Dmitri Alenichev
FullnameDmitri Anatolievich Alenichev
Birth date20 October 1972 (age 53)
Birth placeMelioratorov, Velikoluksky District, Pskov Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Height1.71m
PositionAttacking midfielder
Years 11989
Clubs 1SKIF-Express Velikie Luki
Caps 117
Goals 14
Years 21990–1991
Clubs 2Mashinostroitel Pskov
Caps 238
Goals 27
Years 31991–1993
Clubs 3Lokomotiv Moscow
Caps 369
Goals 36
Years 41994–1998
Clubs 4Spartak Moscow
Caps 4122
Goals 418
Years 51998–2000
Clubs 5Roma
Caps 528
Goals 52
Years 61999–2000
Clubs 6→ Perugia (loan)
Caps 615
Goals 60
Years 72000–2004
Clubs 7Porto
Caps 784
Goals 712
Years 82004–2006
Clubs 8Spartak Moscow
Caps 821
Goals 83
Totalcaps394
Totalgoals52
Nationalyears 11992
Nationalteam 1USSR U-21
Nationalcaps 11
Nationalgoals 10
Nationalyears 21993
Nationalteam 2Russia U-21
Nationalcaps 22
Nationalgoals 20
Nationalyears 31996–2005[1]
Nationalteam 3Russia
Nationalcaps 355
Nationalgoals 36
Manageryears 12010–2012
Managerclubs 1Russia U18
Manageryears 22011–2015
Managerclubs 2Arsenal Tula
Manageryears 32015–2016
Managerclubs 3Spartak Moscow
Manageryears 42017–2019
Managerclubs 4Yenisey Krasnoyarsk
Dmitri Alenichev
OfficeRussian Federation Senator
from Omsk Oblast
Term start6 July 2007
Term end10 November 2010
PredecessorMikhail Lapshin
SuccessorAleksey Sokin

Dmitri Anatolyevich Alenichev (Russian: Дмитрий Анатольевич Аленичев; born 20 October 1972) is a Russian football coach, former player, and politician.

Club career

Despite being a Spartak Moscow fan, Alenichev debuted 1991 for Moscow rivals Lokomotiv Moscow, where he played four years before moving to Spartak, where in five years he won three Russian leagues and two cups, and was also elected Russian player of the year in 1997. Won Malta International Football Tournament 1996.[2] On 14 June 1998 Italian Serie A side Roma officially agreed with Spartak for 7 million USD and the player moved to Rome. He played 21 matches in his first season, but after only seven matches in the second season, he moved to Perugia in December 1999. His stint in Italy overall proved to be unsuccessful and he was eventually considered to be one of Italian football's biggest foreign flops.[3]

In 2000, he moved to Portuguese Primeira Liga side Porto, where he made a strong first impression, scored the equalizing goal against rivals Sporting CP in the first leg of the 2000 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira. He was also impressive overall in first season, as Porto captured the Taça de Portugal after winning the final 2–0 against Marítimo, Alenichev scoring the second goal. The following season, Alenichev suffered some animosity from new Porto head coach Octávio Machado (similar to his compatriot Sergei Ovchinnikov) and spent most of the first half of the season sidelined, under the shadow of Deco.

When Octávio was sacked and replaced with José Mourinho, Alenichev's prospects changed. Although he was not a regular in the starting 11, he was usually the first player substituted onto the pitch, particularly when Mourinho shifted from a 4–3–3 to a 4–4–2 formation. On 21 May 2003, he became the first Russian to play and to score in an UEFA club competition during the 2003 UEFA Cup final. On 26 May 2004, he became the first Russian to play[a], to score and to win[b] the UEFA Champions League final during the 2004 final. He remains the only Russian goalscorer in the UEFA Champions League final. A starting player in the 2003 UEFA Cup Final and mid-match substitute in the 2004 UEFA Champions League Final, Alenichev scored in both contests, the only Russian player to do so as of 2023. In the former, against Celtic, he scored the second goal, following a pass from Deco; and in the latter, against Monaco, he closed the scoreline with a powerful volley shot following a deflected through cross from Derlei. This made him one of only three players to score goals in two consecutive cup finals of different European competitions, the others being Ronald Koeman and Ronaldo.

