Match between Lokomotiv and CSKA / Photo: Vasily Ponomarev / Sportbox.ru
Ilya broke the contract with the army team for the chance to play in Europe. But the choice of the Belarusian is very surprising.
The first Belarusian footballer decided to use the FIFA option, which allows him not to return to Russia. The top clubs in Europe did not hunt for the striker, but he was of interest to the military commissariat. Ilya did not want to become a soldier again and preferred a frankly weak championship to the Russian Premier League, comparable in level to the championship of a water pump.
It will be very difficult for him to return to the RPL after such an act.
“We would not go to China”
Belarusian striker Ilya Shkurin, whose contract with CSKA runs until the summer of 2024, has moved on loan to the Israeli club Maccabi from Petah Tikva. The forward’s new team plays in Liga Leumit, which is the second strongest division in the country.
For the sake of moving to Israel, the athlete had to resort to activating the FIFA option, which allows foreigners to suspend the contract with Russian teams. Thus, Shkurin became the first Belarusian who decided on this move. It is not entirely clear why the player did not want to try to negotiate another loan with the management of the “red-blue” by mutual agreement. But if moving to Israel by any means will allow Ilya to return his bombarding talent, then one can only be happy for him.
It would not be superfluous to recall that Shkurin moved to CSKA as the top scorer of the Belarusian championship. In the 2019 season, the young forward scored 19 goals, playing far from the strongest team in the country – Energetik-BGU. Judging by the words of the football player’s agent Valery Isaev, Ilya had everything in order with ambitions. He considered the Russian Premier League as a springboard to a strong European championship.
– In the future, Ilya wanted to go exactly to the West. To be honest, as his manager, I want him to go to the top championship in the future. Shkurin is fluent in English. I confess that Ilya did not even consider the options of moving to a club from the bottom of the RPL table, although there were enough offers, Isaev was quoted by the tribune.by portal.
Not only Russian second-tier teams seemed unattractive to the player, but even any rich clubs outside of Europe, such as participants in the Chinese Super League or the Middle East championships.
– We had an agreement with Dynamo, and for a long time, that if a good offer comes from a worthy reputable club, then no one will interfere. We wouldn’t go to the conditional championship of Saudi Arabia or China, ”Sport24 quoted the agent as saying.
“Everyone just rejoiced”
With the implementation of ambitions, it turned out not to be so simple, in CSKA Shkurin did not shine very much. In 13 matches of the Premier League, he managed to score three goals, he did not have to score in the Russian Cup and the Europa League. In addition to not the best performance, the football player added unsportsmanlike problems to himself, which is why he lost his chances to play for the national team and interested the Belarusian military commissariat.
Whether this was an additional factor for the army team to disown the athlete is unclear. However, in the summer of 2021, the Belarusian moved to Dynamo Kiev, a little closer to the dream of playing in Europe. The people of Kiev really played in the Champions League – Shkurin twice entered the field in matches against Benfica and Bayern. But the athlete’s romance with goals ended – he could not score in any tournament for the Ukrainian club.
In the winter of 2022, Ilya penetrated even deeper into the West – he ended up in Poland, where he was rented by Rakow, which can be nightmares for Rubin fans. The Polish land also did not become happy for the Belarusian – in the second half of last season he entered the field twice, without scoring goals. In the new season, the Poles did not count on the striker – the club terminated the contract with the athlete, who is now moving to Israel. And if the main league of the country is still competitive, then the second strongest one resembles the Second League, or the PFL. I don’t want to belittle anyone, but exchanging CSKA for a water pumping championship is something you have to manage.
CSKA fans, for the most part, are not too upset about the loss. Many are even happy that the “red-blue” club will no longer be related to the footballer who disappointed the fans. Here’s what fans are saying on social media:
– We had Shkurin! Somehow I completely forgot about it…
Is he still under contract?
– Why is it so funny? Everyone, probably, was only glad that he would not come.
– Loss of losses. Well, at least I remembered that we have such a player listed.
Formally, by the way, Shkurin could still appear in CSKA. FIFA rules so far allow to suspend the contract for only one year, while Ilya has two in reserve. But there are doubts that the union of the army with the Belarusian is interesting for at least one of the parties.
Thomas Astudillo is a sports journalist and author who writes for Sportish. He has a deep love and knowledge of sports, and is known for his engaging and informative writing on the latest sports news and events.
Former Barcelona and PSG midfielder Rafinha has announced his retirement at the age of 32. The last club in the player’s career was Al-Arabi from Qatar, where he spent 3-3 years. Raphinha was at Barcelona from 2006 to 2020 and won 11 titles with the Blaugranas. In 2020, the player moved to PSG and in 2022 he went on loan to Real Sociedad. The midfielder also played 2 matches for the Brazilian national team in 2015…
I’m a sports enthusiast and journalist who has worked in the news industry for over 8 years. I currently work as an author at Sportish and my work focuses mainly on sports news.
Head coach of the England national team Thomas Tuchel spoke about his team’s prospects in the upcoming 2026 World Cup. Yogo words suggest ESPN.
“So now I believe more than ever in our victory, just because we have become stronger. It is our fault to come and work particularly hard. But I cannot guarantee that I will win at the tournament.”
Everyone knows that we cannot guarantee that we will be victorious, but the fans want to build a united team, team spirit, a team that gives all its strength and fights one by one. If football is feasible, then I think anything is possible.
We are good enough to think about it, and we are good enough to try to overcome it,” Tuchel said.
