Former defender of Dynamo and the Russian national team Denis Kolodin signed a contract with Volga. Denis Kolodin

Another player of the best national team in Russian history, the one that won bronze in Euro 2008, completed his playing path.

When a master leaves, one always wants to understand whether he gave his work everything that nature has vouchsafed to him. In this case, an affirmative answer will not work with all desire.

This is partly a question of the nature of the hero himself. They say that the fish is looking for where it is deeper, and where the man is better. So, this person is not. Denis is arranged in such a way that he feels good where he is. Denis is too much of a homebody.

Once, as a boy, he did not want to go to any Volgograd from his native Kamyshin, and as a result he transported him almost by force. Then he already got attached to and calmly, as he himself says, he would have lost his whole life in the second league if the same Slutsky had not pulled him out, where he was lucky to please fellow countryman Sergei Pavlov - so he ended up in the Premier League. And then there was no force that could rip him out.

Zenit approached this goal once, twice, and a third time - and, one must understand, not empty-handed - but Denis remained cold to all signs of attention from the respected club. And not because of some fundamental prejudices, but simply because I did not want to change anything in my life.

What can I say - even Ajax could not melt this phlegm. In the same place, you need to learn another language, Denis explained, - why, if you can play, speaking your own?

One can only guess what heights he could reach if his ambition were measured by the same measure as his talent for football. Yes, he was generously endowed physically (including speed - a rare and therefore valuable quality for a central defender) and, thanks to a good education, fluently read the game, but that's not all.

It had another most valuable feature, infrequent in Russian football today - an even attitude towards European stars. Neither in his words, nor in his deeds, was there ever a feeling of inferiority, which, alas, showed through in the behavior of many of his partners during meetings with world figures. He was not ready to consider himself obviously second-class just because he plays in some kind of championship. The reverse side of his natural equanimity gave Denis a significant bonus in comparison with impressionable natures, but he failed to take full advantage of this advantage.

Photo: © RIA Novosti / Alexei Filippov

His career was ended early by injury. Let him officially put an end to it in 2017, he really finished playing in 2010. For the last seven years, in fact, he played out, although internally, he probably expected to revive his career. But each new zigzag of his route - "Rostov", "Volga", "Sokol", "Altai" - showed that he was farther from the goal.

At the same time, there was a moment in his life when the injury seems to have helped: such paradoxes also happen in football. He started in childhood as a striker, and, they say, quite successfully: he scored a lot, received prizes. But it is impossible to say whether he could have taken place at an adult level in this role. And the role in which he nevertheless took place, he found thanks to a sore knee, because of which, as a teenager, he fell out of the training regime for six months. When he returned, it became clear that he was no longer pulling ahead - Slutsky had to lower him down.

In terms of the wealth of opportunities, this, of course, was one of the first central defenders of our football. What is only his "terrible gun". And everything was in perfect order with the pass, for which, I think, he laid eyes on him. The coach, however, had to endure, because his protégé made mistakes, and sometimes fatally, but in the end, Gus's insight received another brilliant certification.

Was it possible, looking at the first match of the national team at Euro 2008, to leave this player in the squad? After that Spanish defeat (), another central defender, Roman Shirokov, was hard hit, although Kolodin made mistakes, if not more than his partner, then at least no less. Nevertheless, Hiddink did not touch him, and a week later Denis turned Zlatan out of the game.

In 2011, Kolodin was matched with Anji, where Hiddink soon joined. Perhaps a meeting with Gus would again become life-giving. But Denis, as already mentioned, was too attached to Dynamo.

And when the contract with the blue-and-whites expired and they still had to leave, the offer was received not from Anji, but from Volga. That's when his career, if by and large, and ended. Let formally about it only now.

He began his professional career at Olimpia Volgograd, then played at Uralan. In 2004 he moved to the Samara "Wings of the Soviets", where he began to show good game, won the sympathy of the fans and was called up to the Russian national team for the first time. In June 2005, due to financial problems, Krylia was sold to Dynamo Moscow.

