Football commentator Georgy Cherdantsev: biography and photos. Georgy Cherdantsev

Commentator Georgy Cherdantsev is one of the best football analysts on domestic television. Currently he is the host of numerous sports programs.

short biography

The future commentator Cherdantsev was born in Moscow on February 1, 1971. The boy’s parents spent most of their time at Moscow State University, where they were research assistants at the Faculty of Biology. Therefore, George was raised mainly by his grandmother.

In 1992, Cherdantsev successfully graduated from the department of Romance-Germanic languages ​​of the Moscow State University. state university. However, the guy did not follow in his parents’ footsteps and did not stay to work at the university.

From 1982 to 1989 he played for the amateur football club Spartak-2 in the Moscow Championship. However, he was soon forced to give up sports, having received a serious knee injury, the recurrences of which did not allow the guy to engage in his favorite hobby for a long time.

Commentator Cherdantsev, whose photo is presented in the material, has several specialties - a teacher of foreign languages ​​(English, Italian) and a translator. After graduating from a higher educational institution, he worked in the field of banking services, in a travel company, and as a loader at a port warehouse while living in Istanbul.

How did Cherdantsev become interested in football?

Georgy learned about football at the age of 6. The father of the future commentator was a hereditary Spartak fan. According to Cherdantsev’s memoirs, he began to worry about this team in 1976, when the club was relegated to the lower division. Then the guy’s father became seriously upset about this event. Therefore, Georgy firmly decided: so that dad would not be in a bad mood, he needed to support the Moscow football club in every possible way.

In 1979, the boy first attended a lesson in the football section, organized by the school physical education teacher. The teachers strongly recommended that George's parents send him to a music school, having considered the boy's talent for playing musical instruments. However, the guy’s father was extremely skeptical about this option. Therefore, in the end, the boy settled on playing football.

How did Georgy Cherdantsev end up on television?

After losing his job as an office worker, Georgy sat for hours without work in front of the television screen. One day, the future commentator Cherdantsev wondered why not try his own strength as a football analyst. Having learned that the first domestic satellite sports channel would soon open, Georgy decided to submit his own resume for consideration. After all, there were not so many people on television who were well versed in football, had good speech and knew several languages.

In the credits of the program " Football club“Cherdantsev saw a fax number, which he used to send a letter to the editor of the young TV channel. Already on the same day, during a return telephone call, Georgy was told that they could not imagine how, with experience in a bank and a travel company, one could cope with the responsibilities of a presenter on television. However, having a Moscow State University diploma and knowledge of foreign languages ​​played a role here. After passing the interview, Cherdantsev was accepted for a probationary period, and a week later the TV magazine story he voiced ended up on the air of an analytical football program.

Career

Football commentator Cherdantsev has been on the staff of the sports television channel NTV-Plus since 1996. At first, Georgy was entrusted with the position of translator. Later, his voice began to appear in short reports, short stories and reviews of football events. However real success came to him after receiving the position of correspondent in Vasily Utkin’s popular analytical program “Football Club”.

The first match, which has already accompanied sports commentator Cherdantsev, dates back to 1998. As the presenter himself recalls, it was a game between the national teams of Norway and Italy at the World Championships in France.

In the period from 1999 to 2009, commentator Cherdantsev was one of the constant co-authors of the analytical program “Free Kick,” which aired weekly on the NTV-Plus Football TV channel.

In 2013, George had a real breakthrough in his career. He was entrusted with the position of head of the new sports TV channel “Sport-Plus”. Here, commentator Cherdantsev was one of the presenters in the “Olympic Channel” program, which reviewed events at international competitions in Sochi.

Currently, Georgy regularly officiates matches of the Italian football championship, Champions League matches, and holds the position of presenter in the “After Football” program on the Match-TV channel.

Recently, Russian commentators were recruited for PES-2016. Cherdantsev successfully passed the selection, and now fans of the popular computer game can hear his voice.

Many of Georgy Cherdantsev's comments during football matches have long become legendary. So, the phrases “Ahh! Didn’t hit!”, “Buffoonery”, “A-la-la”, “Judge from the red light district”, other emotional cries of the presenter acquired the status of Internet memes.

Cherdantsev has repeatedly appeared in television commercials. In particular, he commented on the fight between the yard teams during the filming of a commercial video for one of the brands. You can hear Georgy's voice-over in numerous domestically produced television series.

Professional achievements

Throughout his time working on television, Georgy Cherdantsev has collected a whole host of prestigious awards:

• "Best commentator of 2001."
• "Best Sports Journalist" (2005).
• Winner of the prestigious Golden Microphone award under the auspices of the sports publications Sovetsky Sport and Komsomolskaya Pravda (2011).
• Winner of the “For Propaganda of Football 2012” award, which is awarded annually by the founders of the Russian Football Union organization.

Finally

As a journalist, sports correspondent, presenter and football commentator, Georgy Cherdantsev was lucky enough to travel around dozens of countries, officiate at legendary matches involving the best teams in the world, and communicate with famous personalities of the first magnitude.

Many fascinating stories happened in his life. Just look at the victory of the Russian team over Holland at the 2008 European Championship. Georgy's comments, cut from the report, are still spreading across the Internet, collecting thousands of views and causing lively discussions.

Probably, there is not a single true football fan who has not heard of Cherdantsev. With his emotional style of reporting and knowledge of many fascinating stories, this commentator never lets you fall asleep in front of the TV screen, even while watching the most boring fights.

There was a village called Cherdan somewhere in the Tobolsk province. That's what my great-grandfather said, now there is no Cherdan on the map, there is Cherdyn in Perm region and a river with that name. But we are the Cherdantsevs, not the Cherdyntsevs. So, let's believe in the legend of our great-grandfather. In the 18th century, the Cherdantsevs moved to Omsk, lived there for some time, and then moved to the capital - St. Petersburg.

From there, starting with my great-great-grandfather Nikanor Cherdantsev, you can trace the history of my family. Nikanor was a famous lawyer, he wrote the first shorthand textbook in Russia, we knew little about Nikanor Cherdantsev, as it recently turned out - not by chance. With such a relative they could have been shot. Historian from Uzbekistan who studies history recent years royal family, having met big amount archival documents, found out that Nikanor Stepanovich was not just a prominent lawyer in Uzbekistan, but chargé d'affaires of Grand Duke Nikolai Konstantinovich, who lived in Tashkent at that time, like Nikanor Cherdantsev. It was Nikanor Stepanovich who drew up the will of the Grand Duke and was, according to Uzbek historians, one of the people closest to him in the last months of the Grand Duke’s life.

One of his four children, my great-grandfather Gleb Nikanorovich, settled there, in Tashkent. He was a member of the Presidium and deputy chairman of the State Planning Committee, chairman of the State Planning Committee of the Khorezm People's Socialist Republic. In 1921-1923 he was Deputy Chairman of the State Planning Committee of the Turkestan Republic, headed the subcommittee on economic association republics Central Asia. In 1923 he was chairman of the State Planning Committee of the Bukhara People's Socialist Republic.

