Alexei Eremenko

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Personal information
Alexei Eremenko, Jr.

Full name	Alexei Eremenko, Jr.
Date of birth	March 24, 1983 (1983-03-24) (age 25)
Place of birth	Rostov-on-Don, Soviet Union
Playing position	Striker, Attacking Midfielder (Playmaker) Left Midfielder
Club information
Current club	FC Saturn
Youth clubs
	Tromsø IL FC Metz
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2001 2002-2004 2004-2006 2006-	FC Jokerit HJK U.S. Lecce FC Saturn	15 (2) 60 (10) 35 (0) 56 (14)
National team
2003-	Finland	33 (12)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Alexei Eremenko, Jr. (Russian: Алексей 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. A trial with Aston Villa followed, but in the next season he moved to HJK, 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.