Igor Shalimov


Igor Mihailovich Shalimov is a Russian football manager and a former international midfielder. He primarily played as a wide midfielder.

Playing career

Shalimov started his playing career in Spartak Moscow. After a few successful seasons with Spartak Moscow he transferred to Foggia. He impressed enough to garner the attention and eventual transfer to Inter Milan. He has also played in the Italian Serie A for Bologna, Udinese and Napoli, as well as MSV Duisburg in Germany and FC Lugano in Switzerland.
He was a member of the USSR team which participated in the 1990 FIFA World Cup. After the collapse of the Soviet Union he represented the unified CIS team at the European Championship held in Sweden. He was one of a number of key players who refused to play for then coach Pavel Sadyrin at the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Two years later, in 1996, he became a member of the Russian national team for the European Championship held in England.
Shalimov ended his playing career in Napoli after being banned for two years for testing positive for nandrolone, a banned steroid substance. He has claimed that an anabolic, containing nandrolone was given to him while he was hospitalized in Moscow, to stop an internal bleeding.

Managerial career

He was appointed manager of Russia women's national football team in 2008, before being promoted to deputy sporting director for national teams and selection at the Russian Football Union in 2011.
He was dismissed as the manager of FC Krasnodar on 2 April 2018.
On 5 June 2018, he signed a two-year contract with FC Khimki. He left Khimki on 2 April 2019, with the team in 14th place and 3 points out of relegation zone.
On 30 September 2019, he was hired by Russian Premier League club FC Akhmat Grozny. He left Akhmat on 26 July 2020 as his contract expired.

Career statistics

Club

Soviet Union
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.23 November 1990Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain1–02–0Friendly
2.25 September 1991Lenin Central Stadium, Moscow1–12–2Euro 1992 qualifier

Russia
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.14 April 1993Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg3–04–01994 World Cup qualifier
2.7 June 1995Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle4–07–0Euro 1996 qualifier
3.6 September 1995Svangaskarð, Toftir5–25–2Euro 1996 qualifier

Honours

Player

Club

Spartak Moscow
Inter Milan
USSR Under-21 team