The most talented striker since Alexander Kokorin is growing up in Lokomotiv. Vadim Rakov, who turned 18 on January 9, shone in 2022. At the beginning of the year, he received the Golden Ball (so far from the Moscow Football Federation), in May he set an absolute record for goals in UFL-2 (a league for players under 18), scoring a crazy 36 goals in 25 matches for the 2021/22 season. At the end of June, he scored for the basis of Loko in a freight train against Veles, and in August he made his debut in the official game – he came out in the fifth round of the RPL against Krylya Sovetov. Rakov became the first player born in 2005 to appear on the field in the championship.

Against the background of the disastrous autumn results, Loko had no time for the young forward (he received only 19 minutes in the RPL). But Vadim continued his scoring exploits in the M-League (8 goals in 10 matches, U-21 league), stepping over the UFL-1, where players under 19 play.

Before the winter break, the new head coach of Loko, Mikhail Galaktionov, let Rakov out as a substitute in both cup matches: 26 minutes with Krasnodar and 12 with Pari NN. A logical continuation of the rise should be a permanent place in the clip and the first adult goals in official matches.

Or maybe Rakov will take a swing at the status of the main discovery of the second part of the season?

He was the best defender in Voronezh, and at the Loko academy he immediately began to score the most

Rakov began playing football in his native Voronezh in the children’s team “Fakela”. There he was tried in different positions, in 2014 Rakov became  the most reliable defender of the city football festival. And a year later, 10-year-old Vadim was noticed at the regional stage of Lokobol (a children’s tournament under the auspices of Russian Railways) and was invited to Moscow to the academy.

In Loko, Rakov was immediately assigned to the attacking group. “I remember, as soon as I came to Lokomotiv, in my very first season I became the top scorer and scored 18 goals,” Rakov said in an interview with the MFF website. At the academy, Vadim won the Moscow championship twice, took the Cup of the capital, won Lokobol and various international cups.

Rakov’s first large-scale announcement is the UTLC Cup tournament for players under 14 in Moscow. Despite the arrival of juniors from Borussia Dortmund, Inter, Lyon and Barcelona, ​​Loko reached the final. In the decisive game at the RZD-Arena, Rakov’s team played with the pupils of La Masia in front of Fedor Smolov and Yuri Semin. Regular time ended with the score 1:1, for Loko Rakov scored from the penalty spot, which he himself earned. True, the Muscovites lost in the series.

Rakov emphasized that his mother and grandmother play the most important role in his life and career: “With any ups and downs, victories and defeats, they are always with me and support me. Mom, if possible, does not miss a single match, she has been in football with me since childhood. Grandma also happily comes to my games, supports me live and does not miss a single broadcast.

In the 2021/22 season, Rakov’s mother and grandmother had especially many reasons to be happy. Loko won UFL-2, and Vadim scored 36 goals in 25 games, setting a record. After the championship match, the striker revealed the secret of success: “I lay down at 10 pm, had a good sleep, my mother fed me delicious porridge, I came to the match and did my job.”

Then Rakov was talked about supercomplimentarily in the industry.

“Vadim Rakov is my main impression on the forward position in youth football. Probably, since the debut of Konstantin Tyukavin in Dynamo, there has not been an attacker in the RPL who is predicted to have such a prospect and who corresponds to this with his qualities, ”said Timofey Ushansky, a former CSKA scout analyst and founder of the Digital Scouting agency, in the podcast“ European Parovoz ” .