Oleh Volodymyrovych Kuznetsov (born as Oleg Wladimirowitsch Kuznetsow in Germany) ( uk, Олег Володимирович Кузнєцов) (born 22 March 1963) is a Ukrainian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

coach and former professional player. He won domestic honours in the Soviet Union with Dynamo Kyiv (as well as the

UEFA Cup Winners Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

in 1986), in Scotland with Rangers, in Israel with Maccabi Haifa and in Ukraine with CSKA-Borysfen Kyiv. Kuznetsov won 58

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for the USSR national team between 1986 and 1991, playing in the final of

UEFA Euro 1988 The 1988 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in West Germany from 10 to 25 June 1988. It was the eighth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. The tournament crowned the Nethe ...

then was also selected for its successors, the CIS (five caps) and

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 inva ...

(three caps).

Club career

Desna Chernihiv

Kuznetsov was born in

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebu ...

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...

into a military family stationed in East Germany. His family returned to their native Ukraine and the town of

Chernihiv Chernihiv ( uk, Черні́гів, , russian: Черни́гов, ; pl, Czernihów, ; la, Czernihovia), is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative center of Chernihiv Oblast and Chernihiv Raion within ...

when his father retired from the army and got a job as an engineer at a local radio plant. His mother worked as an engineer in a construction and design institute, from where she retired. Kuznetsov started playing when he was eight years old with local football schools before signing for the city's professional club

Desna Chernihiv Football Club Desna Chernihiv ( uk, ФК «Десна» Чернігів) is a Ukrainian football club based in Chernihiv. The original name of the club was "Avanhard" (FC Avanhard Chernihiv) during its first year of existence as part of a rep ...

in 1980, continuing to improve his technique and tactics under the guidance of coach Efim Shkolnikov. He made 86 appearances for Desna and helped the team to finish twelfth in the Soviet Second League (Zone 5) in the 1981 season, improving to second place in the 1982 season (Zone 6).

Dynamo Kyiv

After a successful 1982 season, Kuznetsov moved to Dynamo Kyiv where he remained until September 1990. He won the

Soviet Top League The Soviet Top League, known after 1970 as the Higher League (russian: Чемпионат СССР по футболу: Высшая лига), served as the top division of Soviet Union football from 1936 until 1991. The professional top level ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal en ...

and

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicis ...

, the

Soviet Cup The Soviet Cup, or USSR Cup (russian: Кубок СССР),, be, Кубак СССР, uz, СССР Кубоги, kk, КСРО Кубогы, ka, სსრკ თასი, az, ССРИ кубоку, lt, TSRS taurė, ro, Cupa URSS ( Moldov ...

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

and

, and the

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tourn ...

in 1985–86. He became regarded as one of the best defenders in Europe in the second half of the 1980s,known for his strong ball-winning skills and long-range shooting power.

Rangers

Kuznetsov transferred to Scottish club Rangers in 1990. He injured his

cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint and the atlanto-axial joint. In a fashion similar to the cords in a toy Jacob's la ...

in his second game (against St Johnstone)Alexei takes the Mikhailichenko The reluctant Rangers runner predicts his former club will have to work hard for success
The Herald, 21 August 2004 and did not play again for a full year. New defensive players were brought in during his layoff such as Dave McPherson, and he was never a first choice again.(Rangers player) Oleg Kuznetsov
FitbaStats A year after his arrival another Ukrainian, his former Dynamo Kyiv teammate Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko, joined the club, but they only played in 20 matches together across three seasons. He moved on in 1994 after a four-year stint badly hampered by injuries, with

Basile Boli Basile Boli (born 2 January 1967) is a Ivorian-born French former professional footballer who played as a defender, and a current television sports presenter. He spent the majority of his career with Auxerre and Marseille before ending his ca ...

coming to

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

to take his place in the squad.

Maccabi Haifa

After being released by Rangers, Kuznetsov played for one season in Israel with Maccabi Haifa, winning the 1994–95 Israel State Cup and finishing runners-up in the 1994–95 Liga Leumit.

CSKA-Borysfen Kyiv

Kuznetsov returned to Ukraine to finish his career with CSKA-Borysfen Kyiv. In 1995–96 he won the

Ukrainian Second League Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * Som ...

to achieve promotion to 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 t ...

International career

Kuznetsov played for the East Germany U20 national team in the 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification in 1983. He appeared in 58 games for the USSR national team (one goal), five times for the interim CIS after the fall of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

and three times for the independent

side. He claimed a silver medal with the USSR at

Euro 1988 The 1988 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in West Germany from 10 to 25 June 1988. It was the eighth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. The tournament crowned the Neth ...

,and also appeared for them at the

and

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being ...

s; On 9 September 1990, he scored his only goal for the USSR in a 2–0 win against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

in UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying at the Central Lenin Stadium in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

; subsequently he played for the CIS at Euro 1992 Finals.

Coaching career

Kuznetsov began coaching in 1998 at the last club he played for professionally, CSKA Kyiv. Starting out as an assistant coach, he became head coach for the 2001–2002 season (with CSKA Kyiv becoming

Arsenal Kyiv Football Club Arsenal Kyiv () is a Ukrainian Association football, football club based in Kyiv. In 2019, the club's professional team was dissolved, but its junior teams continue to compete in city competitions. The club claims to be a successo ...

in the meantime). He moved to the coaching staff at Dynamo Kyiv and later had several roles with the Ukraine national team, including as a member of the staff with the senior squad that reached the quarter-finals of the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

in Germany, and taking charge of various youth age group teams over the next decade.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Player

;FC Desna Chernihiv *

Championship of the Ukrainian SSR The Championship of the Ukrainian SSR in football was a top competition of association football in the Ukrainian SSR in 1921-91. Number of Ukrainian clubs almost never competed in the championship such as Dynamo Kyiv. The competitions were organi ...

: Runner-up

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C ...

;Dynamo Kyiv *

: 1985–86 *

;Rangers *

Scottish Premier Division The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) ...

1990–91 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

, 1991–92,

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

, 1993–94 *

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existe ...

, 1993–94 *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1991–92 ;CSKA Kyiv *

: 1995–96 ;Soviet Union *

European Football Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is conte ...

: Runner-up

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

Individual ;Ballon d'Or *

– 11th *

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

– 17th

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuznetsov, Oleh 1963 births Living people Sportspeople from Magdeburg Soviet footballers Ukrainian footballers Footballers from Saxony-Anhalt Association football defenders Soviet Union international footballers Ukraine international footballers Dual internationalists (football) FC Desna Chernihiv players FC Dynamo Kyiv players FC Arsenal Kyiv players Rangers F.C. players Maccabi Haifa F.C. players Soviet Top League players Scottish Football League players 1986 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1988 players 1990 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1992 players Ukrainian football managers FC Arsenal Kyiv managers Soviet expatriate footballers Ukrainian expatriate footballers Soviet expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Ukrainian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate footballers in Scotland Ukrainian expatriate sportspeople in Israel Expatriate footballers in Israel Ukrainian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate footballers in Russia Recipients of the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 1st class Recipients of the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 2nd class Recipients of the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 3rd class