Innokenty Samokhvalov was just 22-year-old footballer working hard to become a star player for Russia Premier League club Lokomotiv Moscow. In his strive to be better so that he could leave Kazanka, Lokomotiv Moscow’s youth club which plays at the 3rd tier of the league in Russia, the coronavirus pandemic set in.
The pandemic has killed over 405 people in Russia alone and there are over 47,121 confirmed cases in the country while 3,446 people have recovered from the dreaded virus.
So, Samokhvalov’s drive to leave the junior team and the third tier of the league to the senior team was halted by the pandemic just like every other thing in Russia has been halted, thanks to the pandemic.
He went home like every other footballer probably not happy with the interruption in his game and his pursuit for a better chance to prove himself.
Yet he didn’t allow such a disappointment to bother him or stop him from following all the training programmes he had to do during the lockdown all by himself.
Unfortunately, the news hit the world on April 20, 2020, that Samokhvalov had died while carrying out a solo training in his home in Moscow, his country’s capital.
“We are truly sad to announce the death of Kazanka defender Innokenty Samokhvalov,” Lokomotiv Moscow said in a statement. “The footballer became ill during an individual training session. Details of the tragedy are being clarified.
“Samokhvalov is a pupil of Lokomotiv. Kesha came to our Academy in the third grade, won the youth championship of Russia, this season he played for Kazanka. Samokhvalov left a wife and a son.
“Kesha was a kind, helpful person and a good friend. We are truly shocked by what happened and express our sincere condolences to his family and friends.”
While Kazanka coach Alexander Grishin told Russian news agency RIA Novos that “It’s horrible. The doctors have told us the cause of death was heart failure.
“If the doctors allowed him to train then we must assume he did not have any problems.”
The Russian footballer joined Lokomotiv Moscow in 2015 and he has been playing for the club’s reserve team Kazanka since then. Unfortunately, death didn’t allow him to have a taste of senior team football before it took him away.
