Last September, the Legends of Russia team brought the score of victories in the tournament to the Baker’s dozen. In the final game, the hosts convincingly defeated the Legends of Turkey team with a score of 9:4, having resolved the outcome of the match already in the first half (6:1). Konstantin Golovskoy and Evgeni Aldonin scored two goals each.

Andrey Tikhonov, the captain of the Russian team at the Legends Cup-2022, was injured on the first day of the tournament and could not enter the field on the final day. Yegor Titov, another guardsman who also played with a leg injury, became the captain in the final. In addition, Dmitri Alenichev, the captain of the hosts, had to support the team from the bench both days due to injury, acting as a coach. This year Tikhonov will become the team's coach.

In general, Valeri Gladilin, the head coach of the hosts, retained last year's squad, and invited Aleksander Samedov, one of the heroes of the 2018 World Cup, who missed the last tournament for a medical reason. The goal will be defended by Aleksandr Filimonov, recognized as the best goalkeeper of the Legends Cup-2022.

Fans are waiting for a new meeting with Yuri Zhirkov, who made his debuts in the tournament last year. By the way, Zhirkov opened the scoring with the hosts' goals in the opening match against the Legends of Kazakhstan team (8:4).

Only one goal was not enough for Golovskoy to catch up with Ruben de la Red, the Spanish striker of the Legends team, in the scorer’s race. Ruben de la Red scored 9 goals.

The hosts welcome the 15th anniversary Legends Cup fully armed and with a desire to excel for the 14th time.

The Legends of Russia Team

Goalkeeper: Aleksandr Filimonov.
Defenders: Dmitri Khlestov, Oleg Kornaukhov, Konstantin Golovskoy, Evgeni Aldonin.
Attack: Dmitri Alenichev (captain), Aleksandr Samedov, Andrei Karyaka, Yegor Titov, Yuri Zhirkov, Pavel Pogrebnyak.
Coaches: Valeri Gladilin, Zurab Ordzhonikidze, Andrey Tikhonov

Morocco finished fourth in The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, becoming the first African team to reach the semi-finals of a World Cup. Therefore, the announcement of the African Legends team at our tournament is expected with increased interest.

There are two Moroccans in the debutant team - Jaouad Zairi and Youssef Mokhtari. 

The Moroccan will be accompanied by representatives of Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Tunisia and Togo.

Powerful Emmanuel Adebayor from Togo will play in the attack. He reached the final of the 2003/04 UEFA Champions League with Monaco, but lost 0:3 to Porto, who scored a goal by Dmitri Alenichev.

Asamoah Gyan represents a formidable force, he is the leading scorer in the history of the Ghana national team, with 51 goals in 109 matches. The most memorable of them was the ball scored at the 2006 World Cup against the Czech Republic in the 68th second. After the World Cup in Germany, he was nominated for the Golden Ball for the best player in the world.

Ivorian Abdul Kader Keita played at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. And his compatriot Emmanuel Eboue played in two world championships (in Germany-2006 and South Africa-2010).

Karim Haggi, defender from Tunisia, is known for playing in Germany, he is the winner of the Africa Cup of Nations. The goal will be defended by Essam El Hadari, the Egyptian football legend nicknamed “The High Dam”, who has won the African Cup of Nations four times.

African Legends Team

Goalkeeper: Essam El Hadary (Egypt)
Defenders: Arthur Boca (Côte d'Ivoire), Emmanuel Eboue (Côte d'Ivoire), Abdul Kader Keïta (Côte d'Ivoire), Karim Haggui (Tunisia), Jaouad Zairi (Morocco).
Attack: Didier Zokora (Côte d'Ivoire), Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo), Youssef Mokhtari (Morocco), Asamoah Gyan (Ghana)

Representatives of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Armenia, and Moldova will enter the football field of the Megasport Sports Palace as part of the Legends of the CIS team, headed by former Spartak player Mukhsin Mukhamadiev.

Fans remember goalkeeper Almat Bekbaev from Kazakhstan, who came to our tournament last September. The debutants gave battle to the almost permanent winners of the "Legends Cup". In the opening match of the tournament, the guests took the lead 2:0, 3:1, but still lost 4:8. The outcome could have been different if the captain of Kazakhstan Smakov had converted an 8-meter penalty at the beginning of the second half. Later the most titled football player of Kazakhstan and the record holder in the number of matches for the national team was rehabilitated by hitting the gate four times.

The same number of goals and on account of the Belarusian midfielder Alexander Hleb, who played for the Stars team. 

