Yuri Valeryevich Nikiforov

Yuri Nikiforov
Personnel
Surname	Yuri Valeryevich Nikiforov
birthday	September 16, 1970
place of birth	Odessa ,  USSR , Soviet Union
size	188 cm
position	Libero , central defender
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1987	SKA Odessa	5 0(0)
1988	Chornomorets Odessa	1 0(0)
1989	Dynamo Kiev	2 0(0)
1990-1993	Chornomorets Odessa	76 0(4)
1993-1996	Spartak Moscow	85 (15)
1996-1998	Sporting Gijón	65 0(3)
1998-2002	PSV Eindhoven	99 0(5)
2002-2003	RKC Waalwijk	29 0(1)
2003	Urawa Red Diamonds	12 0(0)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1992	CIS	4 0(0)
1992	Ukraine	3 0(0)
1993-2002	Russia	55 0(6)
1 Only league games are given.

Yuriy Nikiforov (russ.), And Yuriy Nykyforow (UKR.) ( Russian Юрий Валерьевич Никифоров ; Ukrainian Юрій Никифоров ;. Wiss Transl. Yuri Valer'evič Nikiforov . (Russ), Yuri Nykyforov * (UKR). September 16 1970 in Odessa , Ukrainian SSR ) is a former Soviet - Ukrainian - Russian soccer player . The central defender / midfielder is one of the few players of recent times who has completed A international appearances for two associations that are not in the successor-predecessor relationship; he played in 1992 for the CIS and the Ukraine, before he became a regular player in the Russian national team after 1994 and took part in two world championships and one European championship.

Club career

Nikiforow played in the youth of Chornomorez Odessa , after a single appearance in the Soviet league for the club in 1988, he moved to Dynamo Kiev for a few months , but was only used there in youth and reserve games, before joining the new year 1989/90 switched back to Chornomorets. He stayed with the club until the beginning of the first regular season of the Ukrainian league in 1992/93. Nikoforov, however, moved the Russian league to Spartak Moscow in 1993 . After a few initial difficulties due to injuries and associated appearances in the reserve team, he was quickly able to assert himself as a regular for the championship team from 1993, 1994 and 1996: in just over three years he played 85 times in the Russian league and scored 16 goals. Due to his excellent performance in the Champions League (1993-1996 21 appearances / four goals) some Western European teams became aware of him. Nikiforov joined Real Sporting de Gijón from the Spanish Primera División in the summer ; Although he was able to prevail there as a regular player, but the club rose during Nikiforov's second year after a disastrous year with only two wins from 38 games, whereupon he left the club. He was drawn to the Dutch club PSV Eindhoven , with this he had more success again, both in 2000 and 2001 Nikiforow was champion of the Eredivisie with the team . After the 2002 World Cup, he slowly let his career fade, first with Dutch second division club RKC Waalwijk and in 2003 with the Urawa Red Diamonds from the Japanese J. League . With which he could win the Japanese league cup, the Yamazaki Nabisco Cup , at the end of his career . In 2003, Nikiforov finally resigned as an active player.

National team

Nikiforov showed his talent very early and was a member of the various youth and junior teams of the USSR. He was co-top scorer with the Soviet selection in 1987 U-16 world champion, 1988 shot together with Oleg Salenko, the USSR to the U-19 European championship , and was also in the Soviet selection at the U-20 World Cup in 1989. 1991 he was still appointed to the A-squad of the selection of the USSR , but was only used after the Soviet Union was dissolved at the turn of the year 1991/92. It was used four times in a USA and Israel tour of the successor selection of the CIS, which the Soviet Union had agreed on, but was not considered for the 1992 European Championship . Nikoforov became a dual national with passports from Russia and Ukraine due to the dissolution of the USSR , but first opted for the Ukrainian selection , for which he ran three times in 1992. But after he moved to the Russian Premier League in 1993 , the Russian Federation convinced him and FIFA to change associations or allow the change so that he would be eligible to qualify for the 1994 World Cup . He became a regular player of Russia and played a significant role in Russia's qualification for the World Cup 94 and EM 96, but resigned from the national team after the failed qualification for the 1998 World Cup. In 2001, however, he was reactivated to secure the still possible but endangered qualification for the 2002 World Cup . He played all games for Russia in Japan, but resigned from the national team after being eliminated after the preliminary round.

Web links

• Nikoforov's profile with photos on RussiaTeam.ru ( Russian )
• Detailed international match statistics for Nikoforov on rsssf.com ( English )

Footnotes

1. ↑ " Canada 1987: USSR best by far "; Fifa website for the U-16 World Cup 1987 ( English ).
2. ^ " Soviet savor U18 success "; UEFA website for U-19 Championship ( English ).