Even the brightest representative of the new generation of Russian goalkeepers fades against the backdrop of a living legend.
The Russian season 2022/23 will end on Sunday at Luzhniki, where CSKA and Krasnodar will determine the winner of the FONBET Cup of Russia. If there is no shortage of trophies in the rich collection of Igor Akinfeev, then Matvey Safonov has not won anything by the age of 24.
The pupil of Krasnodar has been compared with the living legend of CSKA for several years, but this season has put an end to numerous disputes. Akinfeev has no heir among Russian goalkeepers, just as Lev Yashin and Rinat Dasaev did not have them at one time. Goalkeepers of this caliber in our football appear no more than once every 30 years.
Akinfeev at the age of Safonov was already a superstar
For Safonov, this season is already the fifth at the adult level. It is generally accepted that goalkeepers are revealed closer to 30 years, but since we are comparing the paths of two goalkeepers, we should remember the achievements of Akinfeev at the current age of Matvey.
At the age of 24, Igor has already become the champion of the country three times, took the UEFA Cup and Euro bronze. He managed to survive the first rupture of the cruciate ligaments and return to the previous level after the injury. So far, only bronze medals with Krasnodar appear in Safonov’s profile.
It is clear that the individual skill of a goalkeeper and team achievements are not always directly correlated. Moreover, CSKA of the beginning of the 2000s and Krasnodar of recent years are teams of different levels. The same can be said about the Russian national teams of samples of 2008 and 2021.
A more objective indicator can be considered the level of goalkeepers with whom Akinfeev and Safonov had to compete. At the beginning of his career, the army team had to win a place at the base in the fight against the top representatives of his generation – Mandrykin and Gabulov. Safonov, in his first full-fledged season, gained a foothold at the start only after the injury of Stanislav Krytsyuk. In the national team, competition from Akinfeev was also noticeably higher.
It is important to remember what the level of the Russian championship was in the middle of the 2000s, when Akinfeev was just starting. A very young guy was able to withstand the constant stress of the championship race, literally dragging more experienced partners by the collar, placing them on standards. Safonov, on the other hand, often sails in the simplest circumstances, as evidenced by this season.
37-year-old Akinfeev again the best in Russia
Igor Akinfeev and Matvey Safonov / Photo: ©
FC Krasnodar Throughout his career, Akinfeev has been very selective in his dealings with the press, and his long interviews can be counted on the fingers. It is generally difficult to remember any harsh words towards colleagues from Igor. Safonov, in this regard, is a more open person, but this does not always benefit him. Last winter, Matvey opened up in an interview with Match TV:
– The best goalkeeper in Russia? I think the position is currently vacant. At some point, I would call Akinfeev, but now I will not call him the best goalkeeper in Russia. Now there are enough goalkeepers who show a better level of their training. Am I included? I think so, said Safonov.
A daring statement in favor of the Krasnodar goalkeeper definitely did not work. With these words, Safonov raised the bar of expectations from his game too much, but in the end he himself “did not take it out”. Perhaps Matvey was a little dizzy after a really good segment in his career. At the beginning of the 2022/23 championship, he also kept the level: for a long time he was in the lead in the total number of saves and the percentage of shots saved.
Matvey Safonov / Photo: ©
FC Krasnodar
Stability is an important quality for a top goalkeeper, but Safonov has huge problems with this this season. Even before the winter break, he managed to concede 8 goals in two matches against Orenburg and Fakel, and in the spring the number of errors only increased. Safonov not only did not help out, but sometimes became the direct culprit of missed goals. As a result, he has four scoring errors on his account – an anti-record for the entire RPL.
The apotheosis of Safonov’s blunders was the episode in the last round, when for some reason the goalkeeper set off in a stroke at his own goal and was immediately punished. Of course, there were outright blunders in Akinfeev’s career, but Igor was not seen in such adventures. In 10 cases out of 10, the CSKA goalkeeper in such a situation would have loaded the ball further into touch.
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Akinfeev reacted condescendingly to that quote from Safonov, without poking a young colleague with the number of titles and indicating his place:
– Safonov, I think, is a smart guy. Someone perceives these words of Matvey in this way, someone in a different way, but I do not perceive them at all. I did what I could in the national team, I did what I could in my career, what God gave me, what I earned with my own feet. If he gets better, please, ”Akinfeev generously noted.