He played for the youth and Olympic teams of Russia, since 2004 he has been regularly called up to the main team. He played 4 matches at the 2008 European Championship, which was successful for the Russians.

Youth

Denis Kolodin was born in 1982 in Kamyshin. Denis was the first child in the family - he has a younger brother Andrei. He lived in a hostel with his mother and stepfather. His mother, originally from Belarus, worked as a saleswoman, he never knew his own father, and in childhood he considered his stepfather to be such. Denis loved to swim and fish, and in the wake of the success of the local Tekstilshchik, like most of his peers, he became interested in football. He got into the section when he was in the first grade of the school - he and several classmates were invited by the coach of SDUSHOR-2 Vladimir Zorkov. The children's team, in which Kolodin played, won 5 tournaments in 3 years.

In 1994, Denis and two of his teammates were noticed by representatives of the Volgograd Olimpia, which needed reinforcement to play in the Children's football league. The future football player did not want to leave for an unfamiliar city and live in a boarding school, but Olimpia coach Leonid Slutsky persuaded Denis to move. Initially, Kolodin played a striker, and on junior level often became top scorer. He was forced to change his position by problems with his right knee - having undergone surgery and not training for a long time, Denis both professionally and physically lagged behind his peers in development, after which he could not return to the attack. Slutsky identified the player in midfield, and later gave him a place in the center of defense.

In 1996, Olimpia won the DFL and began playing in the amateur national championship with almost the same squad. At the amateur level, Olimpia also did not stay long - in the second year, Volgograd got the right to play in the second division of the PFL.

Club career

"Olympia"

In 2000, the professional stage began in Kolodin's career. The next two seasons, which he spent at Olimpia, Volgograd played in the Volga zone of the Second League of the PFL.

Denis was a solid base player - 32 matches in the 2000 season and 34 in the 2001 season. Kolodin played as a stopper and had impressive performance indicators for a player of this role - in two years he scored 14 goals. Olimpia at that time was a promising young team. Together with Kolodin, Roman Adamov and Andrei Bochkov began their careers in it. In the second division, Olimpia showed a good game: in the debut season, the Volgograd team became 10th, and in 2001 it was already in the top three. In the same year, Kolodin could end up in the Vienna "Austria" - a scout of the Austrian club watched him and his teammates Zhdanov and Ryabykh, but in the end all three remained in Volgograd.

"Uralan"

In 2002, Slutsky left the team, going to train the double of the Elista Uralan. The Kalmyk club played in the Premier League. Soon Slutsky invited Kolodin to watch at a club gathering in Turkey. The young player approached coach Sergei Pavlov, and on February 8 Kolodin's transfer to Uralan was announced. As Denis later stated, perhaps a case helped him - Pavlov was also a native of Kamyshin and, perhaps, wanted to help his fellow countryman. The debut game of Kolodin in the "Uralan" was friendly match teams with the Hungarian Ferencváros, which ended in a draw 0:0. In this game, Denis replaced Igor Chugainov, who left for the training camp of the Russian national team.

Despite the fact that Kolodin was counted as a double player, he managed to gain a foothold in the club and proved to be brighter than other newcomers from Elista. After 6 matches for the second team of Uralan, on April 13, Denis played the first official match for new club against Anji. Uralan finished the 2002 season in 13th place and avoided being relegated, while Kolodin played 22 matches in which he scored one goal against Zenit. After the championship, the footballer received several offers from famous clubs, including CSKA. The transition was prevented by the irresponsible, according to Kolodin, attitude of the leaders of CSKA, although the defender had already flown to Moscow for negotiations. Moscow "Spartak" wanted to exchange midfielder Vasily Baranov for Kolodin, but this deal fell through.

As a result, Denis stayed in Elista. The next season was less successful for the Elista club - Uralan flew out of the Premier League. Kolodin, who again played in 22 matches, was one of the few players on the team who made a positive impression, although according to the player himself, he spent the season unstable. This was also noted by the head coach of the Elista team, Igor Shalimov, who said that in that season Kolodin was hindered by the “disease of age”. In addition, in that championship, for the first time in his career, Denis received a long-term disqualification - for 5 matches. In the match with Zenit, it seemed to the footballer that "the referee helps them, but drowns us." In that game, Kolodin received two yellow cards, both for disputes with the referee, and later the control and disciplinary committee regarded his actions as "an attempt to physically influence the referee."

