Le sportif du jour: Aleksandr Kerzhakov

Aleksandr Kerzhakov graduated from Zenit football school. He spent the 2000 season in amateur club FC Svetogorets Svetogorsk, scoring 18 goals and helping them win the Northwest regional league.

In 2001 Kerzhakov moved to FC Zenit Saint Petersburg, debuting in March and scoring his first goal in June against Spartak Moscow. He helped Zenit to the third position in the Russian Premier League in 2001 and the runners-up position in 2003. In 2004 Kerzhakov became the league's top scorer with 18 goals.

Aleksandr Kerzhakov played for Russia U21 team in 2001-2003. He debuted for the Russia national team in 2002. Kerzhakov was part of the Russia squads at 2002 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2004. Kerzhakov, along with Andrei Arshavin, made for a very reliable partnership in both club and Russian national team because of his sheer pace, technique and goal scoring instincts. He has scored 16 goals in his 23 matches for Zenit in the UEFA Cup.

On December 28, 2006 Kerzhakov completed his 5 million Euros transfer from Zenit to Sevilla FC signing a 5½ year contract worth 15 million Euros.[1] He played his first match with Sevilla FC on January 14, 2007. He scored for Sevilla in the UEFA Cup tie against Tottenham Hotspur, in which Sevilla won 4-3 on aggregate. They went on to win the cup, beating RCD Espanyol on penalties.

Upon his transfer to La Liga he was overlooked by Russian national team coach Guus Hiddink, who didn't call Kerzhakov for the friendly with the Netherlands in February 2007. However, after a very successful start of his Sevilla career, manager Hiddink re-called the player to the national squad, and he was in the starting eleven against Estonia on March 24, 2007. He showed that he belonged on the team by scoring 2 goals in the 2-0 victory. Then, on June 2 2007, Kerzhakov notched a hat-trick as Russia routed Andorra 4-0 in their Euro 2008 Group E qualifier.

(la bio est en anglais parce que de toute façon on se fiche bien de savoir ce qu'il fait)