Aleksandr Kerzhakov

Zenit

Born in Kingisepp, Leningrad Oblast, he spent the 2000 season at amateur club FC Svetogorets Svetogorsk, helping them win the Northwest regional league by scoring 18 goals. In 2001 Kerzhakov transferred to FC Zenit Saint Petersburg, debuting in March and scoring his first goal in June against Spartak Moscow. In his first season, Kerzhakov was the second choice striker behind Hennadiy Popovych. However, later in 2001, he helped Zenit finish third in the Russian Premier League and runners-up in 2003. In 2002, Kerzhakov developed a striking partnership with Andrey Arshavin which earned them both call-ups to the Russian national team. That year Kerzhakov represented Russia at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. In 2003, Czech manager Vlastimil Petržela used Kerzhakov as a first choice striker and he became the top scorer of the Russian Premier League the following season. While under Petržela, Kerzhakov started in all four group games of the 2004–05 UEFA Cup and went on to score a hat trick in a 5–1 victory over AEK Athens. The following season, he was in the starting line up once again in Zenit's second straight UEFA Cup campaign. Zenit qualified for the round of 32 by overcoming Vitória, Beşiktaş, Bolton, and Sevilla. In the knockout stages, Kerzhakov scored against Rosenborg and Olympique de Marseille as Zenit reached the quarterfinals to face Sevilla. Kerzhakov gave his best performance by scoring a goal in the away leg but could not save his team as they lost out 5–2 on…

Early international career

Kerzhakov began playing for the Russian U21 team in 2001. He made his senior debut for Russia in a friendly against Estonia on 27 March 2002. Two months later, Oleg Romantsev selected Kerzhakov for the 2002 FIFA World Cup as one of four strikers alongside Vladimir Beschastnykh, Ruslan Pimenov, and Dmitri Sychev. He was on the bench for Russia's first two games against Tunisia and Japan but came on for Valery Karpin against Belgium in the 82nd minute and provided an assist for Sychev in an eventual 3–2 defeat. After Romanstev's sacking, new manager Valery Gazzaev made Kerzhakov a regular call up in the squad. Just prior to the start of the UEFA Euro 2004 qualifiers, Kerzhakov scored his first goal for Russia in a friendly 1–1 draw against Sweden on 21 August 2002. In 2003, he won the Cyprus International Football Tournament, playing in the final match. After making eight appearances in the qualification tournament, he was selected by Georgi Yartsev for the final tournament as one of four strikers in the squad behind with Dmitri Bulykin, Dmitri Kirichenko, and Dmitri Sychev. He was on the bench for the games against Spain and Greece, but played a full game against Portugal, as Russia was eliminated from the group stage.

2004–2010

Following Euro 2004, Kerzhakov featured regularly under Yartsev during the 2006 World Cup qualifiers and scored a goal against Liechtenstein in March 2005. Yartsev's successor Yuri Semin, continued to…

On 15 March 2018, the Russian Football Union announced signing a contract with Kerzhakov to manage the Russia national under-17 football team until the end of 2019. The team became Russia national under-18 football team in September 2018 as the players aged and then Russia national under-19 football team. On 24 September 2020, he was hired as manager by the FNL club FC Tom Tomsk. He left Tom at the end of the 2020–21 season. On 17 June 2021, he signed with FC Nizhny Novgorod, which was recently promoted into the Russian Premier League. The club avoided relegation at the end of the 2021–22 season, and on 16 June 2022 Kerzhakov left Nizhny Novgorod. He moved to with his family to Dubai but did not have a job there. On 8 February 2023, Kerzhakov was hired as a manager by Cypriot club Karmiotissa. He left Karmiotissa after one victory in six games under his management on 1 April 2023, moving back to Dubai. In May 2024, he became the manager of Kairat, a club in the Kazakhstan Premier League. On 3 September that year, his contract was terminated by mutual agreement, and Kerzhakov left the club. Under his leadership, Kairat played 12 matches. In these games, the team won six times, drew three times, and lost three times.

His younger brother, Mikhail, is a professional footballer who also plays for Zenit Saint Petersburg as a goalkeeper. In 2002, Kerzhakov authored his autobiography titled Up to 16 and older. (Russian: До 16 и старше) In April 2023, Kerzhakov said that he opposed the invasion of Ukraine, and has left Russia since then.