After the departure of Uralan, there were few chances that Denis would remain in the team. Slutsky advised the player not to sign contracts with serious clubs for another year, but despite this, Kolodin did not have to play in the First Division - he began the 2004 season as part of the Wings of the Soviets. The transfer amount was 1.35 million euros. Wings President German Tkachenko said that Kolodin is “one of the most promising Russian football players, a strong, tenacious defender who can also play in the position of a defensive midfielder, ”noting that several prominent Russian and Ukrainian clubs fought for the player, including Dynamo Kiev, Shakhtar and Zenit. St. Petersburg's mentor Vlastimil Petrzhela was interested in buying Denis, calling him a "smart, powerful, young guy", but Zenit and Uralan did not agree on the price.

Kolodin's debut match for the Wings took place on March 21, after which he firmly took his place in the main team of the Samara team. In the first season on account of his 25 games played. It was here that Denis finally retrained as a central defender. “Wings” created a sensation that season, winning the bronze of the championship and gaining the right to play in the UEFA Cup, and in the key match with Saturn near Moscow, it was Kolodin who equalized the score by scoring his only goal in that championship. Also, "Wings" reached the final of the Cup of Russia, but lost to "Terek". Kolodin's game did not go unnoticed - Georgy Yartsev called the player to the Russian national team, and on August 18 Denis made his debut for the national team in a match with Lithuania (4:3).

In the course of the 2005 season, it became clear that the Wings would not be able to repeat last year's success - a financial crisis broke out in the club. The team dropped out of the UEFA Cup in the first round, losing to the Dutch AZ, but having managed to impose a fight - the Dutch went further only due to goals scored on the road (Kolodin in European Cup matches did not participate). The financial situation in the club was deteriorating, and it became clear that the Wings would have to part with some players. In May, at the end of the first round of the championship, Kolodin moved to the growing Dynamo, the transfer amount was 1.8 million euros. Kolodin recalls warmly about the time spent in Samara - against the will of the Dynamo leaders, Denis insisted that he be allowed to spend farewell match with Amkar, and in an interview he said that if it were not for financial problems, he would not have left the club.

"Dynamo"

The second half of the season Kolodin finished playing in Dynamo. On June 2, Denis made his debut for a new club in a match against CSKA (0: 2), and in November he opened the scoring for Dynamo by scoring against the same CSKA. The first season was not too easy for the defender, although he spent enough time on the field, Dynamo coach Ivo Wortmann sometimes did not put the player in the squad. Another negative moment was Kolodin's skirmish with Manishe and Jorge Ribeiro, which almost escalated into a fight, for which Wortmann applied disciplinary sanctions to the defender. In August, there were rumors about a possible transfer of Kolodin to Moscow, but the negotiations did not develop. Denis was one of the few Russians who had playing practice at Dynamo during the Fedorychev era. In total, Kolodin played 27 matches that season (14 for Wings, 13 for Dynamo). Dynamo finished the championship in 8th place.

2006 was the worst year for Dynamo in Russian history. The club finished the championship in 14th place, one step away from relegation from the Premier League. Kolodin scored 27 matches and one goal that season. The overall failure of the team did not prevent the recognition of Denis's game personally - the RFU Executive Committee included the player in the list of 33 the best football players championship of Russia. Kolodin, along with Ignashevich, became the best central defender.

In the 2007 season, Dynamo managed to improve the game. The season turned out to be successful for Kolodin, who opened himself from a new side - as a scorer. Denis scored 9 goals, which was his personal record for performance in one season. After the first round, Kolodin, the defender, was in the lead in the scorers dispute, and at the end of the championship he remained the best among the Dynamo players. It is noteworthy that Denis did not score a single goal from the game: 7 goals were the implementation of a penalty kick, 2 more were scored from free kicks. As a result, Dynamo took 6th place, Kolodin, who played in 27 matches, was again included in the list of 33 best players in the Russian championship, but already at number 2, Sergey Ignashevich became the best in the position of Denis, according to the RFU.

