Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Aliyev ( ua, Олександр Олександрович Алієв, russian: Александр Александрович Алиев); (born 3 February 1985) is a Ukrainian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

origin. He plays as a

right midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

central midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. Known for his spectacular goals from direct free-kicks, his former

Dynamo Kyiv Football Club Dynamo Kyiv (, ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society, the club as a separate business entity was offic ...

coach

Yuri Syomin Yury Pavlovich Syomin (russian: Юрий Павлович Сёмин; born 11 May 1947) is a Russian football coach. He has managed FC Lokomotiv Moscow for 4 different stints, for a total of over 23 years. The recent history of the Russian club ...

described him as "...the best free-kick taker in Europe". He also was known for being the youngest Dynamo player who debuted in 2002 at professional level when Aliyev was 17 years and 6 months old. During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Aliyev joined the

Ukrainian army The Ukrainian Ground Forces ( uk, Сухопу́тні військá Збрóйних сил Украї́ни), also known as the Ukrainian Army, are the land forces of Ukraine and one of the five branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They w ...

Club career

Born in

Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( rus, Хабaровск, a=Хабаровск.ogg, r=Habárovsk, p=xɐˈbarəfsk) is the largest city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China–Russia border, at the confluence of th ...

, Aliyev began playing football as a child with FC Zaria Khabarovsk before entering the Dynamo Kyiv youth system.

Dynamo Kyiv

Aliyev began his career in Borysfen-2

Boryspil Boryspil ( uk, Бориспіль, translit. ''Boryspil'') is a city and the administrative center of Boryspil Raion in Kyiv Oblast (region) in northern (central) Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Boryspil urban hromada, one of the hroma ...

(a second team of

FC Borysfen Boryspil FC Borysfen Boryspil is a formerly professional Ukrainian football club from Boryspil, Ukraine. The club was created as a phoenix club in 1997 by Ihor Kovalevych after disagreement in FC CSKA Kyiv (today FC Arsenal Kyiv). The history of the cl ...

) in Druha Liha A. It was a youth club that was participating on the professional level similar to FC Dynamo-3 Kyiv and Aliyev at that time was a minor (underage). In 2002, he joined

where he was featured mostly in FC Dynamo-2 Kyiv in the

Ukrainian First League The Persha Liha ( uk, Перша ліга) or Ukrainian First League is a professional football league in Ukraine and the second tier of national football competitions pyramid. Members of the league also participate in the Ukrainian Cup. It is th ...

. He was really successful in the Dynamo-2 so he was loaned of to

Ukrainian Premier League The Ukrainian Premier League ( uk, "Українська Прем'єр-ліга", ''Ukrayinska Premier Liha'') or UPL is the highest division of Ukrainian annual football championship. As the Vyshcha Liha ( uk, Вища ліга, ''Top League' ...

side

Metalurh Zaporizhzhia MFC Metalurh Zaporizhzhia ( uk, Футбо́льний клуб «Металу́рг» Запорі́жжя ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Zaporizhzhia. Reestablished in 2017, it is a " phoenix club" of the original Sovie ...

. With Zaporizhzhia, he managed to get to the

Ukrainian Cup The Ukrainian Cup ( uk, Кубок України) is an association football national knockout cup competition run by the Ukrainian Association of Football. The competition is conducted almost exclusively among professional clubs. Since the 2003� ...

finals. After his loan ended, Aliyev was promoted to the main team of Dynamo, where he began to shine especially under new Russian head coach

Yuri Semin Yury Pavlovich Syomin (russian: Юрий Павлович Сёмин; born 11 May 1947) is a Russian football coach. He has managed FC Lokomotiv Moscow for 4 different stints, for a total of over 23 years. The recent history of the Russian club ...

during the 2008–09 season. In September 2008 Ukraine legend

Serhii Rebrov Serhiy Stanislavovych Rebrov ( uk, Сергій Станіславович Ребров; born 3 June 1974) is a Ukrainian professional football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is in charge of UAE Pro League side Al-Ain. R ...

hailed Aliyev's transformation into a "team player", when he thought "Aliyev was just about fun". He was key in Dynamo's campaign in the

2008–09 UEFA Champions League The 2008–09 UEFA Champions League was the 54th edition of Europe's premier club football tournament and the 17th edition under the current UEFA Champions League format. The final was played at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on 27 May 2009. It was ...