My great-grandfather's specialty was geography. He wrote a textbook on the economic geography of Uzbekistan and compiled the first geographical map of the republic. In Soviet times, there was Cherdantsev Avenue in Tashkent, then it was renamed in honor of some local folk hero. I visited Tashkent for the first time quite recently and found out that Tashkent residents still, in the old fashion, call two microdistricts of the city Cherdantsev: Cherdantsev-1 and Cherdantsev-2 - where the avenue once ran. Great-grandfather died in 1958 as an academician of the Academy of Sciences in Moscow and was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery.

His son, my grandfather, after whom I was named, Georgy Nikanorovich, was at the front of the platoon commander. He, unlike many other commanders, was lucky: he was surrounded and brought his fighters to his own without losses personnel. The first question he was asked during interrogation was: why didn’t you shoot yourself first when you realized that you were surrounded? Fortunately, the staff bastard who put the question that way was replaced normal person, and instead of a penal battalion or execution, my grandfather received the Order of the Red Star.

After the war, as a military officer and order bearer who graduated from school with honors, he was sent to finish his studies at MIMO (that was the name of MGIMO, which for a long time remained the most prestigious university in the country), and then to serve in intelligence, where he worked first in Afghanistan, then in GDR and then in Germany until his tragic death in 1969, which Izvestia wrote about. As far as I know, the “Top Secret” stamp has not yet been removed from this story.

I never saw my grandfather, but I owe my birth to him in the most direct way: my father was 18 at the time, and a tragedy in the family brought him closer to mine expectant mother- his classmate.

I was born on February 1, 1971 in Moscow, in a maternity hospital on Elansky Street. There wasn’t even a question about my name: Georgy in honor of my grandfather, briefly Yura, because he was always called that - the middle name of the intelligence officer.

Parents spent their entire lives at the Faculty of Biology of Moscow State University. Mom is a candidate of sciences, a researcher, dad is now a doctor of sciences, a professor. They always worked hard, were away from home for a long time, and my grandmother, my father’s mother, took care of my affairs.

My other paternal great-grandfather Zakhar Ginzburg lived in Leningrad, my grandmother was born there, and my father was born there. Great-grandfather spent the entire blockade in Leningrad from the first to last day. He was the chief engineer of the Kirov plant. My grandmother, mother and younger brother were evacuated to Kuibyshev (Samara). There, my grandmother graduated from school with a gold medal and, secretly from her mother, submitted documents to the military registration and enlistment office to volunteer for the front. But they didn’t take her, but sent her to study at the Military Institute of Foreign Languages. German, of course, was taught there without fail, and the other “enemy” languages ​​were distributed simply: they lined everyone up in one line, counted on the first, there, tenth, and said: the first numbers are English, the second are Spanish, the third are Swedish, etc. d. Grandma got Italian. In 1944, she was already a translator for the USSR military attaché in Italy, who negotiated the release of our prisoners.

Many outstanding linguists came out of the then VIII, many textbooks of foreign languages, which they studied at post-war years, were written by its alumni. In particular, my grandmother became one of the leading experts in the country on the Italian language. She is the author of numerous textbooks and dictionaries, and a long-time head of the Department of Romance Languages ​​at MGIMO. Unfortunately, my grandmother, who did so much for me, is no longer here.

On my mother’s side of the family there were quite ordinary Russian people, although my grandmother’s family included real Kuban Cossacks. Her mother once had a house and a huge apple orchard near Maykop before the revolution. Well done grandma. She is 91, she is in perfect order, listens and watches all my broadcasts and is happy that you can finally see me on a free channel, but she categorically refused to put on paid ones.

Grandmother's father moved the family to Moscow even before the revolution. We lived somewhere in the Krasnoselskaya area. Then, after the war, my grandmother met my grandfather, who, having credited himself with a year, volunteered for the front and received two medals for courage, which I am especially proud of after his death, and a severe wound, as a result of which at the age of 21 he almost lost his sight. In the Institute international relations, where he was going after the war, like his grandfather on his father’s side, this grandfather was not taken, because the gunpowder from the shell that hit the trench ate so deeply into his face that in the photograph it turned out gray, and this was perfect for a foreign passport unacceptable. My grandfather became a chemistry teacher at a trade school, and my grandmother worked as a Russian language teacher in a regular school.

Since my second grandmother and parents were always busy, I spent a lot of time with my grandparents at their home, a 15-minute walk from the Airport metro station. Grandfather, as a disabled war veteran, was entitled to various benefits, for example, back in the late 70s he had a color TV, which I watched with pleasure all weekend long.

And, of course, the dacha. A small summer house on a modest plot, which the grandfather, who was never very practical, chose for some strange reasons, because the plot, and he, as a beneficiary, had quite a large choice, was inconvenient in all respects and was located in the southern part of the Moscow region, although he lived grandfather in the north of the city. But it was at this dacha, the way it was, that I actually grew up. It was at that dacha that all sorts of “first times” took place. If you asked me: what is the Motherland? Or - where is she? I would indicate the exact place: we need to go up to the attic of our house, from where the window overlooked the river and the field, which ended with a power line running somewhere in the haze on the horizon along an abandoned railway. Everything I saw in the window is my homeland. I knew then what happiness was. Happiness is when, maybe once or, at best, twice during the entire summer season, my parents came to visit me together, and we walked across this field, there, to railway, to where the world that I saw every day from the window ended...

Football appeared in my life at the age of 6. My grandfather, whom I never met, was a fan; my father inherited his interest in football. They were rooting for Spartak. I remember exactly at what moment I started rooting for Spartak. In '76 the team was relegated to the 1st League. I knew nothing about this and approached my father, who was watching a match, with a question. The father muttered something displeased. I got upset and went to my mom to find out why dad was in such a bad mood. Mom explained that she was in a bad mood because Spartak was losing. From this I concluded: for dad to be in a good mood, Spartak needs to win, and he starts rooting for Spartak. In ’78, I followed the team’s position in the table in “Soviet Sport”, and in ’79 I already quite consciously watched football and remembered the decisive, golden match quite well. At the same time, in 1979, I started going to the football section, which was organized by an enthusiastic physical education teacher. The singing teacher strongly recommended that my parents send me to a music school, but my dad was skeptical about this proposal, preferring football.

In 1981, our coach received an invitation to the Spartak-2 Youth Sports School, where he took several guys from our section, including me. So I started going to the VDNH metro station three times a week to train. Of course, there was no talk about a professional football career, but I played decently and with pleasure, collecting many certificates and medals in 6 years of youth football.

After the English special school, where I was assigned, naturally, not without my grandmother’s patronage, the question arose of where to study. My grandmother wanted me to be closer to her and insisted on MGIMO, but my father was categorically against it and insisted on MSU, the most democratic university in the country, for admission to which you didn’t even need a Komsomol card, and to MGIMO, for example, without a two-year Komsomol they simply didn’t accept experience.

It so happened that I was sent to school at six and a half years old, and at sixteen and a half I was already a first-year student at the university. Of course, studying was the last thing I cared about at that moment.

In my second year, while playing for the faculty team, I received a severe knee injury, an injury, as it turned out, for life. We didn’t dare to do the operation when there were no arthroscopes yet; I still limped for another 15 years until I completely ruined my knee, so much so that it was no longer possible to do without surgical intervention. The surgeon who performed my operation was shocked by what he saw.

I became interested in studying in my 4th year, but university life, unfortunately, was coming to an end. In fact, I did not receive an education, that is, of course, I have a diploma, but I did not have any special knowledge that could be useful in life, or a reliable profession.

