Aleksandr Vladimirovich Filimonov (; born 15 October 1973) is a former

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

from Russia. He won the 2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup with the Russia national beach soccer team. During his professional career, he was best known for playing for Spartak Moscow and the

Russia national football team The Russia national football team () represents Russia in men's international football. It is controlled by the Russian Football Union (, ), the governing body for football in Russia. Russia's home ground is the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow and ...

, as well as for the accidental goal he conceded in

Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

qualifying playoffs from

Andriy Shevchenko Andriy Mykolayovych Shevchenko (, ; born 29 September 1976) is a Ukrainian former Manager (association football), football manager and Football player, player. Shevchenko is considered one of the greatest Striker (association football), strik ...

Early life and career

Born in

Yoshkar-Ola Yoshkar-Ola (Mari language, Mari and ) is the capital city of Mari El, Russia. Yoshkar-Ola means “red city” in Meadow Mari language, Mari and was formerly known as Tsarevokokshaysk () before 1919, as Krasnokokshaysk () between 1919 and 1927 ...

, Filimonov spent his early years elsewhere in the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. He was interested in football from an early age since his father was a football coach. After finishing with the Burevestnik football academy in Yoshkar-Ola, he moved to his first adult football team in summer 1990 – Stal Cheboksary, from the Soviet Second League B. As a seventeen-year-old, he was only able to make two appearances in the season. That winter, he returned to Yoshkar-Ola and joined local team Druzhba Yoshkar-Ola to take part in the 1991 Soviet Second League B tournament. Soon Filimonov established himself as the first-choice goalkeeper for Druzhba and started 38 matches. He also scored a goal, which would prove to be the only one of his adult career. As the 1991 season neared its end, the Soviet Union disbanded. At the beginning of 1992 Filimonov joined Fakel Voronezh, which unexpectedly joined the newly formed

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

, despite having finished mid-table in the Soviet First League. Despite his efforts, Fakel were

relegated Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

in their first season. Filimonov spent another season with Fakel in the

Russian First League The Russian First League (, Pervaya liga), formerly called Russian First Division () and Russian Football National League (FNL) () is the second level of the Football in Russia#League system, Russian football league system. The Russian Professio ...

before moving to the

top-half team Tekstilshchik Kamyshin, having achieved 20

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

s in 37 matches in 1993, and a total of 71 appearances for Fakel. At Tekstilshchik, Filimonov quickly established himself as first-team keeper and played his first European club tournament matches in 1994 in the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

, against

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

and

Békéscsaba Békéscsaba (; ; see also #Name, other alternative names) is a city with county rights in southeast Hungary, the capital of Békés County. Geography Békéscsaba is located in the Great Hungarian Plain, southeast from Budapest. Highway 44, 47 ...

. Over the course of two seasons with Tekstilshchik, Filimonov became regarded as one of the most promising Russian keepers, and on 6 June 1995, he debuted for the Russian U23 national team against

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

and earned three U23 caps in autumn 1995.

Spartak Moscow

Filimonov's contract with Tekstilshchik expired in 1996, and the club's financial situation prevented them from renewing it. At the time, Spartak Moscow was looking for a new keeper to replace Stanislav Cherchesov, who had left for

Wacker Innsbruck FC Wacker Innsbruck was an Austrian association football club from Innsbruck, Tyrol. History The ''Fußball-Club Wacker'' ("Valiant") ''Innsbruck'' was established in 1915 by Jakob Hanspeter, Benedikt Hosp, Josef Leitner, Josef Albrecht and o ...

. Spartak had signed Ruslan Nigmatullin but also signed Filimonov to increase their squad's depth. Initially, Filimonov acted as backup for Nigmatullin and missed the opportunity to play in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

, but over the course of his first season there, Filimonov became first-choice keeper again, as Georgi Yartsev preferred Filimonov's demonstrated consistency. For most of the remainder of his career with Spartak, Filimonov was preferred for the club's starting XI. When he left the club in summer 2001, he had won six league titles, played in numerous Champions League games (including a 4–1 win over

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

), and became an established member of the Russian national team. By that time, Maksym Levytsky had become the club's preferred starting keeper.

Later career

After leaving Spartak, Filimonov was transferred to

Dynamo Kyiv The Football Club 'Dynamo Kyiv', also known as Dynamo Kyiv, or simply Dynamo, ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society ...

to cover for

Oleksandr Shovkovskyi Oleksandr Volodymyrovych Shovkovskyi (; born 2 January 1975) is a Ukrainian former professional association football, footballer who played as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper, and is currently the manager of FC Dynamo Kyiv, Dyna ...

, who had picked up a serious injury. He made few appearances, as Vitaliy Reva became the preferred replacement for Shovkovskyi. Immediately after his Dynamo contract ended, he returned to Russia to play for Uralan Elista. After two seasons with Uralan, he was signed by

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. During the first half of the 2004 season, he featured regularly for Moscow, but by 2005, he was the club's third choice keeper and made no appearances. In January 2007, Filimonov joined Cypriot side

Nea Salamina Nea Salamis Famagusta or Nea Salamina Famagusta () is a Cypriot sports club based in Ammochostos (also known by its romanized name, Famagusta), Cyprus. The club is named after Salamis, Cyprus, Salamis (or Salamina), an ancient city near present- ...

