Product of Dinamo Moscow, with 71 matches in the second string, Sergei Ovchinniokv launched his playing career in Dinamo Suhumi. 33 superb matches in his first season helped him to move to Moscow’s Lokomotiv and to be put on the country’s best goalies list.
Apart from becoming a regular in the starting lineup, Sergei became the team’s inspiring leader. Brilliant player, he could oftentimes jump off at the deep end, which cost him match bans. Fans and media folks nicknamed him Boss, although the player himself was not keen on the idea.
Before Loko was led to two League titles by Yuriy Semin, the goalie moved abroad to play for Benfica, where he featured as few as 20 times over a two-season stint. Next in his foreign career were Alverca and Portuguese heavyweight Porto, where the Russian was a first team squad goalkeeper in the 2000-2001 season.
Yet, the decision was made to return to homeland. After his first appearances, Lokomotiv seemed to dominate in the league and clinched the title twice. In the year of 2002 the squad carried off their first ever gold medals, with Boss named the country’s best goalkeeper as voted by a number of pressmen. In his career, he was voted three times to be the best domestic goalie.
After Yuriy Semin took charge of Dinamo Moscow in 2006, Sergei followed his coach to … quit his career and did this far not in the best way. His himself damaged his reputation after falling out with a linesman and then with the referee of the game Egorov. After being red-carded, he was about to fight the opponent’s coach. He received a five-match ban and was transfer-listed by the club. The game became his last appearance on the pitch.
With over 220 club games and 35 caps for the Russian national team, Ovchinnikov has so far modest accomplishments in the coaching part of his résumé – a year of training Lokomotiv goalkeepers.
