Denys Stanislavovych Kozhanov (; born 13 June 1987) is a Ukrainian professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and a former

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

who coaches the Under-19 squad of

Karpaty Lviv Football Club Karpaty Lviv ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Lviv. In 2020–21 the club was reorganized and changed owner. During that period there existed two clubs with the same name, one at professional level competitio ...

Club career

Kozhanov started out his football career at the sports schools No.3 of

Mariupol Mariupol is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius, Kalmius River. Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was the tenth-largest city in the coun ...

and later the

FC Illichivets Mariupol Football Club Mariupol ( ) was a Ukrainian professional football club based in Mariupol, that competed in the Ukrainian Premier League. The club ceased to exist as a result of the Siege of Mariupol, during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. ...

academy. Upon graduation he signed with the regional leader

FC Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk () is a Ukrainian professional Association football, football club that was based in the city of Donetsk until 2014 when, due to the War in Donbas (2014–2022), War in Donbas, the club was forced to move to Lvi ...

where for the first couple of years played for its second and third teams in lower leagues.

Karpaty Lviv

In 2007 Kozhanov was lent to Karpaty where he played at first in reserves. On 1 March 2008 he debuted in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

. He became the top assister in the

2009–10 Ukrainian Premier League The 2009–10 Ukrainian Premier League season was the nineteenth since its establishment and second since its reorganization. Dynamo Kyiv were the defending champions, having won their 13th league title. A total of 16 teams participated in the le ...

, giving 13 assists. He played 11 games and scored 2 goals in

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

Volyn Lutsk

Kozhanov was recognized as the best player of October 2019 in the

Ukrainian First League The Persha Liha ( ) or Ukrainian First League is a Ukrainian football league system, level of national football competitions (second tier) in Ukraine governed by the Professional Football League of Ukraine, Professional Football League at the disc ...

.There was announced the best player of month in the First League (Объявлен лучший игрок месяца в Первой лиге)
UA-Football. 6 November 2019 He became a second player for Volyn to receive such honors. Same season,

2019–20 Ukrainian First League The 2019–20 Ukrainian First League was the 29th since its establishment. The competition began on 27 July 2019 with eight matches of Round 1, and went into recess for a winter break which started after the completion of Round 19 on 24 November ...

, Kozhanov also became the season's top scorer with 18 goals.

References

External links

Profile on Official Illichivets Mariupol Website
* * 1987 births Living people People from Hirnyk, Donetsk Oblast Ukrainian men's footballers FC Shakhtar Donetsk players FC Shakhtar-2 Donetsk players FC Shakhtar-3 Donetsk players FC Karpaty Lviv players FC Mariupol players FC Sevastopol players FC Dacia Chișinău players Ukrainian Premier League players Ukrainian First League players Ukrainian Second League players Men's association football midfielders NK Veres Rivne players FC Volyn Lutsk players FC Mynai players Ukrainian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Moldova Ukrainian expatriate sportspeople in Moldova Ukraine men's international footballers Footballers from Donetsk Oblast Ukrainian football managers 21st-century Ukrainian sportsmen {{Ukraine-footy-midfielder-1980s-stub