Aleksandr Kokorin
Kokorin with Sochi in 2020
Personal information
Full name Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Kokorin
Date of birth (1991-03-19) 19 March 1991 (age 33)
Place of birth Valuyki, Soviet Union
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Aris Limassol (on loan from Fiorentina)
Number 9
Youth career
2000–2008 Lokomotiv Moscow
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2013 Dynamo Moscow 114 (19)
2013 Anzhi Makhachkala 0 (0)
2013–2016 Dynamo Moscow 57 (22)
2016–2019 Zenit Saint Petersburg 62 (17)
2020 Zenit Saint Petersburg 0 (0)
2020 → Sochi (loan) 10 (7)
2020–2021 Spartak Moscow 8 (2)
2021– Fiorentina 10 (0)
2022–2023 → Aris Limassol (loan) 29 (13)
2023– → Aris Limassol (loan) 18 (6)
International career‡
2008 Russia U17 10 (9)
2010 Russia U19 3 (2)
2009–2011 Russia U21 17 (8)
2011–2017 Russia 48 (12)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 00:40, 19 February 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 14 November 2017

Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Kokorin (né Kartashov; Russian: Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Коко́рин, pronounced [ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ kɐˈkorʲɪn]; born 19 March 1991) is a Russian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Cypriot club Aris Limassol on loan from Italian side Fiorentina.

Kokorin had his breakthrough season in 2012–13, which led to Dynamo Moscow inserting a €19 million release clause into his contract. A full international since 2011, Kokorin has gained over 45 caps and was named in the Russian squads for Euro 2012, 2014 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2016.

In October 2018, he was arrested on an assault-related charge. He was later found guilty and spent approximately one year in prison.[2][3]

Club career

Kokorin with Dynamo Moscow in 2012

Kokorin made his debut for the senior FC Dynamo Moscow team on 4 October 2008 – Dynamo was decimated by injuries and was losing to FC Saturn Moscow Oblast 0–1 at the halftime when Kokorin came on as a substitute. With 18 minutes to go Kokorin scored an equalizer (Dynamo went on to win 2–1). He became the youngest player to score a goal for Dynamo in the Russian Premier League (17 years 199 days). He scored a winning goal in a 1–0 victory over FC Lokomotiv Moscow in his second game as a starter on 3 November 2008.

On 29 July 2009, he scored the winning goal in a 1–0 win against Celtic F.C. in the first leg of their third qualifying round tie in the UEFA Champions League in Glasgow.[4]

At the end of the 2012–13 season he entered the Top 33 players list as the No. 1 Left Striker.[5]

On 4 July 2013, Kokorin agreed personal terms with Anzhi Makhachkala after the club had triggered his €19 million release clause.[6] He was officially signed by Anzhi and registered with the league as an Anzhi player. However, before he could play a single official game for Anzhi (he was out of commission due to injury at the time of his signing), on 6 August, following restructuring of Anzhi at business level, the whole squad was put up for sale, including new signing Kokorin. The next day, Yuri Zhirkov, Igor Denisov and Kokorin were all transferred to Dynamo for an undisclosed fee.

Zenit Saint Petersburg

On 30 January 2016, he moved from Dynamo to FC Zenit Saint Petersburg.[7]

On 9 April 2016, Kokorin scored his first goal for Zenit in a game against FC Amkar Perm.

According to his lawyer Yuri Padalko, following his release from penal colony on 17 September 2019, he signed a new contract with Zenit until the end of the 2019–20 season.[3]

Sochi

On 21 January 2020, Russian Premier League club PFC Sochi announced that Kokorin will join them on loan until the end of the 2019–20 season.[8] He initially refused to report and was moved to Zenit-2. He eventually agreed to the loan and it was confirmed by Zenit on 17 February 2020.[9]

On 19 June 2020, Kokorin scored a hat-trick in the first match back following the suspension of the Premier League due to COVID-19 pandemic. The match was a notable 10–1 victory over FC Rostov.[10] Rostov were forced to play their youth side though after their senior and reserve sides, 43 players in total, were forced to quarantine.[11]

Spartak Moscow

Kokorin with Spartak Moscow in 2020

On 2 August 2020, Spartak Moscow announced the signing of Kokorin to a three-year contract, with the option of an additional year, after his Zenit St.Petersburg contract had expired.[12]

Fiorentina

On 21 January 2021, Spartak announced that they had reached an agreement with Serie A club Fiorentina on Kokorin's transfer.[13] On 27 January 2021, Fiorentina confirmed that the club signed a contract with Kokorin.[14] He became the second Russian to sign for the club, the first being Andrei Kanchelskis in 1997.[15]

In August 2022, he was loaned to Aris Limassol.[16] He helped the club win their first ever Cypriot First Division championship, and was voted as the most valuable player of the Cypriot season.[17] In September 2023, he returned to Aris on loan for another year.[18]

