Aleksandr Kerzhakov

Aleksandr Kerzhakov

Personal information
Full name	Aleksandr Anatolyevich Kerzhakov
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Team information
Current team	Zenit St. Petersburg
Number	11
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 12:23, 13 October 2010 (UTC)

Aleksandr Anatolyevich Kerzhakov (Template:Lang-ru; born November 27, 1982 in Kingisepp) is a Russian international football striker currently playing for Russian Premier League club Zenit St. Petersburg.

Club career

Zenit

Kerzhakov in attack for Zenit (April 30, 2006)

Aleksandr Kerzhakov graduated from Smena football school in Saint Petersburg, Russia in 1999. He spent the 2000 season at amateur club FC Svetogorets Svetogorsk helping them win the Northwest regional league by scoring 18 goals.

In 2001 Kerzhakov transferred to FC Zenit Saint Petersburg, debuting in March and scoring his first goal in June against Spartak Moscow. In his first season, Kerzhakov was the second choice striker behind Alexander Panov. However later in 2001, he helped Zenit finish third in the Russian Premier League and runners up in 2003. In 2002, Kerzhakov quickly developed a striking parternship with Andrei Arshavin which earned them both call ups to the Russian national team.

In 2003, Czech manager Vlastimil Petržela, promoted Kerzhakov as first choice striker which allowed him to become the top scorer of the Russian Premier League in 2004. While under Petržela, Kerzhakov was given a starting position in all four group games of the 2004–05 UEFA Cup and went on to score a hat trick in a 5–1 victory over AEK Athens. The following season, Kerzhakov was in the starting line up once again in Zenit's second straight UEFA Cup campaign. He helped Zenit qualify for the round of 32 by overcoming Vitória, Beşiktaş, Bolton, and scoring a double against Sevilla. In the knockout stages, Kerzhakov scored against Rosenborg and Olympique de Marseille as Zenit reached the quarterfinals to face Sevilla. Kerzhakov gave his best performance by scoring a goal in the away leg but could not save Zenit as they lost out 5–2 on aggregate.

During the summer of 2006, Dick Advocaat was appointed manager and relegated Kerzhakov to the bench. As a result, Kerzhakov prepared to leave Zenit.

Sevilla

On December 28, 2006 Kerzhakov transferred to Sevilla FC, signing a five and a half year contract worth €5 million, as part of the deal of the partnership of the clubs. Under then manager Juande Ramos, Kerzhakov was third choice striker behind Luís Fabiano and Frédéric Kanouté. He played his first match on January 14, 2007 and scored his first goal on January 28, 2007 in a 4–2 victory against Levante UD. He scored the winning goal against Tottenham in a 4–3 victory in the UEFA Cup quarterfinals on April 5, 2007. Kerzhakov later contributed to Sevilla's victorious run in the 2006–07 UEFA Cup season.

After Juande Ramos resigned at Sevilla to manage Tottenham Hotspur in October 2007, Kerzhakov's playing time decreased under caretaker manager Manuel Jiménez. He made only four appearances, being the fifth striker behind Luís Fabiano, Frédéric Kanouté, Javier Chevantón, and Arouna Koné. It was speculated that Kerzhakov would quit Sevilla following interest from Tottenham, Manchester United, and Paris Saint-Germain FC. However, according to Russian newspaper Sport-Express, on January 30, 2008, Kerzhakov stated he will stay at Sevilla to help in the La Liga and UEFA Champions League campaigns.

Dinamo Moscow

Aleksandr Kerzhakov in action for FC Dinamo Moscow (March 30, 2008)

In February 2008 it was announced that Kerzhakov has signed a three-year contract with Russian side Dinamo Moscow. Kerzhakov quickly established himself as a first choice striker with Tsvetan Genkov and Cícero. He scored his first goal for Dinamo with a powerful strike from outside of the penalty area against FC Moscow.

On 14 March 2009, Kerzhakov started the 2009 Russian Premier League season by scoring a goal in the ninetieth minute against FC Moscow.

In Dynamo Moscow Kerzhakov played mostly a striker, but it was not a rare scene to see him switched to a role of a right midfielder when the team needed.

