Oleh Protasov

Oleh Valeriyovych Protasov (Ukrainian: Олег Валерійович Протасов, born 4 February 1964, in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) is a Ukrainian former footballer who played as a striker. He was a key member of the Soviet Union national team throughout the 1980s; his 29 goals for the Soviet Union are second in the team's history, behind Oleh Blokhin's 42. It should be considered that his first name is often spelled as Oleg on most of international rosters, particularly during his playing career.

Between October 2014 and March 2015, he was the head coach of Romanian club Astra Giurgiu.

Club

Oleh Protasov started playing football at the age of 8 years old in his hometown of Dnipropetrovsk in Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, where he played until 1987. In 1987, Protasov moved to play for the Soviet-Ukrainian football giants, Dynamo Kyiv. In all, in the Soviet Union, he won the Soviet Championship twice and was named Soviet Footballer of the Year in 1987. He scored 125 goals in the Soviet Championship, making him the 8th best scorer of all-time of the Championship.

Following the fall of the Soviet Union, Oleh Protasov got a chance to play abroad. In 1990, he joined Greek side Olympiacos Piraeus. Leaving Olympiakos in 1994, he played in Gamba Osaka, Veria FC, and finally Proodeftiki FC, from where he retired in 1999.

International

Protasov played for the Soviet Union 68 times, including at the 1986 and 1990 FIFA World Cups, as well as Euro 88, where he scored two goals. He also played one game for the Ukraine national team, in 1994.

In 1983 Protasov took part in the Summer Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR in the team of Ukrainian SSR.

After retiring as a player, Protasov went into coaching, and led Olympiacos Piraeus to the Greek title in 2003. In 2005, he coached Romanian team Steaua Bucureşti.

Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk

In December 2005, Oleh Protasov returned in Ukraine to coach his hometown team, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, after an impressive UEFA Cup performance with Steaua Bucureşti. Protasov left by his own choice and was on very good terms with the entire team and owners of the club.

In his first 2005–06 season as Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk's coach, Oleh Protasov led the team to a 6th-place finish in the Ukrainian Premier League. In the next, 2006–07 season, Protasov improved on this, finishing 4th in the league.

In the 2007–08 season his side unexpectedly led the title race ahead of the winter break, before a poor second half left his side in 4th once again. Dnipro sacked him on 29 August 2008 after an embarrassing defeat from AC Bellinzona in UEFA cup qualification match.

Kuban Krasnodar

After that, Protasov took over FC Kuban Krasnodar in the nearby region of Russia. Kuban had been recently derelegated to the Russian First League. Under Protasov's leadership, the club finished 2nd in the league, with an 8-point lead over their nearest competitors. This finish earned them right to be promoted to the Russian Premier League.

However FC Kuban was hard-hit by the global financial crisis of 2008–2009, which greatly decreased the club's budget. In a mutual agreement with the club, Protasov left the club on 19 November 2008.

Iraklis Thessaloniki

Then, he signed a two-year deal worth 400,000 euro per year with Iraklis Thessaloniki, starting from the summer of 2009. On 30 October, it was announced by Iraklis F.C. the termination of their contract, after 5 continual defeats in Super League and Greek Cup.

Astra Giurgiu

On 13 October 2014, Oleg became manager of FC Astra Giurgiu.He was sacked on 2 March 2015.

Aris Thessaloniki

Protasov agreed on a three years contract with Aris Thessaloniki, though Arvanitidis expel from head of football department position of the club, led to amateur Aris to terminate the deal after 15 minutes of its announcement.

Club

• Soviet Top League : 1983

• Soviet Top League : 1990

• Greek Cup : 1990, 1992

International

• UEFA European Championship: Runner-up 1988

Individual

• Soviet Footballer of the Year: 1987
• Uefa Silver Boot: 1984

Club

International

International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	15 May 1984	Kouvolan keskuskenttä, Kouvola, Finland	Finland	1–3	1–3	Friendly
2	2 June 1984	Wembley Stadium (1923), London, England	England	0–2	0–2	Friendly
3	28 January 1985	Maharaja College Stadium, Kochi, India	Iran	0–2	0–2	Nehru Cup 1985
4	27 March 1985	Boris Paichadze Stadium, Tbilisi, Soviet Union	Austria	2–0	2–0	Friendly
5	2 May 1985	Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Soviet Union	Switzerland	1–0	4–0	1986 World Cup qualification
6	2 May 1985	Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Soviet Union	Switzerland	2–0	4–0	1986 World Cup qualification
7	5 June 1985	Idrætsparken, Copenhagen, Denmark	Denmark	2–1	4–2	1986 World Cup qualification
8	7 August 1985	Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Soviet Union	Romania	1–0	2–0	Friendly
9	25 September 1985	Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Soviet Union	Denmark	1–0	1–0	1986 World Cup qualification
10	16 October 1985	Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Soviet Union	Republic of Ireland	2–0	2–0	1986 World Cup qualification
11	23 September 1987	Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Soviet Union	Greece	2–0	3–0	Friendly
12	28 October 1987	Lokomotiv Stadium (Tavriya), Simferopol, Soviet Union	Iceland	2–0	2–0	Euro 1988 qualifying
13	23 March 1988	Olympic Stadium (Athens), Athens, Greece	Greece	0–1	0–4	Friendly
14	23 March 1988	Olympic Stadium (Athens), Athens, Greece	Greece	0–3	0–4	Friendly
15	23 March 1988	Olympic Stadium (Athens), Athens, Greece	Greece	0–4	0–4	Friendly
16	31 March 1988	Olympic Stadium (Berlin), Berlin, West Germany	Argentina	1–3	2–4	Four Nations Tournament
17	31 March 1988	Olympic Stadium (Berlin), Berlin, West Germany	Argentina	2–4	2–4	Four Nations Tournament
18	27 April 1988	Štadión Antona Malatinského, Trnava, Czechoslovakia	Czechoslovakia	1–1	1–1	Friendly
19	1 June 1988	Lokomotiv Stadium (Moscow), Moscow, Soviet Union	Poland	2–1	2–1	Friendly
20	15 June 1988	AWD-Arena, Hanover, West Germany	Republic of Ireland	1–1	1–1	Euro 1988 Group Stage
21	22 June 1988	Mercedes-Benz Arena (Stuttgart), Stuttgart, West Germany	Italy	2–0	2–0	Euro 1988 Semi-finals
22	27 November 1988	Al-Sadaqua Walsalam Stadium, Kuwait City, Kuwait	Kuwait	0–1	0–2	Friendly
23	26 April 1989	Olimpiysky National Sports Complex, Kiev, Soviet Union	East Germany	3–0	3–0	1990 World Cup qualification
24	15 November 1989	Lokomotiv Stadium (Tavriya), Simferopol, Soviet Union	Turkey	1–0	2–0	1990 World Cup qualification
25	15 November 1989	Lokomotiv Stadium (Tavriya), Simferopol, Soviet Union	Turkey	2–0	2–0	1990 World Cup qualification
26	24 February 1990	Stanford Stadium, Palo Alto, United States of America	United States	1–3	1–3	Friendly
27	28 March 1990	Olimpiysky National Sports Complex, Kiev, Soviet Union	Netherlands	1–0	2–1	Friendly
28	18 June 1990	Stadio San Nicola, Bari, Italy	Cameroon	0–1	0–4	World Cup 1990 Group Stage
29	13 November 1991	GSZ Stadium, Larnaca, Cyprus	Cyprus	0–1	0–3	Euro 1992 qualifying