Alexandru Gatcan, the legend of Moldavian football, will make his debut at our tournament, having finished his big career only a year and a half ago. The Cup winner and vice-champion of Russia as part of the Rostov team was rightfully considered the most merciless defender to his opponents, who collected the richest “harvest” of yellow cards. He is the leader in the number of warnings in the championships of Russia (112 in 323 matches).

Fans of the Moscow "Locomotive" couldn’t have forgotten midfielder Albert Sarkisyan, who played for the Armenian national team. In the railroad team, at the turn of the century, he won the Russian Cup twice and won silver medals three times in a row, and in 1999 he was included in the list of the 33 best football players in Russia. And ten years later he drank champagne from the Cup of Kazakhstan.

Legends of the CIS

Goalkeeper: Almat Bekbayev (Kazakhstan).
Defenders: Erik Yakhimovich (Belarus/Russia), Farkhadbek Irismetov (Kazakhstan), Alexandru Gatcan (Moldova/Russia), Vyacheslav Lychkin (Azerbaijan/Russia).
Attack: Alexander Hleb (Belarus), Vyacheslav Hleb (Belarus), Albert Sarkisyan (Armenia/Russia), Khurshed Makhmudov (Tajikistan), Server Djeparov (Uzbekistan)

Coach: Mukhsin Mukhamadiev.

The team of Legends of the Latin countries is rich in big names. Defender Maicon is the winner of the Champions League, won the club world championship, two times - the Confederations Cup and the America's Cup, was recognized as the best defender of the world and the Champions League, and also was a member of the symbolic team of the world.

Diego Lugano, one more defender, brought the Uruguay national team to the field with the captain's armband. He came to Moscow last September and played for the Legends team.

Midfielder Amaral and forward Giovanni (both from Brazil) also came at the Legends Cup-2022 . 

Ricardo Osorio, the Mexican defender, two-time winner of the CONCACAF Cup known for playing for the German “Stuttgart” in the second half of the 2000s, will enter the football field of the Megasport Sports Palace for the first time.

The debut of Argentine defenders, Olympic champions Nicolas Pareja and Leandro Fernandez is expected with particular interest at the Legends Cup. Both are merciless to opponents, often receiving yellow and red cards. The first of them became famous in the Moscow "Spartak", the second - earned the respect of the fans of the Moscow "Dynamo", having played 208 matches in the Russian championships in the form of blue and white. For two seasons “Dynamo” named him the best player on the team.

Several times Pareja and Fernandez came face to face in the iconic derby. On May 2, 2009, at Luzhniki stadium, Fernadez scored the winning goal to Spartak (2: 0), and on November 25, 2012, at the same stadium, the blue and white with his help inflicted an unheard of 5:1 defeat on the red and white. Only in the end Russian player Artyom Dzyuba soaked the score. Now the former irreconcilable rivals will enter the field in one team.

Finally, Russian fans are looking forward to the debut at the Legends Cup of the bright Argentine forward Alejandro Dominguez, two-time Russian champion, winner of the UEFA Cup and European Super Cup as part of Zenit. However, he received recognition in Russia playing for Rubin. His second coming to Kazan turned out to be triumphant: in 2009, Dominguez became the champion of the country, as well as the best player of the season according to players, coaches and journalists. The only trophy that he did not submit to was the Cup of Russia. On May 31, in the final, Rubin lost 0:1 to CSKA in Khimki, having spent almost 80 minutes in the majority. The goal in the last seconds of normal time was scored by Evgeny Aldonin with a biting blow from outside the penalty area. Now Dominguez has a chance to get even - after all, the teams of the Legends of Latin American countries and Russia were in the same group and will meet on Saturday, February 11th.

Legends of the Latin countries:

Goalkeeper: Faryd Mondragon (Colombia).
Defenders: Diego Lugano (Uruguay), Gustavo Varela (Uruguay), Nicolas Pareja (Argentina), Leandro Fernandez (Argentina), Maicon (Brazil), Leandro Amaral (Brazil).
Attack: Ricardo Osorio (Mexico), Giovanni (Brazil), Alejandro Dominguez.

The composition of The All-Stars Team has changed completely this year. In terms of the total number of titles, this team, perhaps, surpasses all rivals.

Edmilson, brazilian defensive midfielder, won the 2002 World Cup in Japan/Korea, he is a multiple champion of France and Spain. Junior Baiano, his compatriot who played as a centre-back, is a finalist for the 1998 World Cup in France and the champion of Brazil.