Return to Zenit

On 16 January 2010 FC Zenit Saint Petersburg signed the striker from FC Dynamo Moscow, the Russian international has already played for Zenit from 2001 to 2006 and has scored 95 goals in 205 games for them.. On 28 April 2010 in victory against CSKA Moscow he scored first goal after return.

On 16 September 2010, he scored a hat-trick in the first half against R.S.C. Anderlecht in the UEFA Europa League at the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium. His first was a powerful header delivered in just the 8th minute, then followed with two impressive strikes to complete the hat-trick just before the halftime whistle. He scored another hat-trick just nine days later in the Russian Premier League against Saturn Moscow to lead Zenit to a 6-1 victory.

International career

Aleksandr Kerzhakov began playing for Russian national U21 team in 2001. He made his senior debut for Russia in a friendly against Estonia on March 27, 2002.

Kerzhakov was selected by Oleg Romantsev for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He was on the bench for Russia's first two games against Tunisia and Japan, but substituted Valery Karpin against Belgium.

Kerzhakov went on to score his first goal for Russia in a friendly 1–1 draw against Sweden on August 21, 2002.

Under Valery Gazzaev's successor, Georgi Yartsev, Kerzhakov was called up for the Euro 2004 qualifiers and scored two goals. In the final tournament, Kerzhakov was one of four strikers in the squad along with Dmitri Bulykin, Dmitri Kirichenko, and Dmitri Sychev. He was on the bench for Russia's games against Spain and Greece, but four days later played a full game against Portugal.

After Euro 2004, Kerzhakov was in Russian squad for the 2006 World Cup qualifiers. Yartsev promoted Kerzhakov to the starting line up along with Dmitri Sychev. With Yartsev's successor Yuri Semin, Kerzhakov's starting position was further strengthened after Bulykin and Kirichenko were dropped from the squad and the recall of Andrei Arshavin.

Under Guus Hiddink, Kerzhakov was the first choice striker ahead of Dmitri Sychev and Andrei Arshavin. However, he was later dropped after limited appearances for Zenit in late 2006. Upon moving to Spain, Hiddink overlooked Kerzhakov for a friendly against the Netherlands in February, 2007, but recalled him in March against Estonia following impressive performances for Sevilla. Kerzhakov went on to score both goals in the 2–0 victory over Estonia. On June 2, 2007, Kerzhakov notched a hat-trick as Russia routed Andorra 4–0. He contributed further to Russia's Euro 2008 campaign by scoring a goal in a 3–0 victory over Macedonia on September 8, 2007. During Euro 2008 qualifying campaign Kerzhakov was the top scorer for Russia with 5 goals.

On May 14, 2008 Kerzhakov was not included in Hiddink's provisional 25 man squad for Euro 2008. There was speculation that Kerzhakov was to replace the injured Pavel Pogrebnyak but was eventually left out of the squad.

Kerzhakov was recalled to the Russian squad on May 26, 2009 for the 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifier against Finland. He started the game and ending up being the main factor in the Russian victory by scoring 2 goals. On 18 November 2009, Kerzhakov came on as a half-time substitute for Roman Pavlyuchenko, but was sent off in the 66th minute of the 2nd leg of Russia's 2010 World Cup playoff against Slovenia after what was interpreted by referee Terje Hauge to be a deliberate kick at Slovenian goalkeeper Samir Handanovič. Slovenia managed to hold on to a 1:0 win and Russia were eliminated on the away goals rule after an aggregate score of 2:2.

Personal life

Aleksandr is married and has a young daughter. His younger brother, Mikhail, is a professional footballer as well.

In 2002, Kerzhakov authored his autobiography titled Before and after 16. (Template:Lang-ru)

Club statistics

The following table is up to date as of October 9, 2010. Russian Premier League Seasons denoted by year aligned with UEFA Competition — i.e. 2001 Season is written as 2001/02.

