Rasambek Aslambekovich Akhmatov (; born 31 May 1996) is a Russian 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 lea ...

who plays as a

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 ...

Career

Rasambek arrived in France in 2003 with his family after escaping from the war in

Chechnya Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federa ...

. He acquired

French nationality French nationality law is historically based on the principles of ''jus soli'' (Latin for "right of soil") and ''jus sanguinis'', (Latin for "right of blood") according to Ernest Renan's definition, in opposition to the German definition of nat ...

on 24 January 2008, through the collective effect of his parents'

naturalization Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

. He moved to

Haguenau Haguenau (; or ; ; historical ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Bas-Rhin Département in France, department of France, of which it is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture. It is second in size in the Bas-Rhin only to Strasbourg ...

in 2005 and discovered a passion for football aged 10 at the city stadium in small district in Haguenau before signing his first contract at 11 years of age at FR Haguenau. He would subsequently play in several Alsacian clubs before joining FCSR Obernai with the senior team. Then with determination, he tried his luck during scouting, which was organized in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

by an American team, and out of the 800 players, he was one of the 10 selected to spend 2 weeks of testing in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. He finally joined the

FC Miami City FC Miami City (FCMC) is an American soccer club based in South Florida. They play in the USL League Two, the fourth division of the United States soccer league system. The club consists of both men and women teams competing in the United Soccer ...

team, which at the time played in the American third division. After two seasons in Miami, he was noticed by

Swope Park Rangers Sporting Kansas City II is a MLS Next Pro club affiliated with Sporting Kansas City of Major League Soccer. For the 2022 season they will play their home games at Kansas Jayhawks, Rock Chalk Park at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, ...

(second division), where he signed a first professional contract in the summer of 2018. After two full seasons in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

, he returned to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. During the pandemic, he spent several months without a club before signing for Comuna Recea in the Romanian second division. Following a short stint with Kazakh side Maktaaral, he returned to Romania to join

Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

club Chindia Târgoviște.

References

Rassambek Akhmatov
�� Article LAFA
Article Dernières nouvelles d’Alsace
��
Article SportExpress Russia

External links

Swope Park ProfileInterview Miami
1996 births Living people Footballers from Chechnya Russian emigrants to France Russian men's footballers Russian people of Chechen descent Naturalized citizens of France French men's footballers Men's association football midfielders FCSR Haguenau players FC Miami City players AS Pierrots Vauban Strasbourg players Sporting Kansas City II players CS Academica Recea players AFC Chindia Târgoviște players FC Gloria Buzău players AFC Unirea Slobozia players USL Championship players USL League Two players Liga II players Kazakhstan Premier League players Liga I players Russian expatriate men's footballers Russian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in France Russian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Russian expatriate sportspeople in Romania Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Russian expatriate sportspeople in Kazakhstan Expatriate men's footballers in Kazakhstan 21st-century French sportsmen 21st-century Russian sportsmen {{Russia-footy-midfielder-1996-stub