Vitaly Kafanov

Vitaly Kafanov
	Kafanov with Rostov in 2021
Personal information
Full name	Vitaly Vitalyevich Kafanov
Date of birth	24 May 1960 (age 64)
Place of birth	Ashgabat, Turkmen SSR, Soviet Union; (now Turkmenistan)
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team	Rostov (assistant coach) / ; Russia (GK coach)
Senior career*
Years	Team
1980–1986	Kolkozchi Ashkhabad
1987–1988	Sokol Saratov
1989–1990	Kopet-Dag Ashkhabad
1991	Uralmash Yekaterinburg
1992–1993	Kairat
1994–1995	Yelimay Semey
1996	Nisa Aşgabat
International career
1992	Kazakhstan
1996	Turkmenistan
Managerial career
2001	Kristall Smolensk (assistant)
2001	Kristall Smolensk
2003–2013	Rubin Kazan (head assistant)
2014–2015	Kazakhstan (goalkeeping coach)
2015–2017	Rostov (goalkeeping coach)
2017–2018	Rubin Kazan (goalkeeping coach)
2019–2021	Rostov (assistant)
2021–	Russia (goalkeeping coach)
2021–2022	Rostov
2022–	Rostov (assistant)
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Vitaly Vitalyevich Kafanov (Russian: Виталий Витальевич Кафанов; Turkmen: Witaliý Witalýewiç Kafanow; born 24 May 1960) is a Kazakhstani-Turkmenistani football coach and a former player. He is an assistant coach of FC Rostov and goalkeepers' coach with Russia national football team.

Club career

He would start his youth career in Turkmen SSR, nowadays Turkmenistan.^[1]

He began his professional career with Kolkozchi Ashkhabad. He made his senior football debut in 1982 for this club.^{[citation needed]}

In the USSR championship, he also played for the Sokol Saratov, before spending one season with Uralmash Yekaterinburg in the Soviet First League.^[2]

Kafanov has extensive experience in the championship of Kazakhstan for FC Kairat and FC Elimay. He is a three-time champion of Kazakhstan (1992, 1994, 1995) and a two-time winner of the Kazakhstan Cup (1992 and 1995).^{[citation needed]}

He retired at the Nisa Aşgabat in 1998.^[3]^[4]

Coach career

Russian media consider Kafanov to be one of the country's strongest in free kicks.^[5]

Following his playing career, Kafanov became a manager, most recently with FC Rubin Kazan.^[6]

At the beginning of his career in Russia in 2001, Kafanov headed Kristall Smolensk, which finished the season in 10th place out of 18.

He worked at Rubin Kazan from 2003 with a break of 3.5 years in 2014–2017. Together with the team, he became twice the champion of Russia, won two Russian Super Cups, one Russian Cup.

In 2014–2015, he was helped to Yuri Krasnozhan in the national team of Kazakhstan.^[7]

In 2019, he entered into an agreement with the FC Rostov football club, in which he previously worked from 2015 to 2017.

In July 2021, the Russian Football Union named Kafanov as the goalkeeper coach of the Russia national football team.^[8]

On 26 October 2021, FC Rostov announced new appointment of Kafanov as a manager of the team.^[9]^[10]