. On 21 October 2008, he scored a free kick from at least 30 yards out to give Dynamo Kyiv the win against

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Por ...

. On 25 November, at the end of the game against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, Aliyev pushed the referee,

Alain Hamer Alain Hamer (born 10 December 1965, in Luxembourg City) is a Luxembourgian football referee. He was a referee in the 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup. He has refereed over 50 matches in the UEFA Champions League, the first in 2000–01. He has also re ...

, and received a red card for his action. Later, during the interview he called Hamer a " kozel" (the goat -eng.) which means similarly to "idiot" in this context. Dynamo Kyiv finished third in their Champions League group, moving down to the

2008–09 UEFA Cup The 2008–09 UEFA Cup was the 38th season of the UEFA Cup football tournament. The final was played at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, home ground of Fenerbahçe, in Istanbul on 20 May 2009. This season was the final one to use the UEFA Cup fo ...

after the winter break. Aliyev was an instrumental player throughout the campaign here too. He played in most of the games, helping Dynamo get to the semi-finals, where they were eliminated by fellow Ukrainian rivals, and eventual UEFA Cup Champions

Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk ( uk, Футбольний клуб «Шахтар» Донецьк , short nickname "miners") is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Donetsk. In 2014, due to the War in Donbass, the club was ...

. Dynamo also won the 2008–09 Ukrainian Premier League that season. Later in 2009–10 season he was a part of starting lineup for Ukrainian Super Cup match against Vorskla Poltava. After a few minutes in that game he got injured and missed few months of the starting season. On recovery Aliyev was not able to secure a starting position and asked for a transfer during the winter break.

Lokomotiv Moscow

As soon as the first half of 2009–10 Ukrainian Premier League Aliyev began negotiations with

Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (''FC Lokomotiv Moskva'', russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб "Локомотив" Москва, ) is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three o ...

in the

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; russian: Российская премьер-лига; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is the top division professional association football league in Russia. It was established at the end of 200 ...

. These negotiations failed and Aliyev remained a Dynamo player until 1 February 2010, when Lokomotiv officially announced the signing of Aliyev to a three-year contract.

Anzhi Makhachkala

In January 2014 Aliyev moved from

to Anzhi Makhachkala on a 2.5-year contract. Aliyev left Anzhi at the end of the 2013–14 season by mutual consent. Shortly thereafter, he re-signed with Anzhi, before having his contract terminated by mutual consent once again in January 2015.

Rukh Vynnyky and amateurs

In 2015 Aliyev returned to Ukraine playing for

FC Rukh Vynnyky FC Rukh Lviv ( ua, ФК «Рух» Львів) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Lviv. The club competes in the Ukrainian Premier League following the promotion as runners-up of 2019–20 Ukrainian First League. History In 2 ...

along with his former teammate

Maksim Shatskikh Maksim Aleksandrovich Shatskikh (russian: Максим Александрович Шацких; born 30 August 1978) is an Uzbek professional football coach of Pakhtakor Tashkent and a former player. He is widely regarded as one of the best Uz ...

at the 2015 Ukrainian Football Amateur League. In 2016 and 2017 he was taking part at the Kyiv city championship for local amateur club.

