Vyacheslav Malafeev is a Russian goalkeeper born in 1979 in Leningrad, USSR. He began playing football at age 6 and joined Zenit's youth academy in 1997. In 1999, he got his first chance playing for Zenit's senior team. He became Zenit's starting goalkeeper in 2001 and helped them win the Russian League silver medal in 2003. Malafeev has had success with both Zenit and the Russian national team, helping them win major titles and receiving individual awards for his goalkeeping. He retired from the national team in 2012 to spend more time with his family.

1. Vyacheslav Malafeev
The goalkeeper
Andrei Mishchuk and Denis Tarasov
Form 10
Lyceum# 533,
Saint Petersburg, Russia

2. Vyacheslav Malafeev
was born in March, 4
1979 in Leningrad, USSR.
He started attending the
Smena football school at
the age of six .
(coach – Vladimir Savin).
In 1997 he was invited to
the farm club of
FC Zenit, Zenit-2.

3. In 1999 he got the
chance to play for Zenit
in Russian Premier
League during the
suspension of the
goalkeeper, Roman
Berezovsky.
Despite the fact that Vyacheslav
didn’t use his chance to become the
№1 goalkeeper in Zenit, he was called
up to the Russian Olympic football
team.

4. 2001 -Malafeev became
the first choice goalkeeper
for Zenit when
Berezovsky left the club.
2003 - Zenit won silver
medals of Russian League
and Malafeev became a
goalkeeper of the year in
Russia. He also received
this award in 2007 and
2012.

5. 2008 - Zenit won UEFA Cup
with Malafeev keeping a clean
sheet (a match without
missed goals) against Rangers
F.C.
2009 - Vyacheslav Malafeev
became a member of Lev
Yashin’s club, with more than
a hundred clean sheets.
2011 - he got into ESPN’s top5 goalkeepers of the world.

6. 2003 - Malafeev debuted
as a goalkeeper for the
national team in Euro
2004 qualifiers against
Wales.
Malafeev participated in
Euro 2004 coming on after
Sergei Ovchinnikov's red
card against Portugal and He won Euro 2008 bronze
starting against Greece.
medal with national team but
didn’t play any match. He
played all three matches with
Russia in Euro 2012.

7. His first wife Marina died
in a car crash in 2011.
Vyacheslav has three
children and spends a lot
of time with them.
In August 27, 2012 Vyacheslav Malafeev
announced that he was retiring from the national
team to spend more time with his family, but is
prepared to be called up in case of emergency.