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NHL superstar Ovechkin impresses in Dynamo Moscow football match (VIDEO)

The Washington Capitals captain was a commanding presence in the exhibition match

The sporting talents of Russia’s most popular active athlete Alexander Ovechkin aren’t limited to just ice hockey it seems.

On Saturday, the Washington Capitals captain dazzled in a football exhibition match for Dynamo Moscow and needed just 11 minutes to make his mark.

The 36-year-old wore number ‘3’ in honor of his father Mikhail who once played for the club, as well as the boots that Roma legend Francesco Totti used to don. 

But hockey enthusiasts noted that Ovechkin netted his only goal of the game in the area of the pitch that is known as his “office” on the rink.

Lurking at the top of the six-yard box, or penalty area in hockey, Ovechkin collected a reverse pass from Russia striker Fyodor Smolov and then fired a left-footed shot inside the post which opened the scoring for his team against an outfit of bloggers representing FC Amkal.

Ovechkin even replicated his usual hockey goal celebration, and later said after the 5-0 rout that his dream “came true” in scoring. Additionally, he also gave credit to his teammates for finding him in a short interview with Sports.ru.

“I’m weird. I write with my right hand, throw with my left hand, kick the ball with my left foot, and play hockey with my right hand. This is how I am,” Ovechkin also said to MatchTV

At one point in the game, the 6ft3in powerhouse attracted additional attention for the effortless manner in which he brushed off a much shorter member of the opposition attempting to challenge him for the ball.

One Twitter fan said that he was “trucking dudes” on the pitch while another remarked that he looked “hilariously big” when playing the beautiful game. 

Ovechkin, who was captain just like he is for the Capitals, left the action not long after netting and handed the skipper’s armband to Daniil Fomin.

Asked if he had any doubts about playing in the fixture, Ovechkin answered that he didn’t but was more worried about the fact that being in the hockey off-season might affect his performance leading him to ask himself how he would feel physically. 

“I realized that it would be hard already in the warm-up,” Ovechkin revealed, while also adding that it was very hot and that this forced him to douse himself with water in “heat” and “stuffiness”

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“But I entered the game more or less normally. It’s good that I followed Fyodor Smolov, how he moves. It helped me a lot that I watched his movements and interacted with him,” Ovechkin claimed.

Ovechkin dedicated his display to his father and said that the match “was more for him than me”.

When asked by Match if he might play football one day like his father and grandfather, son Sergei answered: “Never! Only hockey”.

Showing no signs of slowing down despite his advanced years, Ovechkin is coming off a record season in the US capital where he became the oldest player to score more than 50 goals in an NHL season. 

https://ift.tt/Cec3G04 26, 2022 at 06:18PM
from RT – Daily news

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