After the draw for the 2026 World Cup, the England team has reached Group L, where they will play against Croatia, Ghana and Panama.
Thomas Astudillo is a sports journalist and author who writes for Sportish. He has a deep love and knowledge of sports, and is known for his engaging and informative writing on the latest sports news and events.
There are currently four Ukrainians playing in the MLS championship. The most experienced of them is the defender of the national team Alexander SvatokIn the summer of 2024, he moved to “Austin”, America.
In an exclusive interview with the site Spor.ua The football player talked about his performances at club level last season, but the main topic of our conversation was, of course, the Ukrainian national team, for which Alexander has now played 11 matches.
– Alexander, 2025 ends. How would you evaluate this for yourself in terms of football?
– You always want more but I guess I can count the year as an asset. I played a full season in MLS. “Austin” completed the minimum task and advanced to the play-offs, and the team also reached the Cup final. And undoubtedly, the struggles and matches of the Ukrainian national team are different from each other. Moreover, we still have a chance to participate in the 2026 World Cup.
– What’s interesting about the MLS championship?
– First of all, there is no gap between the teams. An outsider can defeat a leader and it won’t create a sensation for anyone. Every team has top players, especially attacking players who can make a difference. It is not easy for defenders to resist such masters.
– Where would MLS be compared to Europe?
– It’s hard to say. Football is developing rapidly here, but I think that teams in Europe are more disciplined and more compact, which gives them an advantage. Those who look better according to these parameters are more likely to achieve positive results.
– Did Inter Miami rightfully become champions?
– They were right because they won even though they lost many matches during the season. And in the final, Vancouver looked better than its opponent, but the Californians have veterans like Lionel Messi and some other players who can perform. This actually decided the fate of the conflict.
Austin Alexander Svatok
– Even though you were playing abroad, you were followed by the Ukrainian national team. Did you believe that you would be wanted in the national team when you went to the USA?
– How should I say it? I hoped so because before moving to Austin, I was called up to the national team under Sergei Rebrov. I realized that I had to do my job to the best of my ability and that the team had to be at the top of the rankings.
– But you made your debut for the national team under the management of Ruslan Rotan, with whom you played more than a dozen matches on the field.
– Really. I was both surprised and pleased that the coach trusted me with a place in the squad. My chances increased due to Ilya Zabarny’s injury. It was very exciting because I knew Ruslan Rotan, Sergei Kravchenko and Evgeniy Baryshnikov well. I really didn’t want to disappoint these people. It was an honor to make my debut against England and at Wembley. It’s a shame that the result doesn’t work (0:2).
– Which match would you choose as the best in the blue-yellow jersey?
– Possibly against Italy (0:0) in the Euro 2024 qualifiers and against Belgium (0:0) in the final stage of the European Championship. These were two important struggles. Our team was no worse than our opponents and we didn’t concede a goal, but Ukraine needed wins. Still, without exaggeration, these games can be considered an asset.
– But I probably don’t want to remember the second leg against the same Belgians, only in the Nations League play-offs…
– Yes really. These events haunted me for a long time. The first match was played against the Ukrainian national team – 3:1. In the rematch, the first half ended in a draw, everything seemed under control, but the goal in the 70th minute let us down. After a quick second goal, Lukaku put an end to the match.
– Then everyone asked the question: looking at the confident play of the Ukrainian national team in the first match, why did this happen?
– It’s hard to say. Football is about the little things. It’s hard to say just one reason. We collapsed psychologically after the first missed goal, but on the contrary, the opponent took wing.
– In the 2026 World Cup qualifying tournament, the Ukrainian team received a lot of criticism, especially after the first match against Azerbaijan (1:1). Do you agree with him?
– Partially yes. But now everyone has learned to play football. Not as an excuse, I will say that the grass in Baku is not of the best quality and this prevents our coaches from demonstrating their individual skills better. Our aggression was lacking somewhere, we could not distribute enough balls to the opponent’s penalty area. Azerbaijanis also played for their goals in a disciplined manner. We have to give them credit for that. But we had to beat the home team.
Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine. Ukraine national team
– Despite this, the “blue-yellows” advanced to the play-offs in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers and will face Sweden in the semi-finals in March next year. What can you say about this competitor?
– The enemy is powerful and authoritarian. It will be a difficult match for both teams, but our team believes in its strength. We really want to go to the World Cup.
– I can’t help but ask about the potential rivals of the Ukrainian national team at the final stage of the competition: Netherlands, Japan and Tunisia?
– It is difficult for me to say anything about the Japanese and Tunisians right now, but on paper the Netherlands will probably be seen as the favorites of this group. But I don’t want to look that far yet; We need to beat the Swedes first.
– Do you follow the Ukrainian Championship?
– Yes. I am aware of everything, but I pay more attention to the teams I play or work with in Dnepr. Naturally, this “Polesie” also pleasantly surprised LNZ, I watch “Karpaty”, “Metalist 1925”. Of course, since our giants Shakhtar and Dinamo are in the group round of the Conference League, I cannot help but be interested in them.
– What goals do you set for yourself in the near future?
– Prepare well for the championship to improve the results in MLS and of course I also want to be in demand in the national team so that we can go to the World Cup with this.
I am a writer at Sportish, where I mainly cover sports news. I’ve also written for The Guardian and ESPN Brasil, and my work has been featured on NBC Sports, SI.com and more. Before working in journalism, I was an athlete: I played football for Colgate University and competed in the US Open Cross Country Championships.
