Ak Bars Kazan striker Artyom Lukoyanov played for KAMAZ in the 20th round match of the Professional Football League (PFL). Ufa-2 became the rival of the team from Naberezhnye Chelny, and the meeting ended with a score of 2: 0 in favor of Evgeny Efremov's wards.

The 30-year-old hockey player, in his new team, occupying the usual position of the attacker, entered the field in the 85th minute of the meeting instead of the author of the double David Karayev. Despite the fact that Lukoyanov did not manage to distinguish himself in a new role, he was satisfied with his debut.

“The team led with a comfortable score 2: 0. Good thing it happened. I came out for eight minutes, I think this is more than enough. The coach asked to act with the body, keep the ball, cling to it, show an aggressive game. Of course, this is all difficult - to run and not think anyone can, and to understand when it is necessary to explode, to play in the pressure, harder. It is a pity that I failed to hit the goal, but I touched the ball, ”the Ak Bars official website quotes the athlete.

Artem in the game! ✊ pic.twitter.com/XMgAMhRwEN

- HC Ak Bars (@hcakbars) on April 21, 2019

According to Lukoyanov, the team-mates received the newcomer well, tried to help him not only during the training process, but also on the field. In addition, on the eve of Sunday's match with Ufa-2, he attended classes of two-time Russian champion Kazan, Rubin.

Fans of Chelnins also welcomed the news about the transfer of the hockey player to KAMAZ.

“Emotions are beyond words: the same as at the beginning of my hockey career. The fans also accepted, I even heard shouts of “Puck, puck!”. Today many people came here to watch the match, this is a good popularization of hockey and football. The team won, I went to replace. It will long remain in the history of two sports and mine personally, ”the striker added.

Lukoyanov is a graduate of Kazan hockey. From November 2011, he stands for Ak Bars, with whom in the 2017/18 season he won the Gagarin Cup. In the current regular championship of the Continental Hockey League (KHL), he held 66 meetings in which he scored 32 points in the goal-plus-pass system.

Information that the attacker joined KAMAZ appeared in February of this year. However, only a few days ago it became known that he was a member of the team for the upcoming PFL tour. At the same time, many wondered how an athlete would combine the old and new jobs, as his contract with Ak Bars was calculated until the end of April. However, according to lawyer Mikhail Prokopts, such a situation is permissible if two teams have no complaints to each other.

“This is not prohibited anywhere. An athlete can perform in at least three types, as long as it is properly declared. In the case of football, this should have happened before the transfer window was closed. This is an ordinary part-time job. In our football regulations there are no points that prohibit people from other sports to take part in competitions, ”explained Prokopets to Sport-Express.

Lukoyanov himself explained his decision with a desire to diversify his professional activities.

“I became more mature, and I really wanted to try myself to check myself, to understand how hard it was to play football, to compare hockey with this sport,” his words “Chelny News.”

However, according to the hockey player, football has always occupied an important place in his life. Until the age of ten, he combined two sports, but later made a choice in favor of playing with the puck. In addition, it is known that Lukoyanov is a fan of Spartak Moscow.

According to Sergey Klamin, sports director of KAMAZ, the contract of the attacker is calculated until the end of the season. The team hopes that the presence of a distinguished athlete on the field will have a positive impact on the popularity of Chelnyans.

“If we talk about his game, let's say he is familiar with the basics of football. We hope that his arrival will help us, including in terms of attendance. We hoped that more people would come. Today, there were two thousand fans, this is not the worst result, ”Hlamin quoted TASS.

Despite the statements of Lukoyanov himself, many have suggested that his transition from hockey to football is only a competent advertising move. However, according to the six-time world champion as part of the USSR national team Boris Mayorov, the decision to invite a player indicates that he is in line with the team’s ambitions.

“I don’t see any PR in this. Man wanted to play football, well, for God's sake. In my time, I also performed in the Spartak team of masters, there is nothing special here, ”noted Maiorov.