During UEFA Euro 2004, in which Alenichev played in all three of Russia's matchups, he announced his desire to return to Spartak Moscow. In appreciation for the services done for the club, the FC Porto board made no objections to the transfer.

On 8 April 2006, Sport-Express published Alenichev's interview containing severe criticism of Aleksandrs Starkovs, Spartak's head coach at the time.[4][5] Following that, Alenichev was fined, dismissed from the first team, transfer listed 14 April[6] and on 10 September his contract was finally terminated by mutual agreement.[7] This marked the end of his playing career.

Managerial career

In 2011, he joined FC Arsenal Tula as a manager and led the club through three promotions in 3 seasons from fourth-level Russian Amateur Football League to the top-level Russian Premier League. Arsenal was relegated after just one season in the top tier and Alenichev left.

In June 2015, he became manager of his former club Spartak Moscow.[8] He resigned as Spartak manager on 5 August 2016 following Spartak's elimination in the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League third qualifying round by AEK Larnaca.[9] At the end of that season, Spartak won the Russian Premier League for the first time in 16 years under the management of his assistant Massimo Carrera.

On 5 June 2017, Alenichev signed a two-year contract with Russian second division club Yenisey Krasnoyarsk.[10] In his first season, he led Yenisey to promotion to the Russian Premier League for the first time in club's history. He was replaced as Yenisey coach after the club was relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2018–19 season.[11]

Style of play

A technically gifted and offensive-minded midfielder, Alenichev's favoured role was as a number 10 behind the strikers; he was also deployed as a central midfielder on occasion throughout his career, although he lacked both the physicality and tactical sense to excel in this position.[12]

Personal life

His older brother Andrei Alenichev also played football professionally. He has two sons, Daniil (born 2004) and Timofey (born 2012). Daniil followed in his footsteps and became a footballer too.[13] As of 2026, Daniil plays in Portuguese lower-tier amateur leagues.

Alenichev joined the United Russia party. On 14 June 2007, he was voted the representative of the Omsk Oblast in the Federation Council of Russia.[14] He represented it until 2010, when he accepted the position of head coach of the Russia national under-18 team.[15]

In 2009, Alenichev was part of the Russia squad that won the 2009 Legends Cup.

Career statistics

Club

[16][17]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueNational CupLeague CupContinentalOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Mashinostroitel Pskov1990Soviet Second League B31400———314
19917300———73
Total38700———387
Lokomotiv Moscow1991Soviet Top League16021———181
1992Russian Top League24250———292
199329420—20—334
Total69691—20—807
Spartak Moscow1994Russian Top League17340—61—274
199527430—42—346
199632720—81—428
199733243—81—456
199813241—41—214
Total12218174—306—16928
Roma1998–99Serie A21131—51—293
1999–20007130—33—134
Total28261—84—427
Perugia (loan)1999–2000Serie A15000—00—150
2000–010000—21—21
Total15000—21—171
Porto2000–01Primeira Liga28343—9121308
2001–0220320—70—283
2002–0318460—112—286
2003–0417241—10310296
Total8312164–3763113923
Spartak Moscow2004Russian Premier League13320—00—153
20058010———90
20060020—00—20
Total21350–00–263
Career total3764853100079173151176

International

[16]

National teamYearAppsGoals
Russia
199621
1997102
199880
199961
200040
2001102
200250
200340
200450
200510
Total556

International goals

DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.11 February 1996Ta' Qali National Stadium, AttardSlovenia2–03–11996 Rothmans International Tournament
2.11 October 1997Dynamo Stadium, MoscowBulgaria1–04–21998 World Cup qualifier
3.4–0
4.31 March 1999Republican Spartak Stadium, VladikavkazAND6–16–1Euro 2000 qualifier
5.6 June 2001Stade Josy Barthel, LuxembourgLuxembourg1–02–12002 World Cup qualifier
6.14 November 2001Skonto Stadium, RigaLatvia2–03–1Friendly

Managerial

Information correct as of match played 26 May 2019. Only competitive matches are counted.