Taraz

In June 2016, after eighteen-months without a professional club, Aliyev signed for

FC Taraz FC Taraz ( kk, Taraz Fýtbol Klýby) is a Kazakhstani professional football club based at the Taraz Central Stadium in Taraz. A leading club in the early years of the Kazakhstan Premier League, they were champions in 1996, and Kazakhstan Cup win ...

of the

Kazakhstan Premier League The Kazakhstan Professional Football League ( kk, Қазақстан Премьер Лигасы, ''Qazaqstan Premer Ligasy''), commonly referred to as Kazakh Premier League or simply Premier League, is the top division of football in Kazakhstan ...

until the end of the 2016 season. Aliyev left Taraz prior to the expiration of his contract on 6 October 2016.

International career

Aliyev played the under-20

2005 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship was the 15th edition of the FIFA World Youth Championship. It took place in the Netherlands between 10 June and 2 July 2005. Venues Qualification The following 24 teams qualified for the 2005 FIFA Wor ...

in Netherlands. He was one of the top scorers of the tournament with five goals, one less than

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...

, the top scorer. Aliyev also played in the

Ukraine national under-21 football team The Ukraine national under-21 football team is also known as Youth ootballteam of Ukraine ( uk, Молодіжна збірна України) is one of junior national football teams of Ukraine for participation in under-21 international compe ...

in the

2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was the 15th staging of UEFA's European Under-21 Championship. In December 2005, Portugal was selected to host the finals of the competition, which took place from 23 May–4 June 2006. The tournament was ...

, helping his side reach the final. His set piece goal from more than 40 yards that hit the cross-bar and went in against Turkey in the U-21 Championship has been regarded as one of the best goals in U-21 Football history. He is the current top goalscorer of the Ukrainian under-21 team with eight goals. On 6 September 2008, Aliyev got his first senior cap for

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

. He was substituted on for Maksym Kalynychenko starting from the second half.

Coaching career

In March 2018 Aliyev became a manager of Ukrainian amateur club FC Khmelnytskyi which earlier in 2017 started out at the 2017–18 Ukrainian Football Amateur League.

Career statistics

Club

''included only games played at professional level and might not correspond to the actual record of

Football Federation of Ukraine The Ukrainian Association of Football (UAF) ( uk, Українська асоціяція футболу, Ukrayins'ka Asotsiyatsiya Futbolu) is the governing body of football in Ukraine. Before 2019 it was known as the Football Federation of Ukr ...

International

:''Scores and results list Ukraine's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Aliyev goal.''

Honours

Dynamo Kyiv *

: 2002–03, 2003–04, 2006–07, 2008–09 *

: 2002–03, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07 *

Ukrainian Super Cup The Ukrainian Super Cup ( uk , Суперкубок України) is an association football game of the Ukrainian Premier League in traditional super cup format that acts as the grand-opening for every new football competition season in Ukrain ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, 2006,

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Ukraine U21 * UEFA Under-21 Championship: runner-up 2006 Individual * Top assist provider of the Ukraine Premier League: 2008–09 *

: Silver Shoe

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aliyev, Oleksander 1985 births Living people Footballers from Khabarovsk Russian footballers Russian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Ukraine Russian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Ukrainian footballers FC Dynamo Kyiv players FC Borysfen-2 Boryspil players FC Dynamo-2 Kyiv players FC Dynamo-3 Kyiv players FC Metalurh Zaporizhzhia players Ukraine international footballers Ukraine youth international footballers Ukraine under-21 international footballers FC Lokomotiv Moscow players FC Dnipro players FC Anzhi Makhachkala players FC Rukh Lviv players Ukrainian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Russia Ukrainian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Ukrainian Premier League players Ukrainian First League players Ukrainian Second League players Ukrainian Amateur Football Championship players Russian Premier League players Russian First League players Kazakhstan Premier League players Naturalized citizens of Ukraine Russian emigrants to Ukraine UEFA Euro 2012 players Association football midfielders FC Taraz players Ukrainian expatriate sportspeople in Kazakhstan Expatriate footballers in Kazakhstan Ukrainian football managers Ukrainian military personnel of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine