Verbov officially announces his retirement.

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After the 2019 CEV Volleyball Champions League quarterfinals rematch against Trefl Gdańsk, the 37-year-old Zenit Kazan libero Aleksey Verbov officially announced the most difficult decision for every athlete: his retirement.

“To be honest, it’s already difficult. Matches like this, of course, give pleasure, but it must be understood that the decisive playoff matches are only part of the season. In order to reach them, you need to work a lot and it is already difficult for me. I want to finish in a good style and not to be dragged from the court. Besides, I already have a goal to which I go. I can officially say – two more months and I am done,” the champion said and added that he will become the head coach of Russia national team “B” that will compete in the 2019 Summer Universiade.

Verbov became the winner of the Olympic Games twice in the Russian national team (2004, 2008) and also won the 2013 EuroVolley and the 2013 FIVB World League. In total, Verbov played 211 matches for “Zbornaya” to become the seventh most capped player of all time for Russia.
At the club level, Verbov won all significant trophies with Zenit Kazan and Belogorie Belgorod – the 2017 FIVB World Club Championship, the CEV Champions League four times (2004, 2016, 2017, 2018), the championship of Russia seven times and Russian Cup eight times.