NameFromToPWDLGSGA%WHonoursNotes
Arsenal Tula22 November 201110 June 2015
Spartak Moscow10 June 20155 August 2016
Yenisey Krasnoyarsk5 June 201726 May 2019
  • Notes:

P – Total of played matches W – Won matches D – Drawn matches L – Lost matches GS – Goal scored GA – Goals against
%W – Percentage of matches won

Nationality is indicated by the corresponding FIFA country code(s).

Honours

Spartak Moscow

Porto

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Dmitriy Anatolyevich Alenichev - International Appearances". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.
  2. ^ "Rothmans Tournament 1996"
  3. ^ "Dmitrij Alenitchev | Il freddo e anonimo precedessore del nipponico Nakata". Calciobidoni.it. 20 October 1972. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  4. ^ "Спорт Экспресс - ГОСТЬ 'СЭ' = Дмитрий АЛЕНИЧЕВ: 'СТАРКОВ - ТУПИК ДЛЯ 'СПАРТАКА' = Футболисты редко звонят в редакцию. Таковы законы жанра: как правило, это мы звоним им, чтобы взять интервью, комментарий или просто обсудить какой-то спорный момент. А.". Archived from the original on 15 April 2006. Retrieved 15 April 2006.
  5. ^ "Спорт Экспресс - ЧЕМПИОНАТ РОССИИ. ПРЕМЬЕР-ЛИГА. 4-й тур = Завтра - 'CПAPTAK' - 'ЛОКОМОТИВ' = Дмитрий АЛЕНИЧЕВ = СТАРКОВ - ТУПИК ДЛЯ 'СПАРТАКА' = Окончание. Начало - стр. 1 = РОМАНЦЕВ - ЛУЧШАЯ КАНДИДАТУРА = У СТАРКОВА НЕТ АВТОРИТЕТА В КОМАНДЕ =". Archived from the original on 15 April 2006. Retrieved 15 April 2006.
  6. ^ "Спорт Экспресс - АЛЕНИЧЕВ ВЫСТАВЛЕН НА ТРАНСФЕР И ОШТРАФОВАН". Archived from the original on 23 April 2006. Retrieved 15 April 2006.
  7. ^ "Официальный сайт ФК "Спартак" Москва - Текст новости". Archived from the original on 14 June 2007. Retrieved 31 March 2007.
  8. ^ "Аленичев официально возглавил "Спартак"" (in Russian). Interfax.ru. Interfax. 10 June 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  9. ^ "ru:ДМИТРИЙ АЛЕНИЧЕВ ПОКИДАЕТ «СПАРТАК»" (in Russian). FC Spartak Moscow. 5 August 2016.
  10. ^ "ru:Дмитрий Аленичев возглавил "Енисей"" (in Russian). FC Yenisey Krasnoyarsk. 5 June 2017. Archived from the original on 21 June 2017.
  11. ^ "АЛЕКСАНДР АЛЕКСЕЕВ — НОВЫЙ ГЛАВНЫЙ ТРЕНЕР "ЕНИСЕЯ"" [Aleksandr Alekseyev is the new head coach of Yenisey] (in Russian). FC Yenisey Krasnoyarsk. 17 June 2019. Archived from the original on 30 September 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  12. ^ Guidi, Marco (12 July 2017). "De La Peña, Lehmann e la meteora Blanchard: i peggiori acquisti del mercato '98-'99" (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  13. ^ "Daniil Alenichev no Leixões: o passado, a companhia da mãe e o pai para breve" (in Portuguese). O Jogo. 20 January 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  14. ^ "Новости NEWSru.com :: Футболист Дмитрий Аленичев с подачи Бориса Грызлова забил на спорт и стал сенатором от Омской области". Newsru.com. 8 June 2007. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  15. ^ "Дмитрий Аленичев официально утвержден старшим тренером юношеской сборной России (игроки 1993 года рождения) | Российский Футбольный Союз". Archived from the original on 28 November 2010. Retrieved 24 November 2010.
  16. ^
  17. ^ "Аленичев Дмитрий Анатольевич" (in Russian). premierliga.ru/. Russian Premier League. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  1. ^ out of two, along with Matvey Safonov
  2. ^ out of two, along with Matvey Safonov