However, then, in the late 80s, knowledge of foreign languages ​​was still considered a profession and distinguished one from others. For example, knowledge of the Italian language, unlike in modern times, was rare and brought income. In principle, if not for the revolution of 1991, my life would have followed the path trodden by my grandmother: I would probably have stayed in graduate school and would have been assigned to some place like the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or something else that would have allowed me to regularly fulfill my dream Soviet man- go on business trips abroad. True, in the early 90s, traveling abroad was no longer so inaccessible, and the situation in the country was changing dramatically.

I graduated from school in '92. In another country already. In Russia. There was no money, everyone around was just looking for a way to make money. One could forget about the quiet, calm life of a research assistant.

My grandmother got me a job with her former student as an assistant in a joint Russian-Italian enterprise. There I worked for four years as a translator in the legal department, learned Italian perfectly and suffered every day, because sitting at a computer and working in a suit from 9 to 18 was not for me.

Along with my main job, I was always selling something, like everyone else around me: timber and oil, tanks and airplanes, ivory and gas masks. It’s funny, but I literally didn’t earn a single ruble from all this. Obviously, the ability to attract money to oneself is a gift that I do not possess, now, after half my life, this can be said.

I dreamed of changing jobs, but I didn’t know what to do, especially since knowledge of the Italian language somehow continued to set me apart from the crowd, and it would be stupid to refuse to use this advantage.

A joint venture was established by Italy and Russia by three banks, one of which, ironically, having changed its name, is now a sponsor of the Champions League, and then I honestly studied for two semesters at the Faculty of Economics of the notorious MGIMO, receiving a second higher education, and went for an internship at a bank in Italy for a month, but I didn’t turn out to be a banker, because in 1996 they suddenly started drafting me into the army.

While still at university, I received a military ID as a reserve officer and believed that this topic, unpleasant for many young people in our country, was closed. But, as they say, there was no happiness...

In 1996, President Yeltsin issued a decree according to which it was necessary to call up 30 thousand reserve officers into the army, and I was one of them.

Of course, I wanted to change something in my life, but not to the barracks, even in officer’s uniform.

The whole family had to make a lot of efforts to leave me behind without bribes and breaking laws, and while all sorts of issues were being resolved here, it was necessary to stay away from Moscow. So I ended up as a loader at the warehouse of a Russian travel agency in Istanbul. It was such an internship because, of course, I was not being trained as a loader, but as a representative of this company in Italy, where I went after some time. It was a glorious time. It was possible to rake in money with a shovel, especially if you spoke Italian as well as I did, but, as already said, in order to earn money, you need a special talent, and the employer did not offer a full-time position, and I could not actually work without any documents interesting, and I returned to Moscow.

And then, sitting idle at the TV and watching “Football Club,” I found out that Russia’s first paid satellite sports channel was soon launching, and I thought why shouldn’t I send my resume there, because there are no ready-made specialists in the field of sports television was. In the credits of the program there was a fax number to which I sent a letter, greatly amusing the editors with its content. That same evening Dima Fedorov called me and said that - yes, people are needed, but they cannot promise me a full-time position and generally do not understand how, after leaving the legal department of the bank, I want to start a television career from scratch at the age of 25, being a complete nobody in this area, which was not at all influenced by my grandmother.

The next day I was at an interview, and 10 days later the first story I voiced from an English television magazine was broadcast on “Football Club”. A month later I was hired. This is where a university diploma, which indicated the profession of “translator,” came in handy, so they hired me as a translator in the international department, although I worked in the sports editorial office.

And then there was the World Cup in France, during which we made the best football program that has ever existed on our television.

And in the fall of 1998, I voiced my first match. It was a World Cup game between Italy and Norway.

Cherdantsev: in the middle of the conversation Capello tore off his buttonhole...

On the birthday of the popular TV commentator, Championship.com publishes a conversation between Igor Rabiner and Cherdantsev about family, career, Italy.

We have known each other for more than 30 years. It’s hard to believe in such coincidences, but more than three decades ago, Yura Cherdantsev and I studied at the same 23rd English special school in the Park of Culture. And what’s most amazing is that he, being a couple of years and, accordingly, classes older, personally accepted me as a pioneer and solemnly tied a scarlet tie around my neck. And now one of the best football commentators in Russia is turning 43, his interlocutor is almost 41, and we are talking about life without any ties (which any journalist, I’ll tell you a secret, hates, and the last time I wore it was 18 years ago). "in a German restaurant next to the Championship.com office. And every minute I understand more and more how many important things are left unsaid in our daily football bustle.

“COMMENTATING FOOTBALL WAS LIKE FLYING TO THE MOON FOR ME”

When you accepted me into the Pioneers, you were already playing for Spartak in the Moscow Championship. Have you ever thought about becoming a professional? Studying in an English special school - it somehow pushes me towards a different path in life.
- I didn’t think about it for a second. I come from an academic family and could not dream of a sports career in principle. Only if he suddenly had some crazy talents. But not only were there none, there were health problems. Mom even signed a special document at the Moscow Sports Committee that she did not object to my performances: then in this sense everything was very serious. The city championship was generally a very decent competition, the organizers strictly monitored everything. For example, for red cards they called the coach (but not me, I didn’t receive them) to the sports committee. I was diagnosed with tachycardia, and at least for that reason there was no talk of a sports career. There was only one way - to the university. In the ninth-tenth grades I studied with a tutor seven times a week.

But how did it happen that a boy from an academic family became addicted to football and played for the Moscow championship for many years?
- My grandfather was a Spartak fan, he went to football games even before the war. Moreover, he invited his grandmother to the stadium for the first date. First we went to the match, and then we went on a date. So I inherited it.

We had one physical education teacher in the area who played football somewhere in the Dynamo Moscow team. His playing career did not work out, and he became a teacher at school. Since he dreamed all his life of becoming a coach, which he later became, he organized a section in the district, recruited children and competed in the district championship. My parents were told that I should study there. The parents decided that in their free time the child should not sit at home or, worse, loaf around and not hang out on the streets: they were different then, restless. My father, an ardent fan, not only did not object to playing in the football section, but even encouraged them.

At the same time, by the way, I was invited to a music school. The singing teacher invited my mother and said that the child had talent and should be sent to a “music school.” It was impossible to combine both. I often ask my mother why they didn’t send me to a music school. Now I really regret that I don’t know how to play musical instruments. As you know, I really love music. I played the guitar at the institute and played in a band, but God did not give me talent in this sense. It had to be developed. I made a choice in favor of football and did not go to any music school.

But, on the other hand, in this football section I found an amazing profession. Nothing just happens in life. Likewise, you didn’t become a sports journalist by chance, but because you were always interested in it. I never dreamed of becoming a commentator, because back then it was like going to the moon. It was a different world, where I had neither entry nor even acquaintances.

Do you remember your first commentary urge? When did it first occur to you that this could be yours?
- Yes, it never occurred to me. It was, I repeat, a story from another world. Yes, I played football, watched it, but it’s stupid to think about what is impossible. At most, he commented out loud when he was playing various championships alone, without any company. I still have notebooks lying around my house. The apartment is long - the doors to the bathroom and toilet are at different ends of the corridor. And for me, one door is one gate, the other is another. And so I played with myself with a tennis ball at several World and European Championships. There were battles, I voiced it all out loud, playing with myself. As it turned out, this came in handy. But I never felt the urge to comment within myself.