Giorgos Karagounis, fantasy midfielder from Greece, is the champion of Euro 2004 and the author of the first goal in this tournament, as well as the record holder in games for the national team (139). It was his accurate strike at the end of the first half that removed the Russian team from the run at Euro 2012 (1:0). He won the 2020 Legends Cup with the Star team.

Greek midfielder Angelos Basinas scored the ball against the hosts - the Portuguese in the group stage of Euro 2004 (2:1). And on February 2, 2002, he defeated the Russian national team in a friendly match (3:3), equalizing the score from a penalty spot.

Attacking midfielder from Spain Ruben de la Red is the 2008 European champion. His debut in our tournament last September was brilliant, with the Team of Legends taking the top scorer with nine goals.

Eric Abidal, French defender, is a vivid example of not only top skills, but also courage. The 2006 vice-world champion, twice Champions League winner with Barcelona underwent a complex liver transplant, but returned to the field and added the same title for Greece to the titles of the French and Spanish champions.

"Supereagle" Jay-Jay Okocha is the 1996 Atlanta Olympic champion with the Nigerian national team. Ronaldinho himself admired his handling of the ball and dribbling.

Florent Malouda, 2006 World vice-champion and 2012 UEFA Champions League winner, is no stranger to the Legends Cup. Behind him is a solid experience in the national team - 80 matches in which he scored 9 goals.

The All-Stars Team

Goalkeeper: Theofanis Katergiannakis (Greece), 
Defenders: Edmilson (Brazil), Esteban Cambiasso (Argentina), Eric Abidal (France), Angelos Basinas (Greece).
Attack: Giorgos Karagounis (Greece), Florent Malouda (France), Jay-Jay Okocha (Nigeria), Junior Baiano (Brazil), Ruben de la Red (Spain)
Coach: Emiliano Siciliani

An impressive group of former participants of our tournament will enter the football field of the Megasport Sports Palace in the Legends of Europe team. These are Fernando Meira and Pedro Mendes representing Portugal, Florent Sinama-Pongolle and Camel Meriem from France, Fevzi and Hasan Kabze from Turkey, Zdravko Kuzmanovic and Gojko Kacar from Serbia.

Alexander Farnerud, Swedish forward, a former player of the Tre Krunur national team, will play for the first time in the Legends Cup in its 15-year history.

At the Legends Cup 2022, former Zenit defender Fernando Meira led the Star team on the field as captain. However, his efforts, as well as Pedro Mendes, Sinama-Pongolle, were only enough for the first half in the match against the hosts of the tournament. By the break, the Stars equalized the score - 4:4. Later, only Legends of Russia scored, which won 11:4.

Goalkeeper Fevzi and forward Hasan Kabze made it to the final of last year's tournament, where they lost to the hosts 4:9. Fevzi scored an own goal. Kabze, the two-time champion of Russia in the "Rubin", the directorate announced the most valuable player of the tournament (MVP). During the three seasons spent in Kazan, he left a bright mark. And the Turkish striker scored the first goal in the RPL on August 25, 2007 against Spartak (3: 1).

The German footballer Kevin Kuranyi, the regular of our tournament, will try on the role of coach of the Legends of Europe. He will perform in a new role for himself, as he was recently injured in an exhibition match in Qatar. But, despite this, he could not refuse to travel to the tournament and will come to Moscow.

The Legends of Europe Team

Goalkeeper: Fevzi (Turkey).
Defenders: Fernando Meira (Portugal), Camel Meriem (France), Gojko Kacar (Serbia), Cinan Haspolati (Turkey).
Attack: Pedro Mendes (Portugal), Florent Sinama-Pongolle (France), Zdravko Kuzmanovic (Serbia), Alexander Farnerud (Sweden), Hasan Kabze (Turkey).
Coach: Kevin Kuranyi

The hosts of the tournament have conceded the title of the winner only once in its history: in 2020, the national team of Stars prevailed. Last September, the Legends of Russia took revenge and intend to bring the score of victories in the Legends Cup to 13. 

The head coach of the Russians, Valery Gladilin, retained the backbone of the team. Forward Pavel Pogrebnyak, who scored as many as five goals in last year's final and became the top scorer of the tournament with 11 goals, will take the field again.
The only newcomer is Yuri Zhirkov, the winner of the UEFA Cup 2005 and the bronze medalist of Euro 2008. In the final match of the UEFA Cup, in which CSKA defeated Sporting Portugal 3-1, he scored the winning goal.