10.01.2018

Kolodin Denis Alekseevich

Russian football player

Russian footballer. Defender of Kazakhstani football club"Altai".
Bronze medalist Russian Championship and European Championship. british Daily Mail put Kolodin in second place in the list the best players Russian Premier League.

Denis Kolodin was born on January 11, 1982 in the city of Kamyshin, Volgograd Region. Denis loved to swim and fish, and in the wake of the success of the local Tekstilshchik, like most of his peers, he became interested in football. He got into the section when he was in the first grade of the school - he and several classmates were invited by the coach of SDUSHOR-2 Vladimir Zorkov. The children's team, in which Kolodin played, won 5 tournaments in 3 years.

In 1994, Denis and two of his teammates were noticed by representatives of the Volgograd Olimpia, which needed reinforcement to play in the Children's Football League. The future football player did not want to leave for an unfamiliar city and live in a boarding school, but Olimpia coach Leonid Slutsky persuaded Denis to move. Initially, Kolodin played as a striker, and at the junior level he often became the top scorer. He was forced to change his position by problems with his right knee - having undergone surgery and not training for a long time, Denis both professionally and physically lagged behind his peers in development, after which he could not return to the attack. Slutsky assigned the player to midfield, and later gave him a place in the center of defense.

In 2000, the professional stage began in Kolodin's career. The next two seasons, which he spent at Olimpia, Volgograd played in the Volga zone of the second League of the PFL. Denis was a solid base player - 32 matches in the 2000 season and 34 in the 2001 season. Kolodin played as a stopper and had impressive performance indicators for a player of this role - in two years he scored 14 goals. Olimpia at that time was a promising young team. Together with Kolodin, Roman Adamov and Andrei Bochkov began their careers in it. In the second division, Olimpia showed a good game: in the debut season, Volgograd became 10th, and in 2001 they were already in the top three. In the same year, Kolodin could end up in the Vienna "Austria" - a scout of the Austrian club watched him and his teammates Zhdanov and Ryabykh, but in the end all three remained in Volgograd.

In 2002, Slutsky left the team, going to train the double of the Elista Uralan. The Kalmyk club played in the Premier League. Soon Slutsky invited Kolodin to watch at a club gathering in Turkey. The young player approached coach Sergei Pavlov, and on February 8 Kolodin's transfer to Uralan was announced. As Denis later stated, perhaps a case helped him - Pavlov was also a native of Kamyshin and, perhaps, wanted to help his fellow countryman. Kolodin's debut game as part of Uralan was a friendly match between the team and the Hungarian Ferencváros, which ended in a 0-0 draw. In this game, Denis replaced Igor Chugainov, who left for the training camp of the Russian national team.

Despite the fact that Kolodin was counted as a double player, he managed to gain a foothold in the club and proved to be brighter than other newcomers from Elista. After 6 matches for the second team of Uralan, on April 13, Denis played the first official match for the new club against Anji. Uralan finished the 2002 season in 13th place and avoided being relegated, while Kolodin played 22 matches in which he scored one goal against Zenit. After the championship, the footballer received several offers from famous clubs, including CSKA. The transition was prevented by the irresponsible, according to Kolodin, attitude of the leaders of CSKA, although the defender had already flown to Moscow for negotiations. Moscow "Spartak" wanted to exchange midfielder Vasily Baranov for Kolodin, but this deal fell through.

As a result, Denis stayed in Elista. The next season was less successful for the Elista club - Uralan flew out of the Premier League. Kolodin, again playing in 22 matches, was one of the few players on the team who made a positive impression, although according to the player himself, the season was unstable. This was also noted by the head coach of the Elista team, Igor Shalimov, who said that in that season Kolodin was hindered by the “disease of age”. In addition, in that championship, for the first time in his career, Denis received a long-term disqualification - for 5 matches. In the match with Zenit, it seemed to the footballer that "the referee helps them, but drowns us." In that game, Kolodin received two yellow cards, both for disputes with the referee, and later the control and disciplinary committee regarded his actions as "an attempt to physically influence the arbitrator."