Then there was the story of a severe knee injury in a game for the philology department in the semi-finals of the Moscow State University championship. Nevertheless, you are still playing through the pain. Why do you need that?
- My wife always laughs at me. You, he says, are like a puppy: you see the ball and immediately jump. I can't do it any other way. I love playing football much more than commentating on it, watching it, and so on. I really miss this. I really regret that I can’t play more or less fully. As soon as you move a little, your knee swells for two days.

Since I was 18 years old, that is, most of my life, I have been living with a feeling of pain - sometimes more severe, sometimes less. People sometimes tell me that I can be unfriendly or sad. They don't understand how you can live your whole life when your leg hurts all the time. Usually it aches, but sometimes it hurts so much that it’s hard for me to walk. Abroad, I like to walk around cities on foot, exploring the sights, but then I can’t climb the stairs. I need to lean on the railing and hold on.

- Did you ever have a knee lock while reporting?
- Thank God no. This does not interfere with leading a normal lifestyle, but it is difficult to lead an active one. Of course, I can’t play football seriously. It’s getting more and more difficult for me to run, and to play while standing... You always think that you’re 20 years old, but in reality you’re not. I need to warm up for a long time, but I’m lazy. I can't do that. At home I put on my sports uniform, drive to the clearing and run out onto the field. But it’s not too late to readjust and get it into your head that at this age you need to warm up, rub yourself, and then the risk of injury will be minimal.

“I STILL DON’T KNOW THE SECRET OF THE DEATH OF MY GRANDFATHER-SCOUT IN GERMANY”

It is surprising that we do not know the prominent biologist Georgy Cherdantsev. After all, your parents are from this area, and your father is a doctor of science.
- My grandmother is a philologist, also a doctor of sciences, a professor, hence my attraction to the humanities. More to the younger generation it's hard to understand, but Soviet time, when you and I were studying, knowledge of a foreign language was considered a profession. Moreover, it was prestigious, well paid, and gave the opportunity to go abroad. That is, to get into another world, to learn something else, besides what surrounded you in everyday life. At the same time, I did not have any special abilities for the exact sciences. In physics, I actually had a score. I still don't really understand why the lamp is on.

- But you got a C in your certificate?
- All jokes aside, in the 10th grade they wanted to prevent me from taking the final exams at all. I was so busy with tutors that I abandoned absolutely all the subjects that were not related to those that had to be taken when entering the university. In essays, oral Russian, history and foreign languages, they chased me around like Sidorov's goat.

And I didn’t have time for chemistry, physics and mathematics. I got four bad marks each year in the 10th grade, although before that I was a good student: in the 8th grade I had practically only straight A’s. It was a transitional class: depending on the result, you were transferred either to the 9th or to a vocational school. But then I wrote essays in chemistry, prepared for assignments in literature in mathematics, and so on. I got bad marks in algebra, chemistry, physics and behavior.

Mom still remembers this. No matter how many years have passed, she is still ashamed. She was called to the teachers' council, where all the teachers were sitting. And before, I was a good student, no one made any complaints. And then they call her and begin to scold her. I underestimated then how unpleasant it was for her, and she still periodically recalls it as one of the worst moments in her life.

- As one of our mutual acquaintances says: “So?..”
- It was a month before the final exams. This month I managed to retake all these subjects. I sat down at home, putting aside all questions related to tutors, and got out of it within a month.

- And with relief I threw all this knowledge out of my head?
- In this sense, the education system that we had, in my opinion, is wrong. Because in the graduating class, when a person already has a clear idea of ​​what he will do next, loading him with unnecessary knowledge that takes a lot of effort and time is probably not entirely correct.

I have always wondered why according to your documents you are Georgiy, but in real life you are Yura? In the biography, preparing for the interview, I read that it was in honor of my grandfather.
- Everyone asks about this. Yes, I was named after my grandfather. In fact it is the same name. Georgy is a tiller in Greek, Yuri is a tiller in Karelian. And in Russian this name was divided into two different ones. But since I was named after my grandfather, who died before I was born, my parents had no options. When they realized it was a boy, that was it. That means Georgy, and that means Yura, definitely. But I don’t know why they called grandfather Yura.

He went through the war, led the detachment out of encirclement and survived, and many years later died in Peaceful time in Germany, in the very country they fought against. You said that this story is classified in the depths of the special services.
- It has been classified for 60 years, as far as I know. He was a scout. Therefore, I only heard something out of the corner of my ear from my grandmother, who imagined what happened, but did not tell anyone. And she won’t tell me anymore, because she died five years ago.

She was a professor at MGIMO, head of the department of Romance languages. Italy, the Italian language - it’s all for me through her. In general, her part of the family is from Leningrad. Why have I spoken out about the blockade lately? My grandfather is a siege survivor; he spent the entire siege from the first to the last day in Leningrad. And the great-grandmother, together with her grandmother, then still a schoolgirl, was evacuated to Kuibyshev, now Samara. My grandmother finished school there.

And having finished with a gold medal, secretly from my mother, my great-grandmother, I went to the military registration and enlistment office and volunteered for the front, like many at that time. She was “turned up” at the military registration and enlistment office. They said that a girl with a gold medal does not need to go to the front. It is better to undergo training and become an officer. She was sent to the famous Military Institute of Foreign Languages, which was also evacuated in some city. It must be said that almost the entire generation of wonderful, outstanding foreign language teachers that we had came from the VIII.

Imagine, tenth graders, school graduates, were lined up there. And they started handing out languages: you learn Swedish, you learn Danish, you learn Italian, you learn Portuguese, and so on. German was compulsory for study, and as a second language, everyone was given some rare language. Because of this “pay off”, grandma got Italian. And in 1944, she was already a translator for the USSR military attache in Italy, when negotiations were underway on the release of our prisoners of war. She later became the country's leading expert on the Italian language. Almost all the textbooks that were used to study at one time were written by her. Therefore, I could not escape Italian. In general, I have a lot to do with Italy...

“THANKS TO ITALY I AM ALIVE”

- Did you start learning Italian since childhood?
- Yes. But learning a language at home is nonsense. I was sipping tea, lounging in a chair, and everything flew past me. By the end of school I didn’t know any Italian. And I learned it when, after university, I joined an Italian company as a translator. I knew English perfectly because I studied at a special school. You and I had such strong teachers that they laid a very powerful foundation in us.

- I subscribe to every word.
- And thanks to Italy, I’m actually alive. The mother had no milk and became seriously ill. When I was born on February 1, I spent a month with her in the maternity hospital. She had no milk and suddenly a problem arose. It turned out that I had some kind of wild allergy, and I did not take any other milk or formula that was available in the Soviet Union. Catastrophe! It’s hard to understand now, but we lived in a time when artificial nutrition it was pretty hard. I felt sick and that was all. Nobody knew what to do.

Some of my grandmother’s acquaintances, who were on a business trip in Italy at that moment, helped out. They brought me Italian milk powder, which they diluted and drank. That is, I am also grateful to this country for being nurtured by its dairy industry. I didn’t know about it until I was old enough, there was no reason to remember it. And reminding me of this, my mother said that my connection with Italy was not accidental.

