Ruslan Kamilýewiç Mingazow (; born 23 November 1991) is a Turkmen 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 currently 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 ...

for

Hong Kong Premier League The Hong Kong Premier League () is a Hong Kong professional football league organised by the Football Association of Hong Kong, China. It is currently sponsored by BOC Life and officially known as BOC Life Hong Kong Premier League (). The inau ...

club

Kitchee Kitchee Sports Club (; ; ) is a Hong Kong professional Association football, football club based in Kowloon. It was founded in 1931 and currently competes in the Hong Kong Premier League. The club has won 12 List of Hong Kong football champion ...

and the Turkmenistan national team.

Club career

Early career

Ruslan Mingazov started playing football at the age of 6, being taken to the first training by his father,

Kamil Kamil is a name used in a number of languages. Kamil () is a Polish, Czech, and Slovak given name, equivalent to the Italian Camillo, Spanish/Portuguese Camilo and French Camille. It is derived from Camillus,stablishment and dissolution ...

, who is also a former Turkmeni footballer. At the beginning he had to train with an older group of players because there was none for his age. Mingazow played for

FC Aşgabat Ashgabat Futbol Kluby is a Turkmenistan, Turkmen professional association football, football club based in Ashgabat. They play in the top division of Turkmenistan football, Ýokary Liga. Their home stadium is Nisa-Çandybil Stadium, Nisa Stadium. ...

youth team and was taken to the first team in 2007, aged 16. The same year he helped his club win the

Turkmenistan Super Cup The Turkmenistan Super Cup ( Turkmen: ''Türkmenistanyň Naýbaşy Kubogy'') is an annual one-match association football competition in Turkmenistan organized by the Football Federation of Turkmenistan. This competition serves as the season opener ...

. A year later Mingazow became the champion of Turkmenistan, winning the

2008 Ýokary Liga 2008 Ýokary Liga season was the 16th edition of the top tier professional Yokary Liga Association football, football annual competition in Turkmenistan administered by the Football Federation of Turkmenistan. It began on 12 April 2008. *FC Bagt ...

. In 2009 Mingazow participated in the

Turkmenistan President's Cup Turkmenistan President’s Cup was an international football tournament in Turkmenistan which was created in 1995 and dissolved in 2013. The tournament was dedicated to Day of State Flag of Turkmenistan. The tournament prize money was US 35,000. T ...

and helped his club reach the semi-finals, scoring two goals in three matches.

Skonto Rīga

Following the impressive performance at the Turkmenistan President's Cup, Mingazow was invited to join the tournament's finalists,

Latvian Higher League Latvian Higher League or Virslīga, also known as TonyBet Virslīga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Latvia and the highest level of the Latvian football league system. Organised by the Latvian Footbal ...

club

Skonto Rīga Skonto FC was a Latvian professional football club, active from 1991 until 2016. The club played at the Skonto Stadium in Riga. Skonto won the Virsliga in the first 14 seasons of the league's resumption (15 in total), and often provided the cor ...

, on trial by their manager

Paul Ashworth Paul Anthony Ashworth (born 29 September 1969) is an English football manager and former player. Ashworth had previously played at youth level for Norwich City before setting up PASS Soccer Schools, a national company. He later worked for Cam ...

. Having received another offer from

Armenian Premier League The Armenian Premier League (, known as the Armenian Fastex Premier League for sponsorship reasons) is the top association football, football competition in Armenia. From 1936 to 1991, the competition was held as a regional tournament within th ...

, Mingazow, eventually, signed a contract with the Latvian side in June 2009. He scored his first Latvian Higher League goal in a 5–0 victory over

Daugava Rīga FK Daugava Rīga was a Latvian football club, based at the Daugava Stadium in Riga. They played in the Latvian Higher League. The last manager of the team was Armands Zeiberliņš. From the club's foundation in 2003 till 2009 the club was kno ...

on 8 July 2009. During his first season at the club Mingazow participated in 20 league matches, scoring twice. In 2010 Mingazow helped Skonto become the champions of Latvia for the first time since 2004 under their new manager

Aleksandrs Starkovs Aleksandrs Starkovs (born 26 July 1955) is a Latvian football coach and a former footballer who played as a forward. Most recently he coached FK Liepāja. Starkovs has managed clubs such as Spartak Moscow in Russia, FK Baku in Azerbaijan and ...

. In 2011 Skonto won the

Baltic League The Baltic League (officially known as the Triobet Baltic League) was a Baltic men's football club tournament held four times between the top club sides from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Launched in 2007 inspired by the now defunct Scandinavi ...

