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FOOTBALL EUROPE: Tikhonov ticking over at Khimki

/noticias.info/ by Eduard Nisenboim
from Moscow

FC Khimki's promotion to the Russian Premier-Liga has brought one of the most popular stars of the 1990s in that country back to the top division.

Khimki achievement
Having won eight Russian titles as an FC Spartak Moskva player, the 36-year-old former international winger Andrei Tikhonov may have pulled off the greatest success of his career by leading unfashionable Khimki into the top division with 22 goals in 42 games for the club from the Moscow region this season.

Financial realities
"I will play for as long as my health allows," said Tikhonov, who came to football late at the age of 22 after a spell in the army. "I play first of all for my family - to make money so that my loved ones can live well. There wasn't much money in Russian football when my generation of players were in our prime. That's why I am still working now."

Famous campaign
With just 29 caps to his name, Tikhonov was not a superstar with the national team, but his reputation was sealed in 1996 as he scored 16 goals to lead a Spartak side robbed of most of their experienced stars in pre-season to title success, scoring the decisive goal in the end-of-season play-off. His Spartak career was to end suddenly as a row with coach and club president Oleg Romantsev prompted his dismissal in 2000 - something that only served to make him more popular with Russian fans - and he then spent four seasons at FC Krylya Sovetov Samara before joining Khimki before the 2005 season.

No intention
Still lively enough to lead the Samara side to a Russian Cup final and their best ever league finish - third place - he was nonetheless expected to drift unobtrusively towards retirement when he moved into the second division with Khimki. However, the winger clearly had no intention of going quietly.

Incredible haul
Scoring so many goals from a position on the left wing is an incredible result for any player, but nothing new for Tikhonov who set a benchmark for Russian wingers with 19 goals in domestic competitions in the 1999 season. Initially a striker, he once scored eight times in a Spartak reserve game, missing a penalty and hitting the post twice, only for Romantsev to convert him into a winger.

Veteran stars
Russian amateur champions in 1996, modest Khimki are just eleven years old and never made any promises about winning promotion. They boast several more veteran players in Roman Berezovski, Yuri Drozdov, Andrei Kondrashov and Dmitri Lyapkin, but it is former Spartak stars like Tikhonov, Vladimir Beschastnykh, Dmytro Parfyonov and Eduard Mor that have attracted the attention of fans.

'A bit of a stir'
Thus, there is already a sense of anticipation around Khimki's meetings with Spartak next season. "The matches against Spartak will be special for the supporters who still remember the times when we all played for that team, but for me it will be business as usual," said Tikhonov before adding: "No - there might be a bit of stir around my heart." notas_de_prensa_archivo