You mentioned that your grandfather was a siege survivor. In this regard, how do you feel about the current repressions against the Dozhd TV channel, caused by a survey on this topic?
- I consider them completely wrong and, moreover, outrageous. And I think that it is possible to stop broadcasting or the existence of any media outlet only on the basis of a lawfully made court decision. But Roskomnadzor sent them only an explanatory letter, the essence of which was: “Next time, be careful.”

Although I also think that the question asked on Dozhd was stupid and ill-considered. This is a purely editorial “jamb”. I constantly ask questions in my programs and once I also formulated them in such a way that I later had problems. And I, as the author, admitted to myself that I was wrong. He didn’t consult anyone and went on a more or less emotional rampage.

- What was it?
- It doesn’t matter anymore, we’ve passed. Therefore, editorial work is very difficult and important. If you do something publicly, you have to think and weigh it 20 times. You take on a very big responsibility. This is the difficulty of the public profession and life within the framework of a live broadcast: you cannot erase the words from a song. Therefore, a person who takes upon himself the responsibility and courage to work in this mode must be very calm and balanced. But what is happening around this now does not at all paint the colors of those people who are poisoning Dozhd.

A SERVANT IN ISTANBUL, A PROMISE TO A GIRL AND A CALL FROM TV

- What do you remember about the period of working as a loader at a travel agency warehouse in Istanbul in the mid-90s?
- It was a fun time because I had an assistant. I made so much money as a mover that, as rude as it may sound, I had... a servant. A little Turk who ran on my errands and was always with me. I sent him to the store for everything I could. As a loader, I was a gentleman in his eyes. But there was nothing to do, you plowed like a clockwork all day.

- Didn’t you break your back there?
- No, I was decently prepared for sports.

How would you react then if you were told that in a couple of years you would be working on a football channel? Would you go crazy?
- It was not a couple of years later, but in the same year. In the spring of 1996, he worked as a loader in a warehouse, and the following winter he filmed his first story - and not even for Plus, but for federal NTV.

- How did it occur to you to try to get a job there in the first place?
- It didn’t occur to me. Being an employee of a travel agency and having already moved from Turkey to Italy, I met a girl, Olya, on the plane. She was a journalism student and worked at Muz-TV. Thanks to her, I encountered television. Words such as montage, etc. appeared in my life. I called and asked: “When are you coming home?” She answered: “I don’t know.” I couldn’t understand how a person doesn’t know when he’ll return home. “I have a review, I need to look at the footage.” I was wildly surprised. Now I understand that you really cannot know how much time you will need to review the material, and this is really done at night. And then I was wildly furious, jealous, and thought it was some kind of setup. Moreover, then the election project “Vote or Lose,” which was supported by Muz-TV, began, and Olya completely disappeared from work.

At that time, I quit my old job and was just waiting for something to happen, realizing that with the Italian language and work experience I would get a job as a translator in any Italian company right away. And then the second season of “Football Club” was going on. I remember this moment very well. Olya and I were sitting in the kitchen, she said that Muz-TV was cool and all that. “What is Muz-TV? Cable channel. There's NTV. Do you see the program? “I’ll work in it,” I said recklessly, like, now I’ll show you.

- Oh how!
- But I followed football, read newspapers, knew that a satellite channel was being launched, from which I made the logical conclusion that people were needed there. Where will they recruit specialists? I think why not try it. Previously, television programs used credits at the end. There was a fax number. I went to my old job, typed a letter on the computer (“So-and-so, so-and-so, I really want to work for you”) and sent it. They then hounded me with this letter and laughed because I addressed it to Maslachenko. I thought that Vladimir Nikitovich was the most important. True, he did not run the “Football Club”, but I decided that Vasya was too young to address letters to him; he was unlikely to be the boss. Naturally, the letter got to Vasya and Dima Fedorov, and Dima called me the next day. In reality, suddenly the person from the TV calls.

- Calls home?
- Yes, there were no mobile phones then. And he says: come. I was already 25 years old, and I lied on my resume that I was in charge of some kind of international department. So in some ways it was: before my dismissal, I had already been transferred to a newly created department, where I was alone. I just didn’t write that I quit at that time. They tell me: “You are 25 years old. You have never tried your hand at journalism or television. Why do you need to change everything in your life so dramatically?” I answer: “Firstly, I love football very much, secondly, I want to try something new, thirdly, I have time to learn something, because in this moment I have no obligations at another job.” And then they say: “Come, but we cannot guarantee you a salary, a place on the staff - nothing. At your own discretion." And just as I came in the fall of ’96, I stayed.

- And when did you receive your salary?
- But this is about the question of the university and the need for education. Then the staff of NTV-Plus was being recruited, and the then director Alexey Ivanovich Burkov, apparently, asked Vasya: “Is this boy sane”? Vasya probably answered: “Yes.” But I still have a higher education, two languages. Such people do not lie on the road. I was hired on staff, but not in the editorial group, but in the international department. According to my philology diploma, my profession is translator, and my first profession at NTV is translator. So you can’t even say that I took someone’s place. I was engaged in correspondent work, but very long time was listed as a translator.

And I had a hard time believing what I saw, say, Evgeniy Mayorov. He was already sick then and limped badly. At that time you could still smoke everywhere. Evgeniy Aleksandrovich came with a stick, smoked, and he and his colleagues discussed something. I was embarrassed to get in because I was already lucky to get into this place.

“SPARTAK” IS A HUGE PART OF LIFE. BUT I REMOVED THE FAN FROM MYSELF"

- When was the first time you decided that life was good?
- When I entered the field with Fedor Fedorovich Cherenkov. He played for the team of journalists against Spartak veterans. And when I realized that this was Shavlo, this was Gavrilov, this was Cherenkov, and this was Rodionov... It was such a phantasmagoria that I still treat it like some kind of movie. As if this did not happen to me, but to a person who lived some parallel life. I not only look at the people who instilled in me a love for football and made it my profession, but I also find myself in the same space with them. Here they are playing “wall”, passing next to me, beating me...

– The attitude towards Spartak is a special topic. Many of his fans have more than once accused you and me of “betraying” his interests, completely not understanding that journalism and pain in pure form- things are incompatible. Do you have conversations with your father on this topic, does he criticize you?
- He calls me after every match. We have an hour-long conversation, or rather, he speaks and I listen. By the way, his understanding of football is absolutely fantastic. He understands tactics and strategy more than many of our specialists.

And to be honest, I even envy him in some ways. Being a fan is very cool. Due to my profession, I have removed such a fan from myself for now. Because this kind of youthful pain, as you rightly say, is incompatible with our work. At the same time, Spartak played a colossal role in my life. This is entirely my team. It was only thanks to this club that I got into the profession. If it weren’t for Cherenkov and Romantsev, I wouldn’t have loved football and wouldn’t have understood it the way I understand it now. And I don’t understand Lobanovsky and Dynamo Kiev, because this is football, but this is a different football.

“Spartak” is a huge part of my life. But you have to make a choice: you are either a fan or a commentator. A fan is always at war. One of the essential parts of being a fan is hating the opposing team. They definitely need an enemy. I am generally against any hatred. In our situation, it is impossible to be a fan, because it is impossible to root only for, you definitely need to root against.

