Ilya Vladyslavovych Blyznyuk (; born 28 July 1973 is a Ukrainian

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 Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

and former goalkeeper.

Career

Blyznyuk is a product of

FC Metalurh Zaporizhia The Sports club "Metalurh Zaporizhzhia" (, ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Zaporizhzhia. Reestablished in 2017, it is a " phoenix club" of the original Soviet factory "team of masters" Metalurh that existed in 1935–2016 o ...

football academy (sports school).Близнюк завершил карьеру
football.ua. 10 January 2008 He made his debut in the Vyshcha Liha for his home team on 19 April 1992 in an away game against

FC Nyva Vinnytsia FC Nyva Vinnytsia is a Ukrainian professional association football, football club based in the city of Vinnytsia. The name "Nyva" translates to "grain field". The club was originally created in 1958 in the Soviet Union and folded in 2005 and 201 ...

when he came out on substitution for

Yuriy Syvukha Yuriy Syvukha (; born 13 January 1958) is a former football goalkeeper and a current goalkeeping coach. Syvukha began his coaching career as a goalkeepers coach. In January 2013 he was appointed as a goalkeeping coach in the Ukraine national fo ...

. The game was tied at 1 and Blyznyuk allowed the goal against. In his first professional season, Blyznyuk played 5 games and allowed 7 goals. For the next several seasons he was sharing the play time in the club with Syvukha. In 1994 with arrival of

Taras Hrebenyuk Taras Oleksandrovych Hrebenyuk (; born 23 August 1971) is a Ukrainian retired professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. In 2004 he became a goalkeeping coach. Since 2007, he has served as the goalkeeping coach at Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih. ...

, Blyznyuk played only 4 games in the league. He remained with Metalurh until 1995 when he moved to the top league newcomer

FC Zirka Kirovohrad FC Zirka Kropyvnytskyi () is a Ukraine, Ukrainian amateur football club from Kropyvnytskyi, Kirovohrad Oblast, with its team currently playing in the Ukrainian Amateur Football Championship, Ukrainian Amateur League. The club traces its history of ...

where he became the main goalkeeper playing in 33 games out of 34. Zirka impressed many by its performance placing that season 6th among 18 teams. In 1996 he was invited to

FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Football Club Dnipro (, ) was a Ukrainian football club based in Dnipro. The club played its last season in the 2018–19 Ukrainian Amateur League. The club was owned by Ukrainian businessman Ihor Kolomoyskyi. In 2018, FC Dnipro was forced ...

and made a debut for the Ukrainian national football team on 13 August 1996. In 1996–1998 Blyznyuk was the first goalkeeper for Dnipro and in 1997–98 season appeared at clubs' continental level competitions. In 1998 he was invited to

FC Dynamo Kyiv The Football Club 'Dynamo Kyiv', also known as Dynamo Kyiv, or simply Dynamo, ( ) is a Ukrainian professional Association football, football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet ...

but played only for the club's reserve teams at lower levels. In 2000 Blyznyuk was loaned away to FC Rostselmash Rostov-na-Donu.Илья Близнюк: «Главное – «ноль» на табло»
shinnik.com. 27 July 2006 The time in Rostov did not earn him a place on the Dynamo's first team and in 2001 he left Dynamo for Rostov. In Rostov Blyznyuk remained until 2005 when he moved to the Russian Premier League newcomer

FC Tom Tomsk FC Tom Tomsk () was a Russian professional football club, based in the Siberian city of Tomsk. The team played in Trud Stadium (Tomsk) before being dissolved in 2022. History The team was previously named ''Burevestnik'' (1957), ''Tomich'' (19 ...

. After a season in

Tomsk Tomsk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast in Russia, on the Tom (river), Tom River. Population: Founded in 1604, Tomsk is one of the oldest cities in Siberia. It has six univers ...

, Blyznyuk returned briefly to Ukraine playing for

FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih () is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kryvyi Rih. Until 2013 the club participated in professional competitions. In June 2013 the club went bankrupt and was expelled from the Ukrainian Premier League. Ther ...

, but in 2006 he returned to Russia signing with

FC Shinnik Yaroslavl FC Shinnik Yaroslavl () is a Russian football club, based in Yaroslavl. From 1957 to 1960 the team was called Khimik ( - "the chemist"). In 1961, the club became affiliated with the , accordingly changing its name and logo (a football inside a ...

. Blyznyuk finished his playing career following the 2007 season in Rostov.

International career

He played for

Ukraine national under-21 football team The Ukraine national under-21 football team is also known as Youth ootballteam of Ukraine () is one of junior national Association football, football teams of Ukraine for participation in under-21 international competitions. The team is manage ...

. He also was called up to

Ukraine national football team The Ukraine national football team ( ) represents Ukraine in men's international Association football, football, and is governed by the Ukrainian Association of Football, the governing body for football in Ukraine. Ukraine's home ground is the ...

for which played only 2 matches all friendlies. He made his debut for the national team on 13 August 1996 at the home game against

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

when on 68th minute he substituted Oleh Suslov. The game ended in 5:2 win for Ukraine, yet Blyznyuk yielded one of the goals which was from

Eimantas Poderis Eimantas Poderis (born 13 September 1973) is a Lithuanian former football forward. He obtained a total number of 21 caps for the Lithuania national football team, scoring five goals. Poderis also played as a professional in Russia and Israel dur ...

. His second and the last match Blyznyuk played on 23 March 1997 as another home game against

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

. He started out the game but was substituted in half-time by

Oleksandr Shovkovskyi Oleksandr Volodymyrovych Shovkovskyi (; born 2 January 1975) is a Ukrainian former professional association football, footballer who played as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper, and is currently the manager of FC Dynamo Kyiv, Dyna ...

. The match ended in 1:0 win for Ukraine.

Personal life

Blyznyuk is the father of 3 children, including Russian athlete

Anastasia Bliznyuk Anastasia Ilyinichna Bliznyuk ( rus, Анастасия Ильинична Близнюк, , ɐnəstɐˈsʲijə blʲɪˈzʲnʲuk; born 28 June 1994) is a Russian rhythmic gymnast and coach. She is a two-time Group All-around champion at the 2012 ...

who became

2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

and

2016 Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

champion in group

rhythmic gymnastics Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform individually or in groups on a floor with an apparatus: hoop (rhythmic gymnastics), hoop, ball (rhythmic gymnastics), ball, Clubs (rhythmic gymnastics), clubs, ribbon (rhythmic gymnastics), ...

. His son Volodymyr Blyznyuk is a professional Ukrainian footballer.

References

External links

Brief info
at www.ukrainiansoccer.net * 1973 births Living people Footballers from Zaporizhzhia Ukrainian men's footballers Ukrainian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Ukrainian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Ukrainian football managers Ukraine men's international footballers FC Metalurh Zaporizhzhia players FC Dynamo Kyiv players FC Dynamo-2 Kyiv players FC Dynamo-3 Kyiv players FC Zirka Kropyvnytskyi players FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih players FC Dnipro players FC Rostov players FC Spartak Vladikavkaz players FC Tom Tomsk players FC Shinnik Yaroslavl players Russian Premier League players Ukrainian Premier League players Ukrainian Premier League managers FC Mariupol managers FC Zirka Kropyvnytskyi managers FC Poltava managers FC Metalurh Zaporizhzhia managers FC Yednist Plysky managers Men's association football goalkeepers PFC Sumy managers MFC Mykolaiv managers {{Ukraine-footy-goalkeeper-1970s-stub