Olympic champion, four-time world champion, leading forward of the legendary CSKA and the USSR national team. All the doors were thrown open before him, but at the age of 27 his career ended. After the sport, it was not possible to find oneself. tells the tragic story of the outstanding hockey player Alexander Almetov.
At the grave of the Vagankovsky cemetery, everything is simple and symbolic. A huge puck, which depicts an athlete with his head held high. And the inscription — «The great grandmaster of hockey.»
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"If Sasha had not been a talent, he would never have played in the top three with Konstantin Loktev and Veniamin Alexandrov. It cost a lot to play the role of a passer in it. An outstanding and reference link, — recalled the 1972 Olympic champion goalkeeper Alexander Pashkov, who played against Almetov. — Sasha was distinguished by a very high intellect, an outstanding player. His favorite place on the court is the left faceoff point, like Alexander Ovechkin. I hope Sasha and his comrades in the troika will be immortalized in memory. In this link, everyone understood the task, together they all showed themselves brightly.
Almetov was born on January 18, 1940 in Kyiv. Then the family moved to Moscow, where they transferred their father, a lieutenant colonel of tank troops. At the age of eight, Sasha saw the game of the Czech team LTC against the USSR national team in the capital. The boy fell in love with hockey.Alexander graduated from school with a silver medal. Parents hoped that the son would continue the work of his father. However, the guy decided to enter a civilian university. As Davlet Almetov said frustratedly, he only needed hockey.
Even at the age of 15, Anatoly Tarasov himself noticed a talented young man at the CSKA school. When the young talent became an adult, the coach invited him to the adult team. I immediately put him on the same link with Loktev and Aleksandrov. In 1964, 24-year-old Almetov became the best sniper in the national championship. During his career, the striker played 220 matches (50 in the USSR national team) and scored 212 goals. Alexander won the USSR Championship seven times with CSKA. However, at the age of 27, I had to say goodbye to my professional career.
Someone believes that the reason for the decision was the conflict with Tarasov at one of the training sessions. In 1967, fatal for Almetov, Pashkov came to CSKA from Krylya Sovetov.
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“I came in May, and in August Sasha finished playing,” the goalkeeper said 56 years later. “For the three months when we talked, I remember him as a normal and cheerful guy. A high-flying player, size. he allowed himself pranks that no one liked. That's why he finished so quickly. Was the alcohol the reason? You write it like that — pranks. He didn't go anywhere, just the head coach said: «Sasha, I don't need you anymore.»
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“I stopped enduring the high loads of Tarasov. Before that, he was one of the best at the World Championships, and then he returned overweight. I know that Tarasov really wanted to leave him in hockey. In one of the books he wrote: “I knelt before Almetov, to stay in hockey. Unfortunately, I couldn’t keep it.” After all, Sasha was offered a job at CSKA, in another team. He hesitated at one time, and then quit the army and everything went downhill. Apparently, none of his relatives supported him. Sasha’s story is a tragedy, «- Pashkov sighed.
One of the best CSKA forwards in history, Boris Mikhailov, also did not skimp on compliments about Almetov's talent.
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«A high-flying player,» he declared enthusiastically. — No wonder the trio Almetov — Loktev — Alexandrov was the leading link of the USSR national team.
Mikhailov also said about the absence of conflict with Tarasov, «pranks» and made a simple conclusion:
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«He was subject to violations of the sports regime. That's it.»
After some time after leaving Almetov tried to find a job in the former club. I even wanted to train children, but there were no vacancies.Having retired from the army and soon lost his sources of income, Alexander worked in different places. Boiler operator, sports instructor, laborer, coach of one of the factory teams. After the collapse of the USSR, he tried himself in commerce. It was reported that the former athlete did not refuse part-time jobs at the cemetery — he dug graves together with his partners.
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“Unfortunately, there was some episode, he was digging graves on Vagankovsky. Such a time, then many went through it. (Olympic champion in 1956, two-time world champion hockey player) Genrikh Sidorenkov, (vice-champion of the 1964 European Cup, football player) Igor Chislenko, if I'm not mistaken. There were many well-known guys,» Pashkov said.
In the early 90s, Almetov, in search of a better life, left for the United States with his second wife. Overseas also did not work out. According to his friend journalist Yevgeny Rubin, Alexander's visits to the well-known Russian-speaking area of New York became fatal.
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“In the morning I left for Brighton Beach. As he said, to look for work. On the very first evening he returned drunk. It turns out that one of the emigrants recognized Almetov on the street, talked, went in for a bite to eat. too,» wrote Rubin.
Six months later, the ex-forward returned to Moscow alone.