After the departure of Uralan, there were few chances that Denis would remain in the team. Slutsky advised the player not to sign contracts with serious clubs for another year, but despite this, Kolodin did not have to play in the First Division - he began the 2004 season as part of the Wings of the Soviets. The transfer amount was 1.35 million euros. Krylia President Herman Tkachenko said that Kolodin is "one of the most promising Russian football players, a strong, tenacious defender who can also play as a defensive midfielder", noting that several prominent Russian and Ukrainian clubs fought for the player, among which - Kiev "Dynamo", "Shakhtar" and "Zenith". St. Petersburg's mentor Vlastimil Petrzhela was interested in buying Denis, calling him a "smart, powerful, young guy", but Zenit and Uralan did not agree on the price.

Kolodin's debut match for the Wings took place on March 21, after which he firmly took his place in the main team of the Samara team. In the first season on account of his 25 games played. It was here that Denis finally retrained as a central defender. Krylia created a sensation that season, winning the bronze of the championship and gaining the right to play in the UEFA Cup, and in the key match with Saturn near Moscow, it was Kolodin who equalized the score by scoring his only goal in that championship. Also, "Wings" reached the final of the Cup of Russia, but lost to "Terek". Kolodin's game did not go unnoticed - Georgy Yartsev called the player to the Russian national team, and on August 18 Denis made his debut for the national team in a match with Lithuania.

In the course of the 2005 season, it became clear that the Wings would not be able to repeat last year's success - a financial crisis broke out in the club. The team dropped out of the UEFA Cup in the first round, losing to the Dutch AZ, but having managed to impose a fight - the Dutch went further only due to goals scored on the road. The financial situation in the club was deteriorating, and it became clear that the Wings would have to part with some players. In May, at the end of the first round of the championship, Kolodin moved to the growing Dynamo, the transfer amount was 1.8 million euros. Kolodin recalls warmly about the time spent in Samara - against the will of the Dynamo leaders, Denis insisted that he be allowed to play a farewell match with Amkar, and in an interview said that if it were not for financial problems, he would not have left the club .

The second half of the season Kolodin finished playing in Dynamo. In early June, Denis made his debut for a new club in a match against CSKA, and in November he opened the scoring for Dynamo, scoring against the same CSKA. The first season was not too easy for the defender, although he spent enough time on the field, Dynamo coach Ivo Wortmann sometimes did not put the player in the squad. Another negative moment was Kolodin's skirmish with Manishe and Jorge Ribeiro, which almost escalated into a fight, for which Wortmann applied disciplinary sanctions to the defender. In August, there were rumors about a possible transfer of Kolodin to Moscow, but the negotiations did not develop. Denis was one of the few Russians who had playing practice at Dynamo during the Fedorychev era. In total, Kolodin played 27 matches that season. Dynamo finished the championship in 8th place.

2006 was the worst year for Dynamo in Russian history. The club finished the championship in 14th place, one step away from relegation from the Premier League. Kolodin scored 27 matches and one goal that season. The general failure of the team did not prevent the recognition of Denis's game personally - the RFU Executive Committee included the player in the list of 33 best players in the Russian championship. Kolodin, along with Ignashevich, became the best central defender.

In the 2007 season, Dynamo managed to improve the game. The season turned out to be successful for Kolodin, who opened himself from a new side - as a scorer. Denis scored 9 goals, which was his personal record for performance in one season. After the first round, Kolodin, the defender, was in the lead in the scorers dispute, and at the end of the championship he remained the best among the Dynamo players. It is noteworthy that Denis did not score any of the goals from the game: 7 goals were from penalties, 2 more were scored from free kicks. As a result, Dynamo took 6th place, Kolodin, who played in 27 matches, was again included in the list of 33 best players in the Russian championship, but already at number 2, Sergei Ignashevich became the best in the position of Denis, according to the RFU.