Club	Season	League			Cup			Europe			Super Cup			Total
		Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists
FC Zenit Saint Petersburg	2001	28	6	7	5	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	33	8	8
	2002	29	14	2	2	0	1	2	2	0	0	0	0	33	16	3
	2003	27	13	6	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	30	16	3
	2004	29	18	4	6	6	2	7	6	0	0	0	0	42	30	6
	2005	25	7	8	5	5	0	14	7	3	0	0	0	44	19	11
	2006	21	6	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	23	6	1
	All	159	64	28	23	16	4	23	16	3	0	0	0	205	95	32
Sevilla FC	2006/07	15	5	2	4	0	0	8	2	1	0	0	0	27	7	3
	2007/08	11	3	0	2	0	0	2	1	0	2	0	0	17	4	0
	All	26	8	2	6	0	0	10	3	1	2	0	0	44	11	3
FC Dinamo Moscow	2008	27	8	3	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	29	9	3
	2009	24	12	1	2	2	1	4	1	1	0	0	0	30	15	3
	All	51	20	4	4	3	1	4	1	1	0	0	0	59	24	6
FC Zenit Saint Petersburg	2010	21	9	1	2	0	0	5	4	0	1	0	0	29	13	1
	All	21	9	1	2	0	0	5	4	0	1	0	0	29	13	1
Career	Total	257	101	35	35	20	8	42	24	5	3	0	0	337	145	42

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	2002-08-21	Lokomotiv Stadium, Moscow, Russia	Sweden	1 – 0	1 – 1	Friendly match
2	2002-09-07	Lokomotiv Stadium, Moscow, Russia	Republic of Ireland	3 – 1	4 – 2	UEFA Euro 2004 qualification
3	2002-10-16	Central Stadium, Volgograd, Russia	Albania	1 – 0	4 – 1	UEFA Euro 2004 qualification
4	2005-03-26	Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein	Liechtenstein	0 – 1	1 – 2	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
5	2005-09-03	Lokomotiv Stadium, Moscow, Russia	Liechtenstein	1 – 0	2 – 0	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
6	2005-09-03	Lokomotiv Stadium, Moscow, Russia	Liechtenstein	2 – 0	2 – 0	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
7	2005-10-08	Lokomotiv Stadium, Moscow, Russia	Luxembourg	2 – 0	5 – 1	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
8	2007-03-24	A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia	Estonia	0 – 1	0 – 2	UEFA Euro 2008 qualification
9	2007-03-24	A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia	Estonia	0 – 2	0 – 2	UEFA Euro 2008 qualification
10	2007-06-02	Petrovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg, Russia	Andorra	1 – 0	4 – 0	UEFA Euro 2008 qualification
11	2007-06-02	Petrovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg, Russia	Andorra	2 – 0	4 – 0	UEFA Euro 2008 qualification
12	2007-06-02	Petrovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg, Russia	Andorra	3 – 0	4 – 0	UEFA Euro 2008 qualification
13	2007-09-08	Lokomotiv Stadium, Moscow, Russia	Macedonia	3 – 0	3 – 0	UEFA Euro 2008 qualification
14	2009-06-10	Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland	Finland	0 – 1	0 – 3	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
15	2009-06-10	Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland	Finland	0 – 2	0 – 3	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
16	2010-09-10	Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland	Republic of Ireland	0 – 1	2 – 3	UEFA Euro 2012 qualification
17	2010-12-10	Philip II Arena, Skopje, Macedonia	Macedonia	0 – 1	0 – 1	UEFA Euro 2012 qualification

Honours

• 2001, 2008 – Russian Premier League, 3rd place
• 2003 – Russian Premier League, runner-up
• 2003 – Russian Premier League Cup, winner
• 2004 – Russian Premier League, top scorer (18 goals)
• 2007 – UEFA Cup, winner
• 2007 – La Liga, 3rd place
• 2007 – Copa del Rey, winner
• 2010 - Russian Cup, winner
• 2002 – First five prize as Russian Premier League's best young player (awarded by Russian Football Union)
• 2002, 2003 – Strelets prize as Russia's best striker
• 2003 – Named Best Striker according to Sport-Express
• 2004 – Gentleman of the year (awarded by Komsomolskaya Pravda)
• 2005 – Voted Player of the Year by the club managers of the Russian Premier League

External links

• Club bio
• Fan Club
• Blog: "Kerzhakov in La Liga"
• Career history Template:Ru icon
• Image
• Personal website Template:Ru icon
• Career, statistic, goals
• Player profile Template:Ru icon