Alexei Eremenko
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alexei Eremenko, Jr. (Russian: ÐлекÑей Ерёменко) (born March 24, 1983 in Rostov-on-Don, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union) is a Russian-born Finnish footballer who currently plays for FC Saturn in the Russian Premier League. He is an attacking player who is able to operate in many roles, and is also known as a set piece specialist.
Eremenko moved to Finland with his family at the age of seven when his father, former FC Dynamo Moscow and FC Spartak Moscow player Alexei Eremenko Sr., came to play in Finland with FF Jaro. He was granted Finnish citizenship in 2003, but still holds Russian passport as well. He is the elder brother of Roman Eremenko.
Eremenko spent some time with Tromsø IL in Norway (his father played for the senior team, he himself played for the under-fifteens team) and with the youth academy of FC Metz in France, before returning to Finland to make his Veikkausliiga debut with FC Jokerit in 2001. Next season he moved to HJK Helsinki, and eventually became the league's top player. He won two Finnish championships and one Finnish Cup with HJK. In the summer of 2004 Eremenko moved back abroad, joining Italian Serie A club US Lecce. After failing to make a major breakthrough at Lecce, he moved to FC Saturn on a four-year deal in the January 2006 transfer window, becoming a key player for the Russian side.
Eremenko made his debut for the Finnish national team on October 11, 2003 against Canada. He was a key player for Finland in 2006 World Cup qualifying, scoring an impressive eight goals, four of which came from free kicks.
[edit] Clubs
- 2001 FC Jokerit
- 2002-04 HJK Helsinki
- 2004-06 US Lecce
- 2006- FC Saturn
[edit] Honours
- Finnish Championship: 2002, 2003
- Finnish Cup: 2003
[edit] External links
- FootballDatabase provides Alexei Eremenko's profile and stats
- Yeremenko Closer to Russia Than Finland, The Moscow Times, September 6, 2006.
- (Finnish) Profile at FA of Finland's official website
- (Finnish) Finn, Iltalehti, Semtember 14, 2006.