. Before retiring from professional football, he also played for Kuban Krasnodar in Russia and Lokomotiv Tashkent in

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

. In 2009, he was part of the

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

squad that won the 2009 Legends Cup, a tournament for retired players 35 and older. In 2011, Filimonov switched to

beach soccer Beach soccer, also known as beach football, sand football or sand soccer, is a variant of association football played on a beach or some form of sand between two teams of five players each. Association football has long been played informally on ...

and joined

Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (, ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three occasions; the Soviet Cup twice; and the Russian Cup (football), Russian Cup a record ...

, with whom he won a national title and

super cup A super cup is a competition, in association football, basketball, handball, volleyball and rugby union which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competi ...

. His success in beach soccer earned him an invitation to the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

, with whom he won the 2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. He subsequently returned to the Russian Football Premier League in the 2014–15 season at the age of 41 with Arsenal Tula, a team managed by his former Spartak and Russia teammate Dmitri Alenichev, after achieving three consecutive promotions from the fourth tier to the top tier. However, he lost his starting spot for Arsenal in the second half of the season and signed with the third-tier PFL team

Dolgoprudny Dolgoprudny (, ) is a town in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located about north of Moscow city center. The town's name is derived from Russian "" (''dolgy prud'', lit. "long pond")—a long and narrow pond situated in the northeastern part of the town. ...

for the 2015–16 season. He retired as a player upon the conclusion of the 2017–18 season, being the last active player of Soviet Union Football Championship.

International career

Filimonov gained his first cap for the Russian national team on 25 March 1998 in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He played four friendlies in 1998 but was not the main national keeper under managers

Boris Ignatyev Boris Petrovich Ignatyev (, born 5 December 1940) is a Russian former association football, football manager (football), manager and player. As a footballer, Ignatyev spent only one season in the Soviet Top League, with Volga Gorky in 1964. He ...

and Anatoly Byshovets. This changed when

Oleg Romantsev Oleg Ivanovich Romantsev (; born 4 January 1954) is a Soviet Union, Soviet/Russian former international Association football, footballer and Coach (sport), coach who is currently an advisor for FC Pari Nizhny Novgorod. Romantsev was acclaimed fo ...

, who had managed him at Spartak, became the national manager. Filimonov was the primary keeper of the Russian squad during

qualifying, where the team had an impressive run, including a 3–2 victory against France at the

Stade de France Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the List of football stadiums in France, largest stadium i ...

on 5 June 1999. A turning point in Filimonov's career occurred during Russia's match against

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

on 9 October 1999, where a win for Russia would qualify them for the Euro 2000 playoffs. Post-Soviet rivalry between Russia and Ukraine made this a highly anticipated match, resulting in

Luzhniki Stadium The Grand Sports Arena of the Luzhniki Olympic Complex, commonly known as Luzhniki Stadium, is the national stadium of Russia, located in its capital city, Moscow. Its total seating capacity of 78,011 makes it the List of football stadiums in R ...

being sold out for the first time in fifteen years. During the match, Russia dominated possession, but no goals came until the 75th minute, when

Valery Karpin Valery Georgiyevich Karpin (; born 2 February 1969) is a Russian football manager and former player who manages the Russian national team and Russian Premier League club Dynamo Moscow. As a player, he was a midfielder and spent most of his car ...

scored for Russia from a free kick. But at the 88th minute, Ukraine were awarded a free kick far from goal at the left edge of the field.

kicked the ball straight at the hands of Filimonov, but Filimonov was not ready for the kick and conceded a goal. The match ended 1–1, and France qualified from the group while Ukraine went to the playoffs at Russia's expense. Subsequently, Filimonov won another four caps for Russia, but only in friendlies. He did not play for Russia in any other competitive game. He was named in Russia's

2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

squad, but was not used in favor of his former Spartak teammate Ruslan Nigmatullin.

Honours

: 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 * Russian Cup: 1998 * Legends Cup: 2009 *

FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup is an international beach soccer competition contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA, the sport's global governing body. The tournament was preceded by the Beach Soccer World Championshi ...

: 2011 *Russian Beach Soccer League: 2011 *Russian Beach Soccer Super Cup: 2011

Career statistics

External links

National team statisticsGoal conceded against Ukraine in 1999
on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Filimonov, Aleksandr 1973 births People from Yoshkar-Ola Sportspeople from Mari El Living people Men's association football goalkeepers Soviet men's footballers Russian men's footballers Russia men's under-21 international footballers Russia men's B international footballers Russia men's international footballers FC Spartak Yoshkar-Ola players FC Fakel Voronezh players FC Tekstilshchik Kamyshin players FC Spartak Moscow players FC Spartak-2 Moscow players FC Dynamo Kyiv players FC Dynamo-2 Kyiv players FC Elista players FC Moscow players Nea Salamis Famagusta FC players FC Kuban Krasnodar players PFC Lokomotiv Tashkent players FC Arsenal Tula players FC Olimp-Dolgoprudny players Soviet Second League B players Russian Premier League players Russian First League players Russian Second League players Ukrainian Premier League players Ukrainian First League players Cypriot First Division players Uzbekistan Super League players 2002 FIFA World Cup players Russian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine Russian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Russian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Uzbekistan Russian expatriate sportspeople in Uzbekistan Russian beach soccer players 20th-century Russian sportsmen