Alex Ovechkin could be lacing up his soccer cleats again this summer.
Pavel Pivovarov, the general director and CEO of FC Dynamo Moscow, recently announced the club’s holding of the “Brotherhood Cup” in July, a multi-day tournament between Dynamo, CSKA Moscow, OFK Belgrade, and Partizan. Pivovarov specifically had Ovechkin on his mind when discussing the games with RIA Novosti’s Alena Sulizova this past Monday.
“We are, of course, thinking about Alexander Ovechkin,” Pivovarov said as translated via Google Translate. “It was a big event. Crazy coverage of his goal, power move. Naturally, he is one of the first candidates if we allow this scenario.”
The Capitals’ captain previously signed a one-day contract with Dynamo to play in a friendly match against “popular blogging team” Amkal in the summer of 2022.
Ovechkin scored the game-winning goal and flattened an opposing player in his 11 minutes for the Russian Premier League team. Clips of Ovechkin’s highlights went viral and The Great Eight has been rumored for a return to a soccer pitch ever since.
Чем отличается хоккей от футбола? Отвечает Александр Овечкин 🙃#НашПацан pic.twitter.com/W8jK1tPTkV
— HC Dynamo Moscow (@dynamo_ru) June 25, 2022
Ovechkin is a longtime soccer fan who regularly plays the sport over the summer to train and participates in team-wide Sewer Ball games before puck drop in the NHL. He is also a lifelong fan of Dynamo, a team for which his late father Mihail played professionally. Ovi graduated from Dynamo’s hockey academy and won two championships with the organization as a senior player.
Tatyana Ovechkina, Alex’s mother, revealed to Metaratings’ Norik Serobyan on Wednesday that she and her son have plans to attend Dynamo’s match against Krylya Sovetov on Saturday. Dynamo currently sits atop the RPL table by two points over Zenit with two matches remaining on their schedule.
“It’s very good that Dynamo is now fighting for the championship,” Ovechkina said as translated via Google Translate. “The guys showed themselves well and I hope that they will be able to meet the expectations of all the fans and win the league. It will be great if the team becomes a champion for the first time in many years. Alexander and I will probably attend the team’s upcoming match.”
Ovechkin has been back in his native Russia for about a week now after the Capitals were eliminated in the first round of this year’s playoffs by the New York Rangers.
