Former CSKA and Spartak football player Roman Eremenko signed a contract with HIFK club.

Roman Eremenko’s sports history is not over yet. The midfielder, who has had a difficult life in football, will not hang up his boots at the age of 35 despite persistent rumors to the contrary last summer. Absorbed by family worries and a measured life in Finland, Roman soon seemed to have decided to leave altogether, but is now ready to challenge himself by signing a short-term contract with HIFK.

Everything could have been so much better. Coming from a footballer family, Roman was introduced to European football early thanks to his father, Alexei. At the age of 20, he had experience playing in Italy behind him, and the transition to Dynamo Kiev was a qualitative step forward. There the young Eremenko crossed paths with such masters of the coaching department as Yuri Semin and Valery Gazzaev. It is worth noting that since then Palych has special feelings – the coach has repeatedly complimented the actor and at different stages of his work at Loko definitely wanted to recruit him into their ranks.

But no luck – in Russia Rubin forked first for Roman. Kazan, led by Kurban Berdyev, wanted to regain the league title and perform well in the European competition, where they gathered one of the strongest midfield lines of the national championship: Eremenko lit up there, along with Bibras Natcho and Christian Noboa. The latter, to put it mildly, is clearly visible – at the age of 37 he became the best player in the country.

But the Berdyev era in Kazan is over, and Roman desperately wanted to take the next step. There were many rumors about interest in the midfielder from European clubs, and Roman’s brother Alexey shared high-profile insiders, claiming that Barcelona saw an offer from him. Despite the rumors, interest was limited to Russian clubs, where CSKA most successfully exploited Eremenko’s desire to leave Kazan. Roman even reached the courts as he was accused of unlawful breach of contract. Be that as it may, Eremenko moved to the “army” team, where he reunited with Natkho and received a blessing from Leonid Slutsky for freedom of action. Naturally, only football.

The Russian Finn, it must be admitted, shone – a graceful game combined with physical strength and excellent football intelligence. No wonder Roman is considered almost the main star of the all-Russian championship. Everything suddenly collapsed in a completely inappropriate moment. It seems that Eremenko has reached a new level, scoring a goal against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League, and then … News came about a failed doping test. Traces of cocaine were found in the player’s sample. The result – a two-year ban on any football-related activity. Probably, it is not necessary to describe all the ups and downs of this scandalous case, it would be better to cite, as always, a comprehensive quote from the former Minister of Sports of Russia and head of the Russian Football Union (RFU) Vitaly Mutko. It will convey the prevailing mood in the football environment at that time.

However, Roman was able to return, and he did so again loudly and scandalously. A few months before the expiration of the disqualification period, the football player signed a contract with Spartak, surprising many involved in CSKA. Especially zealously, the actress received from the fans the “army” that she was “red-white”. But since the midfielder left Spartak, the anger of the fans did not have time to cool, as he could not find a place for himself in the system of Oleg Kononov.

Here it seemed that the career of the once star Eremenko began to decline. Many were of the opinion that a long interruption did not pass without a trace, that at such a level it was impossible to miss not only two years, but even two months. But has the level of the Russian championship dropped so much, or is Roman so unique, but the further transition of Valery Karpin to Rostov convinced all critics of the insignificance of his assumptions. Moreover, the midfielder played so well in the Donetsk team that Eremenko’s inclusion in the Finnish national team at Euro 2020 was spoken as a fact. But we all remember the pandemic and the postponement of the tournament to 2021, a year when a football player cares more about his family than his career. By the way, this was the reason for his hasty departure from the Karpin team.

“Roman stays in shape. He lives with his family in Helsinki, and my wife and mother live in Pietarsaari, 480 kilometers north of Helsinki. He comes to visit us with his family and also trains with the local team that I took. He coached and played himself. And Helsinki’ de Roma trains in teams from the lower leagues just to stay in shape, to win slowly. He will not end his career, there is no talk about it, “dad The player told RIA Novosti in May 2021.

By that time, many had already begun to forget about Eremenko, who had become related to the role of a loving husband and father. But there are probably no former football players, so Roman wanted to have the last word. A trial contract with HIFK is just what is needed for the distinguished veteran.

Yes, we can say that more can be expected from Roman’s career. Yes, cocaine suspension is stupid and disastrous. But it cannot be said about Eremenko that this is a lost talent, of which there are hundreds or even thousands in Russia. This curly-haired Finnish-Russian man still managed to leave a noticeable mark in several clubs at once. And he will be remembered as a brilliant creator on the football field, and not as a “misleading” joke.