Yuriy Nikiforov

Nikiforov as coach of Dynamo Moscow in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Yuriy Valeryevich Nikiforov
Date of birth	(1970-09-16) 16 September 1970 (age 53)
Place of birth	Odesa, Ukrainian SSR (now Ukraine)
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)	Centre-back
Youth career
	Chornomorets Odesa
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1986–1987	Chornomorets Odesa	0	(0)
1987	SKA Odesa	5	(0)
1988	Chornomorets Odesa	1	(0)
1988–1989	Dynamo Kyiv	0	(0)
1990–1993	Chornomorets Odesa	76	(4)
1993–1996	Spartak Moscow	85	(16)
1993	Spartak-d Moscow	3	(2)
1996–1998	Sporting Gijón	65	(3)
1998–2002	PSV	99	(5)
2002–2003	RKC	23	(1)
2003–2004	Urawa Red Diamonds	12	(0)
Total		369	(31)
International career
1986–1987	Soviet Union U-16
1990–1991	Soviet Union U-21	5	(0)
1992	CIS	4	(0)
1992	Ukraine	3	(0)
1993–2002	Russia	55	(6)
Managerial career
2014–2015	Irtysh Pavlodar (assistant)
2015	Kuban Krasnodar (assistant)
2017	Dynamo-2 Moscow (assistant)
2017	Dynamo Moscow (reserves assistant)
2017–2019	Dynamo Moscow (assistant)
2022–	Russia (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Yuriy Valeryevich Nikiforov (alternate spelling Valeriovych; Юрий Валерьевич Никифоров, Ukrainian: Юрій Валерійович Никифоров; born 16 September 1970) is a professional football coach and a former player who played mainly as a central defender.

Club career

Born in Odesa, Ukraine, Soviet Union, Nikiforov started playing professionally with hometown's FC Chornomorets. After one year with FC Dynamo Kyiv in which he appeared solely for the reserves he returned to his first club, playing in the inaugural edition of the Ukrainian Premier League.

In early 1993, Nikiforov moved to Russia with FC Spartak Moscow, being an instrumental defensive unit as the capital side won three out of four Premier League titles, with the player also netting regularly. His first abroad experience came with Sporting de Gijón, to where he arrived at the same time as former compatriot Dmitri Cheryshev (he would also share team with another Russian while in Asturias, Igor Lediakhov).^[1]

After Gijón's relegation from La Liga, Nikiforov played five years in the Netherlands, starting with PSV Eindhoven which he helped to consecutive Eredivisie accolades. For 2002–03, the 32-year-old signed with lowly RKC Waalwijk also in the Dutch top level, with the club finishing in a comfortable ninth place. He finished his career in Japan, after one year with Urawa Red Diamonds.

International career

Nikiforov played four times for the Commonwealth of Independent States in 1992, as the national team that rose from the ashes of the Soviet Union took part in that year's UEFA European Championship – he did not make the squad for the finals. His debut came on 25 January in a 1–0 friendly with the United States, in Miami.

After briefly representing Ukraine, also in that year, Nikiforov switched to Russia, with which he would participate in two FIFA World Cups – 1994 and 2002 – as well as UEFA Euro 1996 (eight matches in total, but with the national side always exiting in the group stage).^[2]

In 2009, Nikiforov was part of the Russian squad that won the Legends Cup.

Coaching career

After retiring, he became a coach, following his former PSV teammate Dmitri Khokhlov as an assistant to FC Kuban Krasnodar and FC Dynamo Moscow in the Russian Premier League.

On 12 August 2022, he was hired as an assistant to Valeri Karpin in the Russia national football team.^[3]

Personal life

Nikiforov's older brother, Oleksandr, was also a footballer. He too represented Chornomorets (four different spells), and coincided with Yuri from 1989 to 1990.

Career statistics

Club

^[4]

National team

^[5]

Honours

Club

Chornomorets Odesa

• Ukrainian Cup (1): 1992

Spartak Moscow

• Russian Football Premier League (3): 1993, 1994, 1996
• Russian Cup (1): 1994

PSV Eindhoven

• Eredivisie (2): 1999–2000, 2000–01
• Johan Cruyff Shield (3):1998, 2000, 2001

Country

Soviet Union

• FIFA U-16 World Cup (1): 1987
• UEFA European Under-18 Championship (1): 1988

Russia

• Legends Cup (2): 2009, 2010