LIFE IS SUCCESSFUL
1. Valery Karpin
Perhaps the most successful legionnaire in Russian football history. He moved to Real Sociedad from Spartak in '94 and spent two good seasons in San Sebastian. After Euro 96, he signed a contract with Valencia, led by Jorge Valdano. However, the "bats" experienced a turbulent period at that time. And the Russian, having not made his way to the base, a year later preferred “Celta”. In Vigo, Valery reunited with Alexander Mostov, and compatriots achieved European recognition with the Galician club.
However, having entered the cohort of leading clubs in Spain for several years, Celta paradoxically, time after time, remained outside the Champions Quartet. Desperate to play with the Spanish club in the main Euro tournament, Valery returned to San Sebastian and already in the 03/04 season as part of his old-new team took part in the Champions League. Karpin left a bright mark in their history of two Spanish teams at once, becoming for them an iconic person.
2. Alexander Mostovoy
For eight years (1996-2004) he played for Celta and was unheard of in popularity among fans of the club. Together with Karpin, he participated in the epic victorious battles of the Galician club. Victories over Benfica (7: 0) and Juventus (4: 0) became the brightest events in the biography of Celta.
Unlike Karpin, Mostovoi found the team season in the Champions League. However, having debuted in it, the club from Vigo did not pull the battle on two fronts and crashed in the national championship. Mostovoi left the team after the departure of Celta to the shogun. The following season, Alexander signed a short-term contract with the Pre-League Alaves, and soon decided to end his career.
3. Igor Korneev
Becoming the last of the best football players of the USSR, in the 91st he went with a group of compatriots to “Hispaniol”. In 95th, thanks to a happy coincidence, he ended up in Barcelona by Johan Cruyff and remains the only Russian football player in the history of the Catalan club. He showed himself great in the playoffs of the Champions League, but could not get the extension of the contract, going to the Dutch “Heerenveen”.
4. Dmitry Radchenko
He proved himself to be excellent in two seasons (1993-95) in the Santander Racing and received an invitation to Deportivo, which was gaining momentum at that time. In La Coruna, being a partner of the world champion Bebeto, Dmitry spent perhaps the brightest season in his Pyrenees career. Then, after going over three years, “Rayo Vallecano”, “Merida” and “Compostela”, Radchenko went to Japan.
5. Victor Onopko
Victor himself was eager to go to Atletico, who at that time (1995) wore the title of champion of the country, but the leadership of Spartak chose to sell it to Oviedo. Having flown with him from the examples in 2002, Onopko signed a contract with Rayo Vallecano, but after a year he again experienced a breakup with the strongest league. Victor's career in Spain, although it ended on a minor note, lasted much longer than most of his compatriots.
IT COULD BE BETTER
1. Vladislav Radimov
The most promising player in Russia in the mid-90s, at the age of 20, signed a contract with Zaragoza, but appeared on the field infrequently, taking part in only 63 matches in four championships (1996-2000).
2. Vladimir Beschastnykh
In "Racing" from Santander he got in the 96th, leaving the Bremen "Bremen", where he ceased to be part of. But he did not succeed in the new club: the interviews in which Beschastnykh referred to coaching bias in his attitude were still more than goals. In early 2001, he fell into an extremely unpleasant situation. Due to the search of the legionnaires, Vladimir was removed from the squad when the transfer window was already closed. As a result, they turned out to be lost for half a year, after which Beschastnykh finally left the inhospitable Pyrenees.
3. Dmitry Khokhlov
For four seasons (1999-2003) in San Sebastian, he did not become a major player. Although in the super-successful season for Real Sociedad, the 02/03 season regularly replaced one of the attacking midfielders: De Pedro, Nihata or Karpin.
4. Yuri Nikiforov
Yuri is desperately out of luck with the club. Leaving Russia in 1996 in the status of one of the country's best players, Nikiforov ended up in the ranks of Gijon, a hopeless outsider examples. It was impossible to prove himself there, and two years later, after the inglorious departure of the club to the second division, Yuri moved to PSV.
5. Igor Ledyakhov
A story similar to the previous one. The only difference is that Igor moved to Gijon two seasons earlier and spent four whole seasons together with the club a sad struggle for survival. After lowering the team in rank, he moved to the Japanese Yokohama, from where he unexpectedly returned in 2002. He ended his career in 2003 at Eibar.