For Stanislav Cherchesov, football and family are both sacred

Stanislav Cherchesov is one of the workaholic trainers (Photo: Attila Török)

In Russia, he is so popular that he has to hide on the streets. If he walks around the Kremlin in Moscow or goes to a restaurant, within half a minute someone will certainly come up to him to ask for an autograph or a photo. The news about him is at the top of the number of clicks, from Saint Petersburg to Vladivostok, from Krasnodar to Novosibirsk, everyone knows who Stanislav Cherchesov is.

Since he arrived in Hungary, the Ossetian-born head coach of Ferencváros has rarely shared any insight into his (private) life. However, this time, he made an exception and told Nemzeti Sport about himself and his family for the fans.

HE FIRST VISITED BUDAPEST ALMOST FORTY YEARS AGO

We already knew that the Green and Whites' head coach was born in the former Soviet Union in the North Caucasus mining town of Alagir, Ossetia, but it is less known that he had to cope with a significant outnumbering of girls at home, growing up among four sisters. Perhaps it is no coincidence that he quickly turned to sports. Although his father worked as a bus driver, he had no intention of getting behind the wheel. He started playing football at a very young age.

"I always wanted to be a goalkeeper. I achieved a lot of great success as a footballer, but it was so long ago that I don't like to talk about it. I decided years ago that I was only willing to talk about my coaching career. How I was as a footballer is history..."

The Cherchesov family is - as the head coach put it - a truly international family.

He and his English teacher wife feel at home everywhere. They have lived in Moscow, Russia, but also further in the Asian territory as well. Their daughter, Madina, was born in Austria and their son, Stanislav, in Germany. Stanislav Jr. has carried on his father's tradition, playing for Khimki's second team in the Russian third division as a goalkeeper.

"I've been to many places, but Budapest is a wonderful city," he continued. "I first came here in 1983 with Eduard Cgojev, who is still working with me as a doctor on the Fradi team's professional staff. Somewhere back home we even have a picture of us standing on the banks of the Danube. At that time, the Hungarian capital was not the most attractive destination in Europe, but I was impressed by the many historic buildings and the magnificent facades. When we have arrived recently, I hardly recognized the city, it is even more beautiful than before. Some parts of it remind me of Vienna."

THE TEAM IS PREPARING ANOTHER SURPRISE IN THE EUROPEAN LEAGUE

The Cherchesov family used to live in the Austrian capital as well. As in Vienna, he and his wife chose to live in downtown Budapest. No, not because Stanislav Cherchesov likes to relax on Vörösmarty Square, but because he was thinking of his family first and foremost.

"I work a lot, so it's important for me that my wife is not isolated at times like this. If I'm not at home, she can go for a walk down the street, go out and look around. And if the children come to visit us, they don't mind either if we're in the center. Hungarian people are very friendly, it's really nice to live here."

The coach, with an Economics degree, speaks four languages: he communicates well in German and English as well as Russian and Ossetian. In Ferencváros' dressing room, English is the official language, but he speaks German at press conferences and in front of cameras, and he speaks Russian to the foreigners on his team.

Among the Green and White leaders, he communicates with Tamás Hajnal, the sports director, in German, and in English with the others. A memorable story is when, after his arrival, he noticed a Europa League trophy in the Népliget office of Ferencváros president Gábor Kubatov and immediately asked in English why the original trophy was not there.

"I know a lot of people will turn their heads up when I say we should win the Europa League," the 59-year-old coach said with a smile. "I think every team in the series is going for the gold, and we are no exception. There are always favorites and there are always teams that are underdogs, and we know that we are the latter for the time being. But that doesn't mean we can't dream! Nobody expected us to beat Monaco, Trabzonspor and Crvena zvezda in the group stage, but we still came out on top. That's why football is a great game, no one can ever tell how the story will end."

HE DEVOTES HIS FREE TIME TO HIS LOVED ONES AND GRANDCHILD

He experienced the unpredictability of football from a young age. He played with the senior team as a teenager and was one of the few footballers to play for the Soviet Union, then the Commonwealth of Independent States and Russia, making 50 appearances in total. His greatest successes - as the successor to the legendary Rinat Dasayev - came with Spartak Moscow where he won four league titles, then he was a gold medalist three times with Tirol Innsbruck in Austria and also played in the Bundesliga for Dynamo Dresden as a foreign player.

It is impossible to count how many training camps he has been to, how many hotels he has stayed in, how many training sessions he has done. To take the two training camps he has just attended, he spent a week with Ferencváros in Mezőkövesd in mid-December and will travel to Spain in early January where getting back into shape will be the goal.

"I have no problem with training camps. I don't like traveling, but somehow time passes on the plane; sometimes I do a crossword puzzle. We have important days ahead of us in Spain, and I expect the players to arrive in good shape because although there are no training sessions between the two holidays, they have to exercise every day according to their individual plans. In the second training camp, we will focus on tactics, we don't want to waste a single day out there, and we will play more preparation matches. We need to get in shape as soon as possible because the tournament resumes at the end of January."

Stanislav Cherchesov is one of those workaholic trainers; he is not the type to get in the car and drive home at the end of a training session. An hour and a half before training begins, he is already sitting in his training room in Népliget having a meeting with his staff members. And analyzing is as important to him as the fitness of the players.

But what does he do in his spare time?

Does he read books or watch movies?

"Neither... Not only because as a coach I really have very little free time, but there's always something on my mind, and I can't let myself go even during the holidays. Tamás Hajnal and I are in daily contact during this time, too. When I do have some free time, I dedicate it to my recently born grandchild. I try to get into the rhythm of being a good grandfather. When I'm not concentrating on football, all my attention is on my family."