– Isn’t it difficult for you to combine Spartak’s taste in football with your love for pragmatic Italian football?
“I forced myself to learn that a tackle is cool, a good backup is cool, and even playing to keep the score can be cool in its own way.” Although this, of course, contradicts my football upbringing and the football that I admired as a child.

– You said that the media is part of the system, and there is no escape from it. But let's imagine the situation. NTV-Plus is owned by Gazprom-Media. Some event happens, say, at Zenit, and you completely disagree with it. Is it difficult for you to cover this event in accordance with your vision if Alesya Miller calls and says the exact opposite of what you thought?
– This has never happened. Alexey Borisovich knows and understands football so much that when I realized the scale of his understanding, I was really surprised. It is very good when you and your employer have the same understanding of the subject. We don’t have harsh contradictions. Therefore, fortunately, I have never had to say out loud something with which I categorically disagree.

Have you ever been given an offer that was hard to refuse?
- Thank God no. My grandfather on my mother’s side, who went through the war and lived until recently, was for some time the director of a trade technical school. Future directors of GUM, TsUM and so on studied with him. He was a crystal honest man. He never once stole or took advantage of his opportunities to benefit his family. We had a dilapidated dacha, the worst plot that could be obtained in this partnership. But grandfather never tried to use his connections to make the dacha better. I asked him when he was over 80: “Grandfather, you could have used your official position?” To which he told me golden words, which to a certain extent are a motto for me: “Yes, he didn’t steal anything, didn’t ask for anything (he went to war as a private and returned as a private with medals “For Courage”, orders, etc.), But I’m 85 now, and my conscience is clear.”

In my life I once stole one ruble. I studied in the fifth grade. Then, if you remember, vegetables were sold on the street and weighed on scales with an arrow. In winter, especially when it’s cold, saleswomen wore gloves and put iron rubles under the scales. And the ruble was a lot of money for a fifth-grader. I could buy a lot of ice cream and stuff with it. And then one ruble lay very temptingly right on the edge of the counter. Apparently it rolled out. I was hugely tempted to take it - no one sees it in the queue. He took it and put it in his pocket. And he burned my pocket so hard that he almost burned a hole in it. I was so ashamed that I stole this ruble! Since then, I have never had a single situation in my life where I felt so ashamed and where something burned in my pocket, because nothing material ever got into it this way.

Therefore, there were some offers, but I calmly refused them. I've never had an offer I couldn't refuse. Sometimes people liked the way I worked, and they offered it as some kind of gratitude. I answered that the question cannot be posed this way, because I work not only for them, but for everyone. And receiving gratitude from someone individually is unacceptable, because then I won’t be able to be objective. The temptation can be great, but, fortunately, since that very ruble I have never had a situation where something burned my hand.

And, in the end, we have such a narrow professional community that everyone knows about everyone quite quickly.
- One day, one club offered cooperation at the PR level. I refused, saying that I couldn’t use someone else’s platform to promote a third party. But apparently they didn’t understand it that way, and after a couple of days a man called me and said that I needed to voice his ideas. Not to pour the bucket on someone, but, roughly speaking, to say that it is necessary to make not three substitutions, but five. And I realized: how good it was that I refused.

At the same time, isn’t it strange to you that there is a huge difference in the salaries of those who play football and those who talk and write about it, and even in the cases of FNL football players and journalists from leading media? In Italy, as far as I know from you, everything is different.
- It's a shame. Because I’m at that age when I need to provide for my family... And my family is such that I can only count on myself. No one will leave me an inheritance, and I have no grandfather - oil tycoon. I don’t have rich relatives abroad either. And dad is a professor at Moscow State University with a corresponding salary. So it’s a little annoying that everything depends on you, and you can’t do more than you can.

“I WAS REALLY INVITED TO SAMPDORIA. LET GENICH BE ENVY!”

- I read in one interview that you do not consider yourself a journalist. How can we even understand this?
- I don’t think so. Because I have no journalistic qualities. I am incurious, inattentive and do not know how to peek through a keyhole. As for me best job- these are sketches when you show and tell not about some person, but about the surroundings. I always felt awkward running up to people with a microphone. What if he feels uncomfortable now? What if I'm distracting him from something? What if I bother him now? What if he is not in the mood to communicate now? A journalist must be arrogant, but I physically cannot do this. I was brought up like that. Therefore, I cannot call myself a journalist in this sense. And for me, for example, it’s very difficult to write.

-Have you been writing for a long time?
- For a long time. And then I edit for a long time - redoing phrases, crossing out words. Not out of perfectionism, but because I have great difficulty putting sentences together on the fly.

- Is it easier for you to speak than to write?
- Yes. I've taken up writing regular columns, but I can't write when I need to. I can when I want it, when I have a thought in my head that I want to express. I don’t have thoughts every day, but a journalist must write regardless of his desire and mood.

- Eat exclusive interviews which ones do you particularly remember?
– In 1997, I interviewed Fabio Capello, the first on Russian television. He then left in the middle of the conversation, tore off his buttonhole...

- And what did you do to piss him off?
- I went to Italy to interview potential participants in the 1998 World Cup. He himself contacted the Milan press service and arranged an interview with Capello. Back then they thought it was cool that Russia was interested in them.

And so I went to Don Fabio. I was scheduled for 11 am, but I did the interview only at 8 pm. As it turned out later, this was the same day when he was fired. He immediately warned that there would be no questions about Milan. I assured him that I would only ask about the World Cup. And somewhere on the fourth question I said the word “Milan” - and he immediately tore off his buttonhole.

It’s good that I know the language and began to explain to him: “You misunderstood me. I’m not talking about Milan, but about the player who plays for this team and will play at the World Cup. I’ve been waiting for you for 12 hours, I came from a distant country, I beg you: don’t leave.” “One more question about Milan and I’ll leave,” Capello grumbled and returned, even putting on his buttonhole himself. We recently talked to him, and he remembered that story. By the way, I then asked if he wanted to become a coach of the national team, for example, Italy. He definitely said, “No.” This, they say, is a different profession, and he is only interested in a club career.

There is another brilliant story that no one knows about. I was actually invited to Sampdoria in 1992, when I had not yet worked on television. Let Genich be jealous! At that time, knowledge of the language, especially Italian, was very beneficial. Many businessmen from Italy came to do business with Russia, and then the profession of translator was in great demand, so I knew a lot of Italians.

And so in Moscow there was a lawyer who worked with Mancini, Vialli, Jugovic, in general, the entire golden team of Sampdoria. We became friends, and he invited me to his place. I’m going to Italy on business and drop by to visit him in Genoa. He tells me: the team is playing tomorrow, and he can introduce me to the players. We arrive at the hotel where the club checks in the day before the game. You have to understand: this is the champion of Italy, mega-cool football players: Zenga, Gullit... And they are all standing in the hall. My friend turns out to be well acquainted with the head coach, Sven-Göran Eriksson.
He calls him over and introduces me like this: “Meet, this is my friend from Russia Giorgio, he used to play football.” And at that time I was already broken, I was 22 or 21. And Erickson looked at me, interested, in a sporting way. I look normal, it’s clear that I’ve been involved in sports, my legs look like football ones... And the coach of the Italian champions says to me: “Where are you playing now? Come to training tomorrow."