Also, the hosts' hopes relate to the guards of the tournament Dmitry Alenichev, Egor Titov, Andrey Tikhonov, Dmitry Khlestov, Alexander Filimonov from Spartak, as well as Evgeny Aldonin and Oleg Kornaukhov from CSKA. Fans can expect a bright game from the participant of Euro 2004 Andrey Karjaki, who scored two goals in last year's final.
Unfortunately, the injury will not allow Alenichev to enter the field, but he will be on the bench and help the team. And Tikhonov will try on the captain's armband.

By the way, Spartak and Pogrebnyak held rehearsals on a large field in two matches with Zenit veterans and approached the Legends Cup in excellent playing tone.

The team of Legends of Brazil will make its debut at our tournament. It will be led into battle by the unfading 1994 world champion Aldair, who played for the Italian national teams at the Legends Cup (since he has an Italian passport, coupled with solid experience in Serie A) and Stars. 

The Russian national classic football team can be proud of two draws with the Brazilians. The first (2:2) was dated August 28, 1996: at the Dynamo stadium in Petrovsky Park, the guests escaped defeat thanks to Ronaldo's penalty. In that match, the current participants of the "Cup of Legends" Amaral, Giovanni and Andrei Tikhonov, who was making his first steps in the national team, came face to face. The tall tech Giovanni, known for his performances for Barcelona, could have scored, but hit the crossbar. 

The second draw (1-1) was recorded on March 25, 2013, in London at Stamford Bridge. As in 1996, the Brazilians got away from defeat in the last minutes. After the break, Yuri Zhirkov, who is now making his debut at the Legends Cup, entered the field. 

However, the Legends of Russia and Brazil can meet at our tournament only on the second day, September 11, when the play-off matches for the allocation of places will take place. South Americans got into group "B" to the team of Legends and the Legends of Turkey.

The team of Legends of Turkey came to the Legends Cup for the third time. Both of its performances left a pleasant impression. However, the Turks have not yet ascended to the pedestal.

The premiere of the Turkish Legends team at our tournament in 2020 turned out to be loud: even though the debutants took seventh place, they wrote a bright page in the history of our tournament. Forward Ahmet Dursun set two sniper records at once: in a victorious play-off match with the Netherlands team, won 13:8, scored 9 (!) with 15 goals, he excelled in the goalscoring race. Eclipsing the German Kakau, who hit the gate 11 times at the Legends Cup 2018. 

Last year, the record holder did not come to Moscow, and the Turks bet on collective football, which they succeeded in. A defeat with a decent score of 3:5 from the hosts and a 6:6 draw with the Legends of Germany brought them to second place in the group. In the bronze medal match against the team of Legends of Spain, they did not have enough for success. The first half was 1:0 for the Turks. After conceding three goals within six minutes of the second half, they equalized the score in the end, but still the last word remained for the "Red Fury" - 4:3. Nevertheless, the fourth place of the Legends of Turkey is akin to two steps forward.  

At the Legends Cup 2022, the Turkish team can climb the podium. Moreover, its composition was again strengthened by the notable goleador Ahmet Dursun. Several more tournament participants came to Moscow with him in 2020 and 2021.

The team of Legends of Kazakhstan will play at our tournament for the first time. The debutants got into group "A" and will meet with the Legends of Russia and the Star Team. 
The team from Kazakhstan can be called a dark horse without a stretch. When they mention football players from this country in Russia, two come to mind: CSKA player Baktiyor Zaynutdinov and Zenit defender Nuraly Alip. The first of them is an irreplaceable all-rounder in CSKA and the national team, the second is a rotation player.

Of those who came to the Legends Cup 2022, experienced Russian fans can recall goalkeeper David Loria, who in the first half of the 1990s was shining in the youth team of CSKA, and then gave 17 years to the national team of his country.
The record holder of the national team (76 matches), defender Samat Smakov, who played at Rostselmash at the turn of the century, and then won the championship of Kazakhstan 6 times and was recognized as the best football player of Kazakhstan four times, also attracts attention.

The history of the confrontation between the national teams of Russia and Kazakhstan is limited to four matches, two of which are in the Euro 2020 qualifying tournament. In Astana, the guests defeated the hosts 4-0, and in Kaliningrad, Stanislav Cherchesov's wards won in the last minutes thanks to an accurate strike by Mario Fernandez. 
And the first meeting of the rivals is dated May 23, 2008. In preparation for Euro 2008, the Russian national team in Cherkizov scored six unanswered goals against Kazakhstan. Pavel Pogrebnyak, now the leader of the Russian Legends team's attacks and the top scorer of the Legends Cup 2021, opened the scoring with a penalty. In that match, six players who took part in our tournament in different years took the field. 