, beating another Latvian side

FK Ventspils FK Ventspils was a Latvian professional football club based at Ventspils Olimpiskais Stadions in Ventspils. It was one of the most prominent football clubs in the country. The club played in the Latvian Virslīga since 1997. It folded in July ...

in the final's penalty shoot-out. In 2012 Mingazow won the

Latvian Cup The Latvian Football Cup () is the main knockout cup competition in Latvian football. Since 2021, its full name is Responsible Gaming Latvian Football Cup (''Atbildīgas spēles Latvijas kauss'') due to the sponsorship by sports betting company ...

, as Skonto beat Liepājas Metalurgs in the final via penalty shoot-out. On 4 July 2013 Mingazow scored the only goal in 1–0 away victory over

FC Tiraspol FC Tiraspol was a Moldovan football (soccer), football club based in Tiraspol, Moldova. They played in the Moldovan National Division, Divizia Naţională, the top division in Moldovan football. Founded in 1992 as ''Constructorul Chișinău'', ...

, helping Skonto reach the second round of the

2013–14 UEFA Europa League The 2013–14 UEFA Europa League was the 43rd season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the fifth season under its current title. The final was played between Sevilla and Benfica at the Juventus Stadium in Tu ...

. In the second round Mingazow provided an excellent assist for his team-mate

Artūrs Karašausks Artūrs Karašausks (born 29 January 1992) is a Latvian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Cambodian club Visakha. Club career Early career Karašausks was born in Riga. As a youth player he was a member of the JFC Skonto aca ...

as Skonto beat the Synot liga side

Slovan Liberec FC Slovan Liberec (), commonly referred to as Slovan Liberec or simply Slovan, is a Czech professional association football, football club based in the city of Liberec. The club is one of the most successful in the Czech Republic, having won thr ...

2–1 at home. Mingazow was named the best player of the Latvian Higher League in August 2013.

Baumit Jablonec

On 27 August 2014 Mingazow joined the

Czech First League The Czech First League () also known as the Chance Liga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Czech Republic and the highest level of the Czech Republic football league system. Seasons typically run from A ...

club Baumit Jablonec.

Slavia Prague

Mingazow joined another Czech First League team,

Slavia Prague Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal (Sports Club Slavia Prague – Football, ), commonly known as Slavia Praha or Slavia Prague, is a Czech professional football club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are the second most successful club in t ...

, in June 2016. On 2 April 2017, he gained notoriety in Czech press after winning a controversial

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

in the

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

- Slavia derby, allowing Slavia to equalize from the spot in injury time. The disciplinary board of referees later ruled that it had been a

dive Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), a ...

by Mingazow, but no punishment was issued. He scored his first league goal for Slavia on 17 April 2017 in a 4–0 home win against

Hradec Králové Hradec Králové (; ) is a city of the Czech Republic. It has about 94,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Hradec Králové Region. The historic centre of Hradec Králové is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech R ...

. On 15 June 2018, Slavia announced that Mingazow will be looking for new opportunities and will no longer play for Slavia. On 7 September 2018, Slavia announced that Mingazow had joined

1. FK Příbram 1. is the ordinal form of the number one in a number of European languages. 1. may also refer to: Association football Austria * 1. FC Vöcklabruck, a defunct Austrian association football club Czech Republic * 1. FC Karlovy Vary, a Czech ass ...

on loan for the first half of the season.

Irtysh Pavlodar

23 July 2019 Ruslan Mingazow, as a free agent, signed a contract with Kazakhstani

FC Irtysh Pavlodar FC Irtysh () is a Kazakh professional football club based at the Central Stadium in Pavlodar. Irtysh won the Kazakhstan Premier league in 1993 (as ''Ansat''), 1997, 1999, 2002 and 2003. The club was also founding members of the top league and ...

. In December 2019, he extended the contract until the end of 2020. In the spring of 2020, due to financial problems,

withdrew from the championship of Kazakhstan. The footballer spent 13 matches for

, scored 2 goals and gave 3 assists in the Kazakhstan Premier League.

Shakhter Karagandy

On 6 August 2020, Mingazow signed for Kazakh club

FC Shakhter Karagandy Football Club Shakhter (), commonly referred to as FC Shakhter Karagandy ( ), is a professional football club based in Karagandy, Kazakhstan. They have been members of the Kazakhstan Premier League since its foundation in 1992, but fell of to t ...

, making his debut on 19 August, in a 1-0 defeat to

FC Kaisar FC Kaysar (, ''Qaisar Futbol Kluby'') is a Football in Kazakhstan, Kazakh professional association football, football club based in the Gany Muratbayev Stadium in Kyzylorda. They are founding members of the Kazakhstan Premier League and have miss ...

Caspiy

On 26 February 2021,

FC Caspiy Caspiy Football Club () is a Kazakhstani football club based at the Zhastar Stadium in Aktau. The club name derived from Caspian Sea (), on whose eastern shore Aktau is located. Their best year was 1996, when they finished 4th in the Premier Lea ...

announced the signing of Mingazow.

