Who could forget the Belarusian goalscorer who, in CM 01/02, was a real goal machine?
Today we talk about the legend: Maxim Tsigalko. He was 19 and played for Dinamo Minsk. He cost peanuts and guaranteed dozens of goals, sometimes hundreds per season, at any club in the world that signed him.
Reality was different
Maksim Tsyhalka (his real name) was just a youth player at the Belarusian club. Only in the season after becoming a sensation in the game did he manage to become a starter for the senior team.
In five seasons he played 53 games and scored 23 goals, and debuted for his country in 2003, scoring straight away, in a friendly against Uzbekistan (he would play only once more). It was enough to get an offer from Portugal in summer 2004.
It was in Funchal, at Marítimo, that he had the chance to show the quality that made him one of CM’s greatest icons. But, when it looked like the door to stardom, it was the beginning of the end: a ligament injury in his very first training session stopped him from showing what he could do. He quickly returned home, where he spent a long time out recovering.
His only goal for his country, assisted by another CM legend: Sergey Nikiforenko.
A short career
Between 2005 and 2008 he played for several teams. When his Dinamo Minsk contract ended at the end of 2005, he moved to Naftan, also in Belarus, followed by Kaisar in Kazakhstan, Banants in Armenia and Savit Mogilev back home. That is where he ended his career, at 26, because he could no longer bear the pain.
“Please, tell people I need help”
In 2018, in an interview with Gazzetta.gr, Tsigalko said he was going through hard times:
“Nobody told me about the game, because at that time nobody knew it in my country. The first time I found out how good I was in the game was when a Russian journalist told me. I was surprised. I did not know CM existed, so I just laughed. Later I realized I could have made a lot of money from it, but it was too late.”
“At 23 I had a serious injury that forced me to quit football at 26. Then I started working in construction, as a bricklayer, for $5 a day, and later $20. But my back and legs could not handle such heavy work, and I had serious health problems.”
“When I left football, nobody offered me a job, nobody called me. I have two children and the only thing I want is to have a job, to face life with my head held high and be a good father. Please, tell people I need your help.”
Update: his death, at 37
On December 25, 2020, Dinamo Minsk shared the news nobody wanted to read: “In the 38th year of his life, Maxim Tsigalko’s heart stopped beating.” He was just 37.
The club gave no further details and the official cause was never made public. The English press later reported heart failure. What was known is that his health had been fragile for years: the injuries that ended his career and the heavy construction work had taken their toll, as he himself said in 2018.
At Dinamo, the club where he came through the ranks, he left behind 65 games, 28 goals, a league title and a Belarusian Cup.
The virtual managers’ farewell
The news spread around the world within hours. On CM 01/02 forums and social media, thousands of fans said goodbye to the man they called “the greatest CM player ever”.
Many remembered the petition launched after his 2018 appeal, which gathered more than 1,600 signatures to try to find him a job, and the line that came with it: “He changed millions of players’ lives. Now it is our turn to make his life easier.”
He left two children. And he also left something rare in football: a player almost nobody saw play, but whom an entire generation remembers.
The whole FMPortugal team sends its deepest condolences to Maxim Tsigalko’s family and friends. Thank you for all the goals, Maxim. Rest in peace.
How many goals did Tsigalko score in your CM 01/02 save?
Read also
Sources: Gazzetta.gr, translated via FM Scout · Gazeta.ru (12/25/2020) · SPORTbible (11/16/2023)
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