Beitar Jerusalem is in a good time for her. Cup quarter-finals, an attack that never stops conquering, a place in the top playoff areas, but what it lacked this season is a defensive anchor. The uncertainty with Josua Machias’s passport made Yossi Abouxis look for another stopper, preferably for more than half of the last season, who will try to steady the ship called Beitar Jerusalem. With Sergei Borodin, who is expected to arrive in Israel at the beginning of the week, she may have found him.
The 23-year-old Russian defender, who will celebrate his 24th birthday at the end of the month, was born in Lazarskoye, a sub-district within Krasnodar. He started his career at the local club and moved through each of its teams, until the senior year, where he played 14 games in total until he left the rotation and was loaned to the capital of Israel.
He soon impressed and became one of the best defenders in the country for his age, which earned him a place in all the Russian national teams – from the children, through the boys to the senior team, where he played one half in a 1:2 victory over Kyrgyzstan last month.
He grew up alongside Shafi Suleimanov in the youth divisions of Krasnodar, but unlike the right winger, he was unable to rise and played in the club’s reserve team. He is still considered a player with great potential, but one that has difficulty realizing it in a way that will allow him to flourish at a young age.
He had his first experience playing in the first division when he was loaned to Ufa, a bottom team in the top division, in the 2021/22 season. He came up to play there only once, against his team Krasnodar, when he came off the bench as a substitute in the 48th minute, which did not help bring victory to his team. Suleimanov also played in the same game, when he came on in the 77th minute.
When he was there on loan, he was asked about his trademark that Nablus became his nickname – the beard: “I don’t know what could make me give up my beard.” It took me a long time to grow it but it suddenly became my nickname. I didn’t like it at first, but I got used to it.”
After Krasnodar decided to end the loan after the winter break, he returned to the reserve team for a short time and even made four appearances in the team towards the end of the season. He was also one of the significant screws in the lineup, but the coach decided to make a change in the team and put the older Igor Sorokin in the lineup, which relegated the “old man” to the bench. The last time he actually played was on October 19 as part of the Russian Cup in a 3:2 loss to Paris.
Following his poor form and the time that had passed since he played, Vladan Ivic did not want him in the team and he did not go with her to the team’s training camp before the resumption of the season. According to reports in the country, he wanted to stay in the Russian Premier League, but apparently he was advised to take the offer from Beitar Jerusalem so that he could gain more professional experience.
Borodin stands at a height of 1.87, is left-footed and can also play in the left-back position if necessary. He led the Krasnodar players this year in average successful aerial battles per game, and he has good positioning and good timing, but what brought him down to the bench was his lack of self-discipline during games – sometimes he tends to watch players or the ball pass by him and loses concentration, which causes him to react late From time to time.
He knows how to advance the ball by passing forward and likes to send deep balls to the wings, the ones that cut through the defense. Because of his left leg, it is more convenient for him to do this towards the right side, where he will be waiting for him at Danilo Asperia Hospital. Yossi Abouxis will try to rely on him next to Uri Dahan and complete a pair of high brakes next to each other, who play with opposite feet, and turn them into the tower twins of Jerusalem. Will it work?