In 2008, Dynamo continued to progress - the result was 3rd place and the opportunity to take part in the Champions League. This was Kolodin's second bronze medal in the Russian championship. Also this season, the European Championship was held, which turned out to be successful for the Russian team, which reached the semi-finals. Kolodin played an important role in the success of the team - he was the main central defender of the national team and made 4 appearances. After the Euro, the transfer price for Denis, according to the authoritative German resource Transfermarkt, increased by almost 1 million euros, while the rest of the central defenders of the Russian national team fell in price. In general, a successful season for Kolodin was ruined by the first professional career a serious injury - on September 27, in the match of the 23rd round of the Russian championship with Krylya Sovetov, Samarans defender O Bom Sok inflicted a serious ankle injury on Denis. The Russian needed surgery and a long recovery. The injury was so serious that Denis thought about ending his career. However, failures at the end of the season did not affect overall score Kolodin's games - for 3 times in a row he was included in the list of 33 best players in the Russian championship and regained first place in his position. Final results of the season - 22 matches and one scored ball at the gates of CSKA.

Kolodin managed to recover by the beginning of the 2009 season and was able to play in the European Cup for the first time in his career - on July 29 in the 3rd qualifying round Champions League against Scottish Celtic. This game was a debut for Denis in yet another way - in the absence of Khokhlov, he led the team to the match as captain. However, Dynamo looked weak in European competition: in the Champions League, Muscovites lost to Celtic in the sum of 2 matches, and in the Europa League - to CSKA Sofia. In the championship, Dynamo also looked worse than last season - only 8th place. This season, like the last one, was overshadowed by an injury for Denis. Damage back muscles hip, received in game 20 of the round against Krylia, forced the defender to miss 6 league matches and a significant part of the qualification for the 2010 World Cup, including decisive games with the Slovenian national team. In total, Kolodin played 23 matches in the Premier League, in which he scored 2 goals. Denis described the 2009 season for his club as "unsuccessful".

In January 2012, Kolodin's loan to Rostov was announced. The Pitmen had the primary right to extend the defender's lease. Head coach team Sergey Balakhnin said that Denis came to Rostov in mediocre form, but noted the good prospects for the player. Kolodin played 8 matches in the second stage of the 2011-12 season and both transitional matches with Shinnik. In the Rostov club, according to the football player himself, he received the necessary game practice for a full return to professional football.

After the end of the championship, Kolodin returned to Dynamo. Head coach Dan Petrescu promised to help the defender in recovery: “He missed a whole year due to injury, and in such cases you need another year to return to the previous level. I will try to do my best so that we see the former Kolodin. Despite this, Denis spent the season on the bench of the Moscow club. In 2012, he only entered the field once, which did not prevent the Dynamo leadership from offering the player a new short-term contract. In the second half of the season, he played in only one more meeting, after which it became clear that the contract with Kolodin would not be extended and he would leave the club.

In 2013, on July 6, Kolodin, as a free agent, signed a contract with Volga Nizhny Novgorod. The football player admitted that his transition does not deserve the attention that he could have attracted 5 years ago: "Now it's just news about a player who came from nowhere, almost ending his career." Kolodin, however, noted that he has no plans to leave big football. And on July 14, Denis made his debut for Volga in the first round match of the new championship against his former club"Dynamo" and in the 2nd minute scored an assist on Alexander Shulenin. The match ended with the score 2:2. The defender continued to play at the base of the Volga, having played 21 matches, he was unable to take part in 4 more due to disqualification. Despite the regular game in the starting lineup, in the winter Nizhny Novgorod were ready to part with the player. The team, which was experiencing financial difficulties, took only 15th place and failed to escape relegation to the FNL, after which, in November 2014, Kolodin left the Nizhny Novgorod club. The player chose not to complete playing career and in the winter of 2015 he went to training camp with Sokol Saratov. On this moment the football player plays for the Kazakhstan "Altai".