International career

Kokorin with the Russia national team in 2012

Kokorin was a part of the Russia U-21 side that was competing in the 2011 European Under-21 Championship qualification.[19] Kokorin was called up to the Russia national football team for a friendly against Greece in November 2011 and made his national team debut in that game on the 11th, a 1–1 draw in Piraeus. He played two games at UEFA Euro 2012 as Russia failed to pass the group stages.[20]

He scored his first national team goal on 11 September 2012 in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Israel, which finished as a 4–0 victory at the Ramat Gan Stadium.[21]

On 2 June 2014, he was included in Russia's 2014 FIFA World Cup squad.[22] He scored Russia's goal in their 1–1 final group match draw with Algeria, as the team was knocked out by the North African side.[23]

Kokorin scored three times in Russia's successful UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying, concluding on 12 October 2015 with a penalty in their last game, a 2–0 win over Montenegro at the Otkrytie Arena which sealed Russia's place at the expense of Sweden.[24] He was selected in Russia's squad for Euro 2016, playing in all three matches as Russia finished bottom of the group.

On 15 March 2018, he suffered an ACL tear in a Europa League game against RB Leipzig and missed the 2018 FIFA World Cup as a result.[25]

Personal life

He was born as Aleksandr Kartashov and changed his surname later, in honour of his mother Maria Kokorina following her divorce from his biological father.[26]

On 7 October 2018, Kokorin and Krasnodar midfielder Pavel Mamayev assaulted a Russian government official in a restaurant. The football players struck the official with a chair and used racial slurs. Kokorin and Mamayev were caught on camera hitting the official in a cafe in Moscow, according to Gazeta. It quotes a Russian lawyer saying that a conviction such as this would carry a maximum sentence of five years.[27] Hours before that incident, Mamayev, Kokorin and other young people were involved in an altercation with the driver of a Channel One show presenter; he received brain damage, nose fracture and face contusions after numerous punches.[28] Kokorin was apprehended for two months.[29] Kokorin remained in prison until his trial which began on 9 April 2019.[30] On 8 May 2019, he was sentenced to one year and six months in penal colony.[2] Considering the time he spent in pre-trial detention, the latest possible date for his release from custody was considered to be 14 December 2019. He was paroled on 17 September 2019.[3]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 3 January 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Dynamo Moscow 2008 Russian Premier League 7 2 0 0 — — 7 2
2009 24 2 3 0 4[b] 1 — 31 3
2010 24 0 2 0 — — 26 0
2011–12 37 5 4 2 — — 41 7
2012–13 22 10 1 0 3[c] 3 — 26 13
2013–14 22 10 1 0 — — 23 10
2014–15 27 8 1 0 11[c] 2 — 39 10
2015–16 8 4 2 1 — — 10 5
Total 171 41 14 3 18 6 — 203 50
Zenit Saint Petersburg 2015–16 Russian Premier League 10 2 2 1 2[d] 0 — 14 3
2016–17 27 5 2 1 8[c] 4 1[e] 0 38 10
2017–18 22 10 0 0 13[c] 9 — 35 19
2018–19 3 0 1 1 1[c] 1 — 5 2
Total 62 17 5 3 24 14 1 0 92 34
Sochi (loan) 2019–20 Russian Premier League 10 7 — — — 10 7
Spartak Moscow 2020–21 Russian Premier League 8 2 2 0 — — 10 2
Fiorentina 2020–21 Serie A 4 0 0 0 — — 4 0
2021–22 6 0 1 0 — — 7 0
2023–24 0 0 0 0 1[f] 0 — 1 0
Total 10 0 1 0 1 0 — 12 0
Aris Limassol (loan) 2022–23 Cypriot First Division 29 13 1 0 0 0 — 30 13
2023–24 10 2 0 0 5[c] 2 0 0 15 4
Total 39 15 1 0 5 2 0 0 45 17
Career total 300 82 23 6 48 22 1 0 372 110
  1. ^ Includes Russian Cup, Coppa Italia, Cypriot Cup
  2. ^ Includes two appearances and one goal in UEFA Champions League and two appearances in UEFA Europa League
  3. ^ a b c d e f Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. ^ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  5. ^ Appearance in Russian Super Cup
  6. ^ Appearance in UEFA Europa Conference League

International

Scores and results list Russia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kokorin goal.
List of international goals scored by Aleksandr Kokorin[31]
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 11 September 2012 Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel 9  Israel 2–0 4–0 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
2 6 September 2013 Kazan Arena, Kazan, Russia 14  Luxembourg 1–0 4–1
3 2–0
4 10 September 2013 Petrovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg, Russia 15  Israel 2–0 3–1
5 5 March 2014 Kuban Stadium, Krasnodar, Russia 19  Armenia 1–0 2–0 Friendly
6 26 June 2014 Arena da Baixada, Curitiba, Brazil 25  Algeria 1–0 1–1 2014 FIFA World Cup
7 9 October 2014 Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden 27  Sweden 1–0 1–1 UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
8 7 June 2015 Arena Khimki, Khimki, Russia 31  Belarus 1–0 4–2 Friendly
9 8 September 2015 Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein 34  Liechtenstein 2–0 7–0 UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
10 12 October 2015 Otkrytiye Arena, Moscow, Russia 36  Montenegro 2–0 2–0
11 29 March 2016 Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France 37  France 1–2 2–4 Friendly
12 1 June 2016 Tivoli-Neu, Innsbruck, Austria 38  Czech Republic 1–0 1–2

