Filimonov back in Russia

Russian international goalkeeper Aleksandr Filimonov is back in his homeland after joining Premier-Liga newcomers Uralan Elista from Ukrainian champions FC Dynamo Kyiv.

Boost to FIFA World Cup hopes
Filimomov, who first played in the Russian top flight with FC Fakel Voronezh, had fallen out of favour at Dynamo and the move should boost his chances of making his nation's squad for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, having lost his place to Hellas-Verona FC's Ruslan Nigmatullin.

Spartak move
After graduating from a football academy in Moldova, Filimonov joined Fakel aged 18 before moving to Tekstilshik Kamyshin, who he quit in 1996 for FC Spartak Moscow. He won three titles with Spartak, and was voted Russia's Goalkeeper of the Year from 1996 to 1999, making the international No1 shirt his own.

EURO 2000™ nightmare
However, the hero turned villain in the EURO 2000™ qualifiers when he deflected a free-kick from Ukrainian Andriy Shevchenko into his own net to deny Russia a place in the finals - and in 2001 was transferred by national and Spartak coach Oleg Romantsev to Dynamo.
 
Struggle at Dynamo
At his new club, though, he has struggled to win a place after the recovery of Olexandr Shovkovsky and Vitaliy Reva from injury, and has now accepted a move to promoted Uralan.

Signings for Uralan
Uralan have made several other signings prior to the start of the 2002 season, Filimonov's new team-mates including former FC Lokomotiv Moscow captain Igor Chugainov and 2001 Premier-Liga top scorer Dmitry Vyazmikin, both of whom joined in January.