Aleksei Berezutskiy

Aleksei Berezutskiy

Berezutskiy with CSKA Moscow in October 2015
Personal information
Full name	Aleksei Vladimirovich Berezutskiy
Date of birth	(1982-06-20) 20 June 1982 (age 35)
Place of birth	Moscow, Russian SFSR
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position	Centre back, Left Back
Club information
Current team	CSKA Moscow
Number	6
Youth career
	Smena
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1999–2000	Torpedo-ZIL Moscow	2	(0)
2001	Chernomorets Novorossiysk	14	(1)
2001–	CSKA Moscow	324	(7)
National team‡
2003–	Russia	58	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21 July 2017. ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20 June 2016

Aleksei Vladimirovich Berezutskiy (Russian: Алексей Владимирович Березуцкий; born 20 June 1982 in Moscow) is an association footballer who plays as a defender for CSKA Moscow and Russia.

He began his professional career in 1999 at the age of 17 in Torpedo-ZIL. He is now playing for CSKA Moscow. He tends to play as a central defender but he can play as fullback, wingback, defensive midfielder or even as a winger. He is a defender who can join attacks from the wing. He scored CSKA Moscow's first goal as they came from behind to win the 2005 UEFA Cup Final.

Following his side's Champions League match against Manchester United at Old Trafford on 3 November, Berezutsky (along with colleague Sergei Ignashevich) tested positive for the banned substance sudafed. The two players were provisionally suspended until the case was heard by the European governing body's disciplinary committee on 17 December, according to a UEFA statement. It was later revealed that they had taken a cold medicine which had not been reported, and both players were suspended for 1 game, which was applied retroactively.

In 2014, he scored a 90th-minute equaliser against A.S. Roma in the Champions League.

Berezutskiy is a Russia national football team regular, making 32 appearances since 2003. Aleksey took a big part in Russia's second goal against England in a vital euro 2008 qualification match which Russia won 2–1. He was on the attack and took a shot from just outside the box which Paul Robinson could only parry away. Roman Pavlyuchenko then quickly ran to it and touched it in to the net.

Aleksei was selected Russia's captain for the 0–3 friendly defeat against Romania, though it was speculated that Hiddink only gave him the captain's armband so he could differentiate between Aleksei and Vasili.