Honours

Zenit Saint Petersburg

Aris Limassol

References

  1. ^ "Клуб".
  2. ^ a b "Russian football stars Kokorin, Mamayev sentenced to imprisonment". RAPSI. 8 May 2019.
  3. ^ a b c "Адвокат: Кокорин заключил новый контракт с "Зенитом"" [Lawyer: Kokorin signed a new contract with Zenit] (in Russian). RIA Novosti. 17 September 2019.
  4. ^ Grahame, Ewing (29 July 2009). "Celtic 0 Dynamo Moscow 1: match report". The Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 1 August 2009. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
  5. ^ "Главные спортивные новости на сегодня | Последние новости спорта в России и мире".
  6. ^ "Anzhi Makhachkala trigger €19m Aleksandr Kokorin clause". www.premier-football-news.net. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  7. ^ Юрий Жирков и Александр Кокорин присоединились к «Зениту» (in Russian). FC Zenit Saint Petersburg. 30 January 2016.
  8. ^ "Александр Кокорин присоединится к "Сочи"" (in Russian). PFC Sochi. 21 January 2020.
  9. ^ "Александр Кокорин продолжит сезон в "Сочи"" (in Russian). FC Zenit Saint Petersburg. 17 February 2020.
  10. ^ "Rostov keeper sets new record despite 10-1 loss as youngsters forced to play while first team are quarantined". Goal. 20 June 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  11. ^ "A Russian football team lost a key match 10-1 after Covid-19 forced it to field youth team". CNN. 22 June 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  12. ^ "Александр Кокорин стал игроком Спартака". spartak.com/ (in Russian). FC Spartak Moscow. 2 August 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  13. ^ FC Spartak Moscow [@fcsm_eng] (21 January 2021). "Spartak and @ACFFiorentinaEN have reached an agreement over Alexander Kokorin's move to the Italian side" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  14. ^ "KOKORIN E' UN CALCIATORE DELLA FIORENTINA. ALLE 17.00 LA PRESENTAZIONE" [KOKORIN IS A FIORENTINA PLAYER. PRESENTATION IS AT 5.00 PM.] (in Italian). ACF Fiorentina. 27 January 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  15. ^ "Kanchelskis: "Fiorentina ultima occasione per Kokorin. È cambiato, ve lo racconto"" [Kanchelskis: "Fiorentina last chance for Kokorin. It has changed, I'll tell you about it"]. Viola News (in Italian). 22 January 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  16. ^ "KOKORIN MAKES LOAN SWITCH TO ARIS LIMASSOL". Fiorentina. 31 August 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  17. ^ fm (22 May 2023). "Aris Limassol champions for first time". Financial Mirror. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  18. ^ "Kokorin is back!". Aris Limassol Official Website. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
  19. ^ "Russian Football Union – News" (in Russian). Russian Football Union. Archived from the original on 28 October 2009. Retrieved 25 September 2009.
  20. ^ "Advocaat announced the finalized Euro Squad" (in Russian). 25 July 2012.
  21. ^ "Russia leave Israel standing". UEFA. 11 September 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  22. ^ Состав национальной сборной России на ЧМ-2014 (in Russian). Russian Football Union. 2 June 2014.
  23. ^ "Algeria 1-1 Russia". BBC. 26 June 2014. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
  24. ^ Van Poortvliet, Richard (12 October 2015). "Russia qualify for EURO by defeating Montenegro". UEFA. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  25. ^ "Alexander Kokorin suffered a cruciate ligament injury against RB Leipzig". FC Zenit Saint Petersburg. 16 March 2018.
  26. ^ "Однажды спас брату жизнь. Смешная история". Александр Кокорин - от сумы до тюрьмы (in Russian). sport-express.ru. 9 August 2020.
  27. ^ "Russia internationals Aleksandr Kokorin & Pavel Mamaev should face 'severe punishment'". bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  28. ^ РЕН ТВ опубликовал новое видео избиения водителя телеведущей Кокориным и Мамаевым
  29. ^ Александр Кокорин арестован на два месяца
  30. ^ Мамаев и Кокорин отрицают преступный сговор (in Russian). RAPSI. 9 April 2019.
  31. ^ Aleksandr Kokorin at Soccerway
  32. ^ "Zenit is the Russian Premier League champion" (in Russian). Russian Premier League. 4 May 2019.
  33. ^ "20 Zenit players became Russian champions for the first time" (in Russian). FC Zenit Saint Petersburg. 4 May 2019.

External links

Aris Limassol FC – current squad
Russia squads
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