Kitchee

On 3 March 2022,

announced the signing of Mingazow. Mingazow made his debut for Kitchee in Buriram on August 19, 2022, in an AFC Champions League 2022 match against

Buriram United Buriram United Football Club () is a Thai professional football club based in Buriram. The club has played at the top level of Thai football for the majority of their existence and competes in the Thai League 1. The club was founded in 1970 as P ...

(0:4). In January 2023, Kitchee announced the extension of Ruslan Mingazov's contract until 2025. On 23 May 2023, Mingazow was named the player of the season in Hong Kong Top Footballer Awards.

International career

Mingazow made his senior national team debut on 14 April 2009, in a

2010 AFC Challenge Cup Qualification The 2010 AFC Challenge Cup qualification phase saw five teams advance to the finals to join three automatic qualifiers in the final tournament in Sri Lanka. Qualification consisted of two sections. * A playoff between the 19th and 20th ranked entra ...

match against

Maldives The Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, and historically known as the Maldive Islands, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in South Asia located in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is southwest of Sri Lanka and India, abou ...

. He scored his first national team goal against

Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

in the very next match on 16 April 2009, also in AFC Challenge Cup qualifying.

Personal life

Mingazow is an ethnic

Tatar Tatar may refer to: Peoples * Tatars, an umbrella term for different Turkic ethnic groups bearing the name "Tatar" * Volga Tatars, a people from the Volga-Ural region of western Russia * Crimean Tatars, a people from the Crimea peninsula by the B ...

. Ruslan Mingazow's father

is also a former Turkmenistani footballer, who played for the national team. He has got two sisters, one of whom is 3 years older and the other one 14 years younger. His younger sister, Kamila Mingazowa, is also a professional footballer and futsal player. During his stay in Riga Mingazow was studying business management at the

Baltic International Academy The Baltic International Academy (, ) is the largest degree-awarding tertiary educational institution in Latvia teaching primarily in the Russian language and the largest non-government higher education establishment in the Baltic countries. I ...

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Aşgabat *

Ýokary Liga The Turkmenistan Higher League, also called Türkmenistan Ýokary Liga ( Turkmen: ''Ýokary liga futbol klublarynyň arasyndaky futbol boýunça Türkmenistanyň çempionaty''), is the top division of professional football in Turkmenistan, operat ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

: 2007 Skonto *

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Latvian Football Cup The Latvian Football Cup () is the main knockout cup competition in Latvian football. Since 2021, its full name is Responsible Gaming Latvian Football Cup (''Atbildīgas spēles Latvijas kauss'') due to the sponsorship by sports betting company W ...

: 2011–12 *

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Slavia Prague *

: 2016–17 Kitchee *

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield The Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield (), known commonly as the Senior Shield, is the Association football, football Single-elimination tournament, knockout inter-club competition held in Hong Kong and the List of oldest football competitions, fo ...

, 2023–24 *

Hong Kong FA Cup Hong Kong FA Cup () is a knockout cup competition in Hong Kong football, run by and named after The Hong Kong Football Association. The first edition of the competition was held in 1975, before then the cup was known as the Golden Jubilee Cup. T ...

HKPLC Cup The Hong Kong Premier League Committee Cup () was a football competition contested by clubs in the top-tier Hong Kong domestic football league. The cup was launched for the 2023–24 season during the time when the Hong Kong national football tea ...

: 2023–24 Individual * Hong Kong Premier League top goalscorer:

* Hong Kong Premier League Footballer of the Year:

* Hong Kong Premier League Team of the Year:

References

External links

* *
Jablonets profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mingazow, Ruslan 1991 births Living people Footballers from Ashgabat Turkmenistan men's footballers 21st-century Turkmenistan sportsmen Men's association football midfielders Turkmenistan men's international footballers Turkmenistan expatriate men's footballers FC Aşgabat players Skonto FC players FK Jablonec players SK Slavia Prague players FK Mladá Boleslav players FK Příbram players FC Irtysh Pavlodar players FC Shakhter Karagandy players Kitchee SC players Latvian Higher League players Czech First League players Kazakhstan Premier League players Hong Kong Premier League players Expatriate men's footballers in Latvia Expatriate men's footballers in the Czech Republic Expatriate men's footballers in Kazakhstan Expatriate men's footballers in Hong Kong Turkmenistan expatriate sportspeople in Latvia Turkmenistan expatriate sportspeople in the Czech Republic Turkmenistan expatriate sportspeople in Kazakhstan Turkmenistan people of Tatar descent Tatar sportsmen Footballers at the 2010 Asian Games 2019 AFC Asian Cup players Asian Games footballers for Turkmenistan Tatar footballers