Igor Akinfeev / Photo: © Denis Bushkovsky / Match TV
Igor’s answer on the football field was no less impressive. Throughout the season, Akinfeev demonstrated a stable level, in terms of the number of “dry” matches (11) he lost only to the goalkeeper of the champion Zenit, and also established himself as a goalkeeper-playmaker, participating in five CSKA goal combinations.
Safonov in the championship conceded an average of 1.59 goals per game – an indicator far from the elite. Akinfeev has it equal to 0.93. One would think that the main work for the army team was done by his partners, the defenders, but in fact, the updated line of defense of CSKA made mistakes quite often. It is significant that in terms of the average number of goals averted, Akinfeev is second only to Ilya Lantratov, who spent the first part of the season in the hopeless Khimki, where there was plenty of goalkeeping work. Safonov is not even in the top ten on this list.
Safonov frankly “floated” this season in face-to-face meetings with the Akinfeev team. Twice Krasnodar ran into defeats in Moscow: 1:4 in the championship and 0:3 in the 1/8 finals of the Russian Cup. In such a situation, it makes sense for Vladimir Ivic to seriously consider a bet in the Superfinal on Stas Akgatsev. The second goalkeeper recently gave a “cracker” in a home game with the army team and seems to be more prepared psychologically for the main game of the season for Krasnodar.
European career is Safonov’s only chance to beat Akinfeev
This year Akinfeev celebrated the 20th anniversary of his debut in CSKA. The best Russian goalkeeper of the 21st century spent his entire career in one club, unlike his predecessors in the national team, he never left for Europe. Perhaps their experience was one of the reasons for Igor’s decision, because neither Dmitry Kharin (Chelsea), nor Stanislav Cherchesov (Dynamo Dresden, Tyrol), nor Sergei Ovchinnikov (Benfica, Porto) of a great European career never built.
On the one hand, Akinfeev never rushed out of CSKA, on the other hand, the clubs from the top championships did not make specific proposals to the army team. At one time, there were rumors of interest from Manchester United, but it didn’t go further than probing the soil. “In the potential, he could make an excellent, successful career abroad in the best European clubs,” Guus Hiddink believed, but there was no way to verify his words in practice.
In this sense, Safonov has an undeniable advantage over Akinfeev: he can still realize his dream of a European career. Matvey himself has repeatedly stressed that he is ready to try his hand at another championship. But here Safonov runs the risk of falling into the classic trap of ideas about his capabilities. Even at the age of 20, he somehow easily brushed off interest from Fiorentina, although since then the goalkeeper could not only grow up, but also wiser.
Safonov’s chances of leaving for Europe are reduced not only because of the unsuccessful season, but also the lack of participation in European competitions and official matches for the national team. For European scouts, these are the main indicators. It is no coincidence that the peak of interest in Matvey was observed two years ago after his first and only season in the group stage of the Champions League. Then there was talk about Brighton and Bayer.
For a transfer to Europe, in addition to the desire of Safonov himself, two main factors must coincide: a real offer and the readiness of Krasnodar to let go of the main goalkeeper. Considering Safonov’s performance in the second part of the season and the presence of Stanislav Agkatsev, one can imagine that the bulls are ready for negotiations. But whether there is a European club ready to pay even 10-15 million euros for a Russian is a big question.
Another obstacle to a successful European career is the previous experience of our goalkeepers in Europe. If field players managed to become real stars in the 90s or just noticeable characters in the major leagues, then the same cannot be said about goalkeepers. Even the legendary Dasaev at one time briefly stayed in Spain, and the brightest Russian goalkeeper of the early 2000s, Ruslan Nigmatullin, failed in Italy. Wise Akinfeev certainly took this experience into account. For Safonov, in order to build a European career at the first stage, it is better to immediately forget about serious clubs, not repeat Lunev’s mistakes and choose a team where there is a real chance to become the first number.
So far, Safonov and Akinfeev seem to be characters from different universes. For Matvey, in a virtual dispute with Igor Vladimirovich, moving to Europe could become the very wormhole that could turn the game around. In the Russian glade, Safonov still cannot reach the greatness of Akinfeev.
Watch the live broadcast of the FONBET Russian Cup Superfinal between Krasnodar and CSKA on June 11 from 16:00 (Moscow time) on the Match TV channel. You can also follow the progress of the meeting on the sites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.
