov “Sokol” in the twentieth round. It allowed Vadim Evseev’s team to rise to fifteenth place in the standings with twenty points. This result brought the “yellow-greens” out of the relegation zone. True, Saratov, which is in the sixteenth place in the relegation zone, has the same number of points and is inferior to Krasnodar only in additional indicators – the results of head-to-head matches (0: 0, 3: 1). Nevertheless, Kuban has hope of maintaining its place in the first league.

The situation is worse for another Kuban team playing in the same tournament, Novorossiysk Chernomorets. Two matches before the end of the autumn part of the championship, head coach Konstantin Zyryanov left the club. Then the team played under the leadership of Vadim Garanin. The contract with the 52-year-old coach and his staff was signed for two and a half years. The mentor is known for his work in Sochi, Yenisei and Tver. With the Krasnoyarsk team, the coach reached the semi-finals of the Russian Cup in the 2021/22 season. The change of coach has not helped Chernomorets yet. The club lost its last two matches of 2023, extending its losing streak to four matches. After twenty rounds, Novorossiysk have eighteen points and occupy the last, eighteenth place in the standings. The club is currently conducting an active transfer campaign: getting rid of a number of players and announcing the signing of contracts with new players. The goal is the same: to gain a foothold in the first league. So far the situation does not look stalemate for Chernomorets. The gap from your comrades in misfortune is small.

They will choose the best

The regional branch of the Federation of Sports Journalists of Russia announced the start of the annual award “Kuban Athlete – 2023”. A list of ten nominees was recently presented. It was announced by the Minister of Physical Culture and Sports of the Krasnodar Territory Serafim Timchenko, the Chairman of the Kuban Olympic Council, Olympic champion in trampolining Irina Karavaeva, Olympic champion in handball Stanislav Kulinchenko, Chairman of the regional Federation of Sports Journalists Maxim Osadnik.

The final list included Anastasia Demurchyan (boxing), Aues Gonibov (Greco-Roman wrestling), Harun Tlishev (sambo), Matvey Safonov (football), Vyacheslav Yarkin (weightlifting), Yakov Moiseenko (e-sports), Valery Endovitsky (judo), Muslim Gadzhimagomedov (boxing), Alexander Shcherbenev (basketball) and Valeria Moskvitina (athletics).

Online voting will take place next. It will consist of three stages. At the first stage (December 14-18), the nominees were divided into two groups by drawing lots. The top two athletes from each group advanced to the semi-final round (December 19-23). The leaders of the semi-finals will compete in the final (December 24-28). You can vote for them on the website kubsport.ru.

According to the chairman of the regional Federation of Sports Journalists, the “Kuban Athlete 2023” award is an excellent occasion at the end of the year to once again remember the region’s greatest victories in sports, as well as their main creators. Maxim Osadnik noted that historical achievements were achieved in 2023.

— Anastasia Demurchyan from Anastasia became the first woman in the sports history of the Krasnodar region who managed to win the title of world champion in boxing. Another Kuban boxer, two-time world champion Muslim Gadzhimagomedov, won a national award from the Russian Ministry of Sports as the country’s best athlete of 2023. Krasnodar resident Yakov Moiseenko brought Kuban the first gold medal of the Russian eSports Championship. Of course, we could not ignore these outstanding achievements,” said the chairman of the regional Federation of Sports Journalists.

The Minister of Sports of the Krasnodar Territory noted that, despite all the difficulties and sanction pressure on Russian sports, domestic athletes continue to prove their skills and leadership. This is confirmed by their sporting achievements.

— Russians continue to perform on the international stage in some sports. Among them, athletes from the Krasnodar region have a fairly impressive representation. In the same sambo, Kuban today is the leader in Russia. We successfully implement federal and regional projects for the development of this sport. Every award nominee deserves to become its laureate,” said Timchenko.

The region’s sports awards were first held in 2011. First, the top ten best athletes representing the Krasnodar region are determined by journalists, and then the fans are invited to choose the only winner of the award through online voting on the portal kubsport.ru.