Dmitry Radchenko, football player: biography, sport achievements

Dmitry Radchenko is one of the stars of Soviet and Russian football. For his vivid career, he played not only at home, but also in one of the strongest championships of the Old World - in Spain in clubs such as Deportivo and Rayo Vallecano, as well as in Croatia and very exotic Japan, where he became the champion of the country . Among the awards and titles - the champion of Russia, the winner of the Cup of the USSR and Russia, the winner of the Super Cup of Spain. But first things first.

At the beginning of a career

Dmitry Radchenko was born in a truly football city - Leningrad in 1970. In early childhood, I began to work in the sports children's and youth school of the Olympic reserve "Smena". Yuri Iosifovich Kantor became the first coach of the future member of the national team. It was he who instilled in the then small Dima his main qualities - the ability to make quick decisions and organize the game on the field.

He began his adult career in 1988 in the Leningrad Dynamo, where he moved to St. Petersburg Zenit the following season. True, at that time the flagship of domestic football of the last few years was going through hard times. In the higher league of the Union Championship the team took the last place, having won only 5 wins for the season, and dropped out of the football elite.

However, in the first league "Zenith" looked pale, staying in the camp of outsiders. Therefore, especially bright against the background of the rest of the team stood out 20-year-old Dmitry Radchenko. Footballer straight from the first league in late 1990 moved to Moscow's "Spartak", in its ranks it was taken by the USSR national football team.

Career in the camp of "red and white"

In 1991, as part of the Moscow "Spartak" Dmitry Radchenko took part in the last USSR championship. Promising football player immediately got a place in the starting lineup, took part in almost all the games, having scored 13 goals. True, the best goalie then did not work, as the title of the most productive player in that season went to Igor Kolyvanov, who spoke in the capital's Dynamo. He disappointed goalkeepers rivals 17 times. A bit was not enough for the whole team in the fight for the championship. Two points, "Spartacus" lost to CSKA, contented with a ticket to the Cup Winners' Cup for the next season.

The end of the season turned out to be blurry. In the game against the Greek AEK in the second round of the UEFA Cup, Dmitry broke his leg. "Spartacus" at that time dropped out of European competition, and Radchenko needed six months to recover. Back in the system, Dmitry in 1992 in the "Spartacus" became the champion of Russia and was recognized as the best striker of the tournament.

The beginning of a foreign career

In 1993, the country began to live in a new way in a market economy, and it became possible to freely travel abroad to not only relax, but also work. This contributed to the beginning of the Spanish period in Radchenko's career. Specialists from the Iberian Peninsula paid attention to the Russian striker two years ago, when his double on Santiago Bernabéu in the Moscow "Spartak" knocked out of the European cups of Madrid "Real".

In the summer of 1993, Radchenko moved to Santander "Racing" under the direction of Javier Irureta. The average middleweight of the Spanish premiere with Radchenko on the spear holds a very successful season. The club finishes in 8th place. In the offseason the team was headed by a new coach, he became Vicente Miera. Radchenko played at the base, but scored not much. The fans got the impression that he was specially tuned to matches with the giants - "Real" and "Barcelona". In that season, the Russian forward was marked by a double in the gate of both leaders of Spanish football. "Barcelona" and was completely beaten by "Racing" with a score of 5: 0. True, the final position in the standings, these successes were not reflected - the Santander did not hit the top ten.

Dmitry Radchenko at the World Championship in the USA

The USSR national football team became the first national team for Radchenko. For it, he spent 2 matches, and after the collapse of the Soviet Union, he was already playing for the Russian national team.

In the qualifying tournament for the World Cup the team took the second place in its group, losing to the Greeks. In 8 matches, the Russians scored 5 wins (over Luxembourg and Hungary - 2 times), played in a draw with the Greeks and Icelanders and once lost to Greece in Athens 0-1. Radchenko in the national team was noted with one goal scored in a home meeting with Luxembourg (the Russians won 2-0).

In the final of the World Cup Russia was in Group B with Brazil, Sweden and Cameroon. In the first match with the South Americans, Radchenko left in the starting lineup, but could not make serious problems for the defense of the magicians of the ball, because of what was replaced in the 76th minute by Alexander Borodyuk. The starting match Russia lost 0: 2. The second meeting with the Swedes again brought defeat - 1: 3. Oleg Salenko scored in the Russian national team from the penalty spot. After two defeats, our team lost the chance of leaving the group, the last match with Cameroon was symbolic. The Russians defeated the opponent with a score of 6: 1. Forward Oleg Salenko set the record in that match, scoring 5 goals. In the defeat Dmitry Radchenko also took part, who distinguished himself on the 82nd minute.

As a result, the Russian team took only the third place in the group and could not reach the playoffs.

Continuation of the Euro Tour

After a rather unsuccessful performance at the mundiale Radchenko still found himself a new team. In 1994, he moved to the Deportivo de La Coruña. And among the alternatives in the offseason were the Scottish Celtic and the Birmingham Aston Villa. However, Radchenko remained in the already familiar Spain. Deportivo was not at his business. Stable to score a lot did not work, and the place at the core of Dmitry lost. The following year he was rented in the "Rayo Vallecano", then in the Spanish career were "Merida" and "Compostela". None of these teams showed a bright game. For three seasons Radchenko scored only once.

Football exotica in Japanese

In 1999, Radchenko was in a very exotic country - in the championship of Japan, in the team "Jubilo Iwata". At that time it was one of the strongest Japanese clubs, two years earlier having issued the champion title. The "Golden" season was also 99/00. The team Radchenko won 12 of 15 meetings and issued the second title. Dmitry was marked with 4 goals scored. Returning to Europe, not for long, he played for the Croatian "Hajduk" from Split and completed his professional career.

In the shadow of big football, Dmitry Leonidovich Radchenko left quite early - before 30 years. Sam notes that it has always been a good speed, but a series of injuries adversely affected the physical possibilities. After the official completion of his career, he was engaged in coaching and training at the Deportivo School. Since 2010 he has been working in the structure of the St. Petersburg Zenit.