Quick Facts
Biography
Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Kokorin (Russian: Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Коко́рин, pronounced [ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ kɐˈkorʲɪn]; born 19 March 1991) is a Russian footballer who plays as a forward for FC Zenit Saint Petersburg. He 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 35 caps and was named in the Russian squads for Euro 2012 and the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Club career
He 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.
At the end of the 2012-13 season he entered the Top 33 players list as the No. 1 Left Striker.
On 4 July 2013 Kokorin agreed personal terms with Anzhi Makhachkala after the club had triggered his €19 million release clause. 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.
On 30 January 2016, he moved from Dynamo to FC Zenit Saint Petersburg.
On 9 April 2016 Kokorin scored his first goal for Zenit in a game against FC Amkar Perm.
International career
Kokorin was a part of the Russia U-21 side that was competing in the 2011 European Under-21 Championship qualification. 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.
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.
On 2 June 2014, he was included in Russia's 2014 FIFA World Cup squad. 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.
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. He was selected in Russia's squad for Euro 2016, playing in all three matches as Russia finished bottom of the group.
Career statistics
Club
- As of 24 November 2016
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Dynamo Moscow | 2008 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 7 | 2 |
| 2009 | 24 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 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 | 3 | - | - | 26 | 13 | |
| 2013–14 | 22 | 10 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 23 | 10 | |
| 2014–15 | 27 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 2 | - | - | 39 | 10 | |
| 2015–16 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 10 | 5 | |
| Total | 171 | 41 | 14 | 3 | 18 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 203 | 50 | |
| Zenit | 2015-16 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 3 |
| 2016–17 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 7 | |
| Total | 24 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 10 | |
| Career Total | 195 | 45 | 18 | 5 | 25 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 239 | 60 | |
International goals
- As of match played 1 June 2016. Russia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Kokorin goal.
| 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 | 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 3 | 2–0 | ||||||
| 4 | 10 September 2013 | Petrovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg, Russia | 15 | Israel | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 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 | UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying |
| 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 | Friendly |
Achievements
Team
Dinamo Moskva
- Bronze medalist of the Russian championship: 2008
- Finalist Cup of Russia: 2011/2012
Zenit
- Winner of the Cup of Russia: 2015/2016