Sergei Yevgenyevich Aleinikov (Russian: Сергей Евгеньевич Алейников; Belarusian: Сярге́й Яўге́навіч Але́йнікаў, Syarhey Alyeynikaw; born 7 November 1961) is a Belarusian and Soviet former professional footballer, and currently a coach. He primarily played as a defensive midfielder and was known for his stamina, intelligence, solid technique, tactical sense, and passing ability. He also played in defence as a sweeper or centre-back.[1]
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Sergei Yevgenyevich Aleinikov | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 7 November 1961 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Minsk, Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Defensive midfielder | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1981–1989 | Dinamo Minsk | 220 | (31) | ||||||||||||||
| 1989–1990 | Juventus | 30 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 1990–1992 | Lecce | 59 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 1993–1996 | Gamba Osaka | 83 | (14) | ||||||||||||||
| 1996 | IK Oddevold | 5 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 1997 | Anagni | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 1998 | Corigliano | 9 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 406 | (51) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1983–1984 | Soviet Union Olympic | 4 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 1984–1991 | Soviet Union | 73 | (6) | ||||||||||||||
| 1992 | CIS | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 1992–1994 | Belarus | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1998–1999 | Anagni | ||||||||||||||||
| 2000–2001 | U.S. Pontedera 1912 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2003 | Torpedo-Metalurg Moscow | ||||||||||||||||
| 2003 | Vidnoye | ||||||||||||||||
| 2003–2005 | Copertino Youth Academy | ||||||||||||||||
| 2005–2007 | Juventus Youth Academy | ||||||||||||||||
| 2007–2008 | Kras | ||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | Kras | ||||||||||||||||
| 2014 | Dainava Alytus | ||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Playing career
Aleinikov was born in Minsk, Belarusian SSR. He played for the USSR national football team, making 73 appearances, scoring six goals, from 1984 to 1991,[2] and was in the Soviet squad that made the final of Euro 1988, losing to the Netherlands 0–2. He also played for the CIS in 1992 and earned 4 caps for Belarus after the independence of Belarus, earning his final cap against Luxembourg in a Euro 1996 qualifier in 1994.
He joined Dinamo Minsk in 1981 and won the USSR championship the following season. The midfielder then joined Juventus FC in 1989, and won the UEFA Cup and Coppa Italia in 1990. He signed for U.S. Lecce in 1990, and in 1992 went to Japan to play for Gamba Osaka. He finished his career with Swedish side IK Oddevold in 1996.
In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, he was selected as the Golden Player of Belarus by the Football Federation of Belarus as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years.[3]
Coaching career
In the 2007–08 season Aleinikov served as head coach of amateur Promozione team Kras. He coached the side for a second time from summer 2011 until 30 October 2012.
Personal life
His son Artur (born 1991), a midfielder, followed his father's footsteps and was part of Novara squad in 2009.[4][5]
Career statistics
Club
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Dinamo Minsk | 1981 | Top League | 14 | 0 | – | 14 | 0 | |||||
| 1982 | 21 | 8 | – | 21 | 8 | |||||||
| 1983 | 29 | 2 | – | 29 | 2 | |||||||
| 1984 | 31 | 3 | – | 31 | 3 | |||||||
| 1985 | 32 | 5 | – | 32 | 5 | |||||||
| 1986 | 21 | 6 | – | 21 | 6 | |||||||
| 1987 | 28 | 2 | – | 28 | 2 | |||||||
| 1988 | 28 | 3 | – | 28 | 3 | |||||||
| 1989 | 16 | 2 | – | 16 | 2 | |||||||
| Total | 220 | 31 | – | 220 | 31 | |||||||
| Juventus | 1989–90 | Serie A | 30 | 3 | 8 | 0 | – | 12[c] | 0 | 50 | 3 | |
| Lecce | 1990–91 | Serie A | 29 | 0 | – | – | 29 | 0 | ||||
| 1991–92 | Serie B | 30 | 2 | – | – | 30 | 2 | |||||
| Total | 59 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 59 | 2 | ||||
| Gamba Osaka | 1993 | J1 League | 15 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | – | 22 | 2 | |
| 1994 | 32 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | – | 35 | 7 | |||
| 1995 | 36 | 8 | 4 | 1 | – | – | 40 | 9 | ||||
| 1996 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total | 83 | 14 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 2 | – | 97 | 18 | |||
| Oddevold | 1996 | Allsvenskan | 5 | 0 | – | – | 5 | 0 | ||||
| Città di Anagni | 1997–98 | Nazionale Dilettanti | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Corigliano | 1997–98 | Nazionale Dilettanti | 9 | 1 | – | – | 9 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 406 | 51 | 14 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 440 | 55 | ||
International
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soviet Union | 1984 | 6 | 0 |
| 1985 | 14 | 1 | |
| 1986 | 10 | 1 | |
| 1987 | 8 | 1 | |
| 1988 | 15 | 2 | |
| 1989 | 7 | 0 | |
| 1990 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1991 | 8 | 1 | |
| Total | 73 | 6 | |
| CIS | 1992 | 4 | 0 |
| Total | 4 | 0 | |
| Belarus | 1992 | 1 | 0 |
| 1993 | 2 | 0 | |
| 1994 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 4 | 0 | |
Honours
Dinamo Minsk
Juventus
Soviet Union
- UEFA European Championship runner-up: 1988
Individual
- Belarusian Footballer of the Year: (3) 1984, 1986, 1988