After seven years in Khimki, the opponents did not open the gates (0:0).
The team of Legends of Kazakhstan will play at our tournament for the first time. The debutants got into group "A" and will meet with the Legends of Russia and the Star Team. 
The team from Kazakhstan can be called a dark horse without a stretch. When they mention football players from this country in Russia, two come to mind: CSKA player Baktiyor Zaynutdinov and Zenit defender Nuraly Alip. The first of them is an irreplaceable all-rounder in CSKA and the national team, the second is a rotation player. 

Of those who came to the Legends Cup 2022, experienced Russian fans can recall goalkeeper David Loria, who in the first half of the 1990s was shining in the youth team of CSKA, and then gave 17 years to the national team of his country.
The record holder of the national team (76 matches), defender Samat Smakov, who played at Rostselmash at the turn of the century, and then won the championship of Kazakhstan 6 times and was recognized as the best football player of Kazakhstan four times, also attracts attention.

The history of the confrontation between the national teams of Russia and Kazakhstan is limited to four matches, two of which are in the Euro 2020 qualifying tournament. In Astana, the guests defeated the hosts 4-0, and in Kaliningrad, Stanislav Cherchesov's wards won in the last minutes thanks to an accurate strike by Mario Fernandez. 

And the first meeting of the rivals is dated May 23, 2008. In preparation for Euro 2008, the Russian national team in Cherkizov scored six unanswered goals against Kazakhstan. Pavel Pogrebnyak, now the leader of the Russian Legends team's attacks and the top scorer of the Legends Cup 2021, opened the scoring with a penalty. In that match, six players who took part in our tournament in different years took the field. 

After seven years in Khimki, the opponents did not open the gates (0:0).

The backbone of the Star Team is made up of Portuguese players, who are called European Brazilians for their high-level technique. The charismatic leader of the Portugal team – Fernando Meira, Germany champion with Stuttgart, Turkey Super Cup winner with Galatasaray, champion and winner of Russian Cup and Super Cup with Zenit – returns to the Legends Cup. The former defender of the Saint-Petersburg’s team in which he spent three years was given the captain’s armband.

Just like a year ago, Belarusian midfielder Alexander Gleb, who won the UEFA Champions League with Barcelona and reached the final of this tournament with Arsenal from London, came to Moscow for our tournament.

Elvir Rahimic, a Bosnian, who is well remembered by Russian fans, especially CSKA fans, will make his debut at the Legends Cup. Together with CSKA the defensive midfielder Rahimic won the UEFA Cup, won the championship, Russia Cup and Super Cup, and played in the Champions League with success.

The Star Team fell into A group with the hosts of the tournament and its debutants - the Legends of Kazakhstan.

Participants:

Goalkeeper – Rui Correia, Fernando Meira, Ramos Nelson, Pedro Mendes, Carlos Garcia, Paulo Sergio (all – Portugal), Florent Sinama-Pongolle (France), Elvir Rahimic (Bosnia), Alexander Hleb (Belarus).

At this tournament, fans will see a striker Kevin Kuranyi again, he made a brilliant performance at the Legends Cup 2020, but, in the German Legends team then. Two years ago, he scored 10 goals.

The titled Aldair, who will play for the Legends of Brazil at this tournament, is replaced with the Belarusian Eric Yakhimovich, who played an important role in the defense of Dynamo Moscow at the turn of the century.

What also sparks interest is the appearance of the former captain of the Uruguayan national team, a defender Diego Lugano, and the winner of Euro 2008 Ruben de la Red, who played for Spain and Real Madrid and ended his professional career early due to the illness.

Dmitry Goncharov, known for playing for the Russian CSKA and Spartak will be the team’s goalkeeper. Oleg Romantsev included him in the extended list of the candidates for the Russian team at the 2002 World Cup, which took place in Japan and Korea.
At this tournament, the Legends Team is seeded in Group B, where they will meet with the Brazilians and the Turks.

TEAM OF LEGENDS AT THE LEGENDS CUP 2022:

goalkeeper Dmitry Goncharov (Russia), Kevin Kuranyi (Germany), Diego Lugano (Uruguay), Erik Yachimovich (Belarus), Arthur Boca (Côte d'Ivoire), Zdravko Kuzmanovich (Serbia), Ruben de la Red (Spain), Nuno Assis (Portugal), Orlando Sa (Portugal).