I, of course, explained that my knee was not working and that I was now working as a translator. That is, imagine: if I were healthy and had more talent, then I really could end up in Sampdoria! Of course, I didn’t go anywhere; I have to objectively assess my capabilities. But it's absolutely real story. That is, the person didn’t care who I was, where I came from: if you know how to play, why not try. Now I'm talking about the right coaching approach.

- Since we are talking about Capello, I would like to know your opinion: is the contract until 2018 too long?
- I think that there are only a few coaches of this level, and it’s very good to have one on a long contract. I recently spoke with someone who often flies abroad, and a couple of days ago he flew with Capello on the same flight. So he said that for the entire three and a half hours while they were flying, Don Fabio was watching football on his iPad. That is, a person is always in football. And this is said by someone who has no point in doing any kind of PR for Capello.

Therefore, there is no need to doubt his professionalism. And I don’t agree with those who say that we need to look at the results of the World Cup. Capello is one of the few characters in football to whom it is indecent to offer a casting call. His prospects do not depend in any way on what place Russia will take at the World Cup. This is a separate short tournament that should not affect anything.

– But imagine that now we don’t make it out of a group that’s easy on paper, and then we don’t get to the 2016 European Championship at all. And he has a contract until 2018. What then?
– You can terminate the contract due to lack of results at any time. It all depends on the contract. We don’t know what kind of penalty there is. What if she's not there at all? Therefore, it is indecent for a person like Capello to say: let’s wait for the result.

“MY MOST FAVORITE ACTIVITY IS TO CRY AND CLOCK”

- Sometimes you - like any of us - are let down by categoricalness. For example, before the Italy-Germany semi-final you tweeted that letting Balotelli on the field would be a catastrophic mistake. But in the end he scored two goals, and Italy reached the final.
– I’m learning to deal with Twitter and now I don’t immediately write everything that comes to my mind. And being categorical with Balotelli is a rare case when I was wrong. Of course, a short forecast is a game of roulette. In the long term, I am usually not far from the truth.

– Where do such things as the famous one come from: “I’ll finish everything now!” in the Euro 2008 match Holland - Russia?
- Out of nowhere. It was pure stream of consciousness. And I have such a handy thing on my iPhone as “notes.” And if something interesting comes to my mind, I write it down. It’s not a fact that I’ll remember it at the right moment, but if I remember, it can be cool.

– How much control do you have over your emotional outbursts on air?
“I definitely won’t allow myself to swear, that’s out of the question.” Therefore, when I get into a rage, I understand that I have no right to make a mistake. But Maslachenko was right: in our profession there is a lot of acting, in a good sense. In my school diary, the most frequent entry was: “I interfered with the lesson, made faces, clowned.” Therefore, this is my favorite pastime - making faces and clowning around.

But Russian football is perceived by everyone with serious and gloomy faces, as if at a funeral. My attitude is much simpler, so I would continue to joke around, I like it. When I start to “light up”, I specially tune myself. That’s why I really like to comment live – in the same sports bars – because I see the reaction of the audience, which is something we lack in television work.

Why do people say that I'm good at top matches? Because I always work 100%. People want fire, and I give it to them. I feel a wave that I need to ride. People still come up to me and thank me for the Russia-Holland match, and six years have passed.

- Is there something that is missing?
- I have a feeling that my life as a commentator takes place in parallel world. It is very difficult for us to compete with people who constantly appear on federal channels. Yes, sometimes I comment on NTV, but there are many of us, and not enough football. And we need to give all the guys a chance to prove themselves. This is a normal process when different people on NTV comment.

Over the course of a year, I comment on at most five matches on federal air. That's funny. I don’t want them to think that I’m offended by anyone. But if a person doesn’t know, if he doesn’t watch NTV-Plus, then it’s very difficult to explain to him who I am. People will recognize me more from watching videos on the Internet about yard football. That's what I'm missing.

- Is “TEFI” not enough?
- You know - no. I was in the finals and that's enough for me. Because the statuette itself is awarded every year according to increasingly unclear criteria. So being nominated once is enough for me.

“WHEN MY WIFE WAS AWAY, I TURNED OZZY OZBOURNE ON TO MY SON”

– Do you have any career ambitions, not just as a commentator? Eventually head the sports department of some channel, for example?
– It’s quite obvious that I won’t be a commentator all my life. Moreover, I have already tried almost everything possible in commentary work. What could be cooler, for example, than commentating on the UEFA Cup final won by our club? And I had this: in the Zenit - Rangers match. I don’t think that in the next 10 years any of our clubs will reach the Champions League final.

I have an understanding that, having a university education, a head on your shoulders and brains inside it, you cannot only be a commentator. Moreover, I am purely a football commentator. The sports commentator is Yuri Rozanov. A top-class specialist who can cover anything. I probably won't be able to do that. Besides, time puts labels on us. Let's say I dare to think that I have a good understanding of cinema. But as soon as I write something about cinema, I immediately notice how much less responses I receive than if I write about football. But, of course, I want to try myself in something else. I am absolutely sure that I could cope with any talk show, but all producers associate me only with football. Despite the fact that I have enough experience in hosting a live program.

Of course, I’m not going to stop commentating on football, because I like it and sometimes it turns out cool. Now my son is growing up, he is five years old, and he is trying to understand what I am doing. Soon he will go to school, and it will probably be an honor when they tell him that his dad is a commentator. Still, I wouldn't want this to be the only thing I do.

– What do you devote more time to now - work or family?
- Unfortunately, my work is structured in such a way that my family and I live on different schedules. My wife is an office worker, so on weekends she rests, and the child goes to school. kindergarten, so we rarely intersect. Fortunately, there is no misunderstanding on this matter. And I understand very clearly that for a man, and for me in particular, work should be the core of life. I have to provide for my family.

– Do you have any desire to write a book about the profession and about yourself in it?
“When I was a child, my mother once asked me what I would like to become. And I answered her honestly: a writer. And we lived near Gogolevsky Boulevard and often walked past the monument to Nikolai Vasilyevich, where he sits on a bench. And apparently it had some effect on me.

Mom asked: why? And then I said: “So that they erect a monument for me, on which I would sit on a bench and read MY book.” And he also called required condition- so that they put it on me during my lifetime, because I have to look at it and correct it if I don’t like it. Apparently, I am gradually moving towards realizing my dream.

– Does your child already listen to your favorite Metallica?
- Our mother is a big fan of ballet and classical music, so at home we listen to the classics. But recently, when my mother left, we listened to Ozzy Osbourne. Now my son asks me from time to time: “Dad, let’s rock.” I'm pleased.

We sent him to music school, so I’m very interested in what will grow out of him. Probably, like any person who is approaching his fifth decade, a moment arises when you begin to think about your age. But Small child and the anticipation of having to watch him grow makes you forget about your age.

He always liked playing football more than studying journalism. However, a youthful injury put an end to Georgy Cherdantsev’s sporting ambitions, and journalistic work turned into a vocation. Geogriy has become one of the most recognizable football commentators on the Match TV channel: Cherdantsev covers the most prestigious and interesting matches.

Can a loader turn into a TV commentator?

Georgy Cherdantsev was born on February 1, 1971 in Moscow, into a professorial family. My grandfather was a Soviet intelligence officer, my great-grandfather was an academician, my great-great-grandfather was a lawyer and confidant of one of the grand dukes. A representative of such a dynasty has little chance of becoming a football champion, but this is precisely the dream that a student at an English special school cherished.

The boy became interested in football because of his father, an ardent fan of the Spartak team, and his school physical education teacher. When the physical education teacher moved to the Spartak children's and youth school, Cherdantsev and several other children followed the teacher. I had to go to training three times a week. The future commentator associated several years of his life with the Spartak double (until 1989). At the same time, the capable young man graduated from school and began to study Italian at Moscow State University.

I had to forget about matches at a serious level after a serious knee injury.

After graduating from the Faculty of Philology, the young translator tried many things - from working in his specialty to going into business (Cherdantsev says that he tried to sell everything in the world - from ivory to airplanes and gas masks, but did not earn a penny). In 1996, he worked for some time in Turkey as a loader.

Returning to Moscow, Georgy met a young journalist from the Muz-TV channel. Cherdantsev came to television “for a bet” - he wanted to prove to the girl that he was not a loader, but also a television journalist. It seemed like an unattainable dream!

Journalist career

In the fall of 1996, the satellite television channel NTV-plus appeared. The staff was recruited from scratch. There were still very few sports journalists in Russia. A 25-year-old man with a diploma from Moscow State University, excellent knowledge of foreign languages ​​and a sports background was in demand, although he had never worked in journalism before. They told George: “everything depends on you!” Cherdantsev was accepted without a specific position on the staff and was not even promised a fixed salary...

Georgy started out as a reporter and translator. A rather rare specialty (Italian) helped him out. Cherdantsev quickly proved himself to be a bright and successful interviewer - back in 1997, he interviewed.

Since 1998, Georgy has been commentating on matches, and since 1999, he has been hosting various football-related programs. Cherdantsev began his commentator career as a friend of the famous journalist Vasily Utkin. He also worked on the radio: he hosted a program on the Silver Rain radio station.

In October 2015, together with other sports journalists, Georgy Cherdantsev moved to the Match TV channel and became the host of the TV programs “After Football” and “Everyone for the Match.”

As a journalist, Georgy has a narrow specialization - football. He likes playing football much more than commentating, and the TV personality still regrets that his sports career ended so early.

Also in school years In young Cherdantsev’s diary, teachers’ comments appeared: “he’s making faces and clowning around.” It so happens that the sports commentator does his job with liveliness, emotion, and from the heart! There is always room for humor in his work. At the same time, Cherdantsev is distinguished by high competence and professionalism. Most often he covers matches of the Italian Championship. He is often entrusted with the most important work related to the World Cup or European Cups. The most memorable match for Georgy was the meeting between Zenit and Rangers in the UEFA Cup final (2008). As you know, Zenit won a brilliant victory then.

As a child, even before he became interested in football, Georgy declared that he wanted to become a writer. When the parents asked “why,” the boy pointed to the bronze Gogol and said: “So that they erect a monument to me too.” The monument is impossible, but still Cherdantsev got the book. He called it “Notes of a Football Commentator.” However, Georgy does not like to create texts; he feels better in the element of the spoken word. He generally considers himself a “wrong” journalist, who lacks the assertiveness to obtain facts at any cost and peek through keyholes...

But as a commentator, Cherdantsev is completely in his place!

Personal life

Since he was eighteen, he has lived with pain in his leg. Sometimes this pain subsides, sometimes it gets stronger. And those around you don’t always understand why a cheerful commentator becomes gloomy and irritable from time to time...

“Spartak” for Georgy Cherdantsev is his favorite childhood team. However, having taken up journalism, he decided: a television commentator should be open-minded about all clubs and should not root for anyone.

Cherdantsev comments football matches not only in reality, but also in films (TV series “Kitchen”), in computer games(EA Sports FIFA 16).

Among his family, Georgy is called “Yura”. Cherdantsev explains that according to etymology, these are the same name.

There is very little time left for family, since the main part of a TV journalist’s life is spent at work. “Work is the meaning of a man’s life,” says Geogriy Cherdantsev. He doesn’t see his wife every day, because she is an office worker and only has weekends free, and Georgy himself works almost around the clock these days. However, everything is fine in the family, and their son is growing up.

My son already goes to music school. Since childhood, Georgy showed musical abilities, but he had to make a choice between art and sports... However, back in student years Cherdantsev was a participant creative group. Now Georgy does not sing or play, but he considers rock music a very important hobby.

Who is Georgy Cherdantsev? This journalist is well known among football fans for his emotional style of covering sporting events. He gained popularity thanks to his participation in a number of projects on the NTV-Plus television channel. The author’s analytical program “Football with Georgy Cherdantsev” became especially successful.

short biography

Georgy Cherdantsev was born on February 1, 1971 in Moscow. WITH early years was interested in football. In the period from 1982 to 1989, he took a place in the main team of the Spartak-2 youth team, which took part in the Moscow championship. Later, Georgy Cherdantsev was forced to say goodbye to his favorite pastime, having received a serious knee injury.

In 1992 he entered the Faculty of Philology at Moscow State University, specializing in teaching in English and translator." After graduating from university, he worked in a travel company, the legal department of a bank, and worked for some time as a loader while living in Istanbul.

How did Cherdantsev get on television?

As an employee of a travel company, during a flight from Turkey to Italy, Georgy met his future girlfriend, who at that time was a journalist for the young and developing Muz-TV channel. Later Georgy lost permanent job and spent days in his apartment in Moscow. One day, while watching TV, Cherdantsev argued with a girl that he would get a job on the NTV channel, which had just appeared on cable networks. And so it happened. Using the fax number from the ticker on TV, Georgy Cherdantsev sent a letter to the editor-in-chief of the sports program, enclosing his resume. A few days later, the phone rang in the apartment and the future commentator was invited for an interview.

Participation in television projects

Georgy Cherdantsev is a commentator who has always been distinguished by his lively, energetic manner of covering sporting events. For a long time, he worked in tandem with the more reserved Vasily Utkin, commentating on football matches of the domestic and foreign championships. This was followed by the position of presenter in the European Week program. Next, Georgy Cherdantsev acted as an expert in the programs “90 Minutes” and “Countdown” on the same NTV channel. In 2005, he was invited to the “Silver Rain” radio station, receiving the position of host of the “Listening to Football” program. After that, he returned to television and organized his own project “Football with Georgy Cherdantsev.”

It is noteworthy that in life Georgy is called Yura. According to a well-known commentator, these names are interpreted in the same way. Yuri means “farmer” in translation from the Karelian language. The name George in Greek has a similar meaning.

The great-great-grandfather of Georgy Cherdantsev became famous for compiling the first Russian textbook on shorthand. The famous commentator's great-grandfather is the author geographical map Uzbekistan. At one time, one of the streets of the city of Tashkent was named after Cherdantsev.

Georgy does not consider himself a journalist in the traditional sense of the word, because by nature he does not have arrogance and persistence, or the desire to “peep through the keyhole.” In addition, Cherdantsev notes that it is difficult for him to write texts. Perhaps that is why he chose the role of commentator for himself.

The voice of Georgy Cherdantsev can be heard in one of the episodes of the animated series “Valera”, as well as commercial Sogaz group of companies. Together with another famous presenter Konstantin Genich, he participated in the dubbing of the football game FIFA-16.

In 2015, the presenter decided to release his own book. The work was called “Notes of a Football Commentator.”