Biography of Alexander Kokorin
Alexander Kokorin is a Russian football player who was called one of the most promising strikers of the Russian national team. He took his first steps in professional football as part of the Moscow Dynamo, and since 2020 he has played for the St. Petersburg Zenit, but after a scandal involving the beating of a restaurant visitor in October 2020, the player’s career was in jeopardy.
Since 2020, Alexander Kokorin has been playing for Zenit
Childhood and family
Alexander was born in the small town of Valuiki. His interest in football was instilled in him by his father, who at first coached his son himself. Already at school he was invited to the football section. At the age of nine, he simultaneously began attending the boxing section.
Little Alexander Kokorin with his mother, Svetlana Kokorina
In 2000, the boy attended a screening of the Spartak football school. The young football player performed well, but Spartak could not provide him with housing, unlike the Lokomotiv football school, which provided him with a place in a boarding school. It was there that he studied for the next 6 years.
Alexander Kokorin started playing football literally from the cradle
At the age of ten, Kokorin actually became independent, finding himself without parents in the capital. According to him, the first two years were very difficult. Relatives could visit him no more than once every three months. But over time, he got used to it, learned to do laundry and even cooked some things himself, and he also made many friends.
Football player Alexander Kokorin in childhood
From 2001 to 2007, the young football player played in various youth teams, representing the Lokomotiv school, and was recognized several times as the best striker in the capital's sports school championship.
Childhood and youth
Alexander Kokorin was born on March 19, 1991 in the city of Valuiki, Belgorod region. According to one of his childhood friends, Sasha was always kicking something during breaks at school, and in the yard he would not part with the ball. Sport was the only activity that truly interested young Kokorin.
Back in the 1st grade, the talented boy was noticed by the coach of a local sports school, who invited Sasha to work out in the football section. Later he was called to a trial at the Moscow club Spartak. The coaches liked the boy, but the club did not have free housing. Fortunately, it was found in the boarding school of the capital's Lokomotiv, where Sasha lived for 6 years.
A 10-year-old boy was left alone in Moscow. His parents visited him only once a quarter.
As Kokorin later said in an interview, he had to learn to organize his own life: the boy washed his clothes and cooked food himself. The tiny scholarship was enough for only one visit to McDonald's, and every day the future star of Russian football faced difficult training. But there were peer friends around with similar destinies, and football victories and glory awaited them.
Even as a child, Alexander Kokorin was repeatedly recognized as the top scorer in various football competitions between Moscow sports schools.
"Dynamo"
At the beginning of 2008, at the invitation of Dynamo scouts, the player was on trial. During an exhibition match, he managed to prove himself and as a result received an invitation to move to Dynamo.
Alexander Kokorin began his career in professional football early
In the spring of the same year, Alexander signed a three-year contract with the club. Since at that time the team had difficulties with strikers, coach Kobelev transferred the young football player from the reserve team to the main team. In the first game (a home match with Saturn), Kokorin came on as a substitute and scored a goal. That year, Kokorin became the youngest of sixteen players to score a goal in the top league of the Russian championship.
After just three rounds, Alexander again sent the ball into the opponents' goal. This time Dynamo fought with Lokomotiv. The game ended in victory for Dynamo with a score of 1:0. Next, Kokorin took the field in all the remaining six matches and received a medal for third place along with other members of the Dynamo team.
In 2009, the athlete appeared on the field in twenty-three matches, in 2010 – in twenty-six. By this time, the football player began to receive offers from other clubs, including Spartak and CSKA. However, when Kokorin’s contract with Dynamo expired, he extended it for another three and a half years.
Alexander did not become a main team player under Kobelev, but was able to develop as a striker. He managed to gain a foothold in the main team in Silkin’s team in the 2011/2012 season. He played at left back and was also used in midfield from time to time. Thanks to a good shot from both feet and skillful pressure from his opponents, Kokorin knows how to confuse his opponent.
The 2012/2013 season turned out to be very successful for the athlete. He scored three goals in the Europa League: twice, in different matches, against the Scots Dundee United, one goal flew to the German FC Stuttgart. This allowed Kokorin to claim the title of best striker in the Premier League. The players of the Moscow team, specialists and head coach Dan Petrescu spoke very positively about the player.
Alexander Kokorin - biography of a football player
Alexander was introduced to football by his own father, training his son in his native Valuyki. At the same time, the boy was engaged in boxing. A football coach came to the school where Kokorin was studying in the first grade at that time and invited the children to enroll in the football section. Alexander immediately agreed. But since you can’t build a football career in your native Valuiki, Alexander Kokorin decided to conquer Moscow. The first club to try out was Moscow Spartak, where the nine-year-old boy was happy, but the team could not provide housing for the athlete. Unlike Spartak, another Moscow team, Lokomotiv, agreed to provide housing. It was for this club that the young striker played for the next 6 years, being recognized as the best striker at the Moscow youth championships.
"Anji"
In mid-2013, representatives of Anzhi made Alexander a lucrative offer. He doubted for a long time, but still agreed. The amount of compensation amounted to €19 million. In mid-July, Kokorin began training as part of a new team
Alexander Kokorin in Anzhi uniform
However, he never played a single match for Anzhi. Almost immediately, the old injury began to bother him again, and the athlete had to go to Germany for treatment. During this period of time, significant changes took place at the club, and some of their star players were put up for sale. This fate befell Kokorin as well. The Dynamo club immediately returned the rights to Alexander, simultaneously buying out Igor Denisov and Yuri Zhirkov. In the first match after returning to the Moscow team (against Zenit), he entered the field as a replacement for Fedor Smolov.
Alexander Kokorin scored his first hat-trick during the match with Rostov; the game ended in victory for Dynamo (7:3). During the season, he also scored goals against Spartak, Kuban, CSKA, and Terek. In 2020, Kokorin’s play began to decline, he stopped making the team’s starting lineup, and therefore scored only one goal – against Rostov.
Alexander Kokorin at the match against Spartak
In the summer of the same year, the striker was made captain of Dynamo instead of Kevin Kuranyi. It soon became known that four clubs were eyeing the promising player: St. Petersburg Zenit, English Manchester United and Tottenham, as well as the French FC PSG.
Career
In 2008, the aspiring forward signed a 3-year contract with Dynamo Moscow. He managed to score a goal in the Russian Major League, which brought the team victory. In the same year, the seventeen-year-old athlete received a bronze medal for Dynamo’s third place. Became the best striker of the IV International Youth Tournament.
In the 2011/12 season he became a finalist in the Russian Cup. Alexander was recognized as the best young football player in Russia. In the same year, he extended his contract with the Moscow club for another 3.5 years.
In 2013, Kokorin wished to move to the Anzhi club. The striker had to pay a compensation amount of 19 million euros, but he did not manage to play a single match for the new team. An injury received in the past forced the athlete to go to Germany for treatment. A month later, Alexander returned to Dynamo again, becoming the best player of the football club, according to his colleagues.
In the 2014/15 season, he scored three goals against the Rostov team, scoring a hat-trick. In 2015, he became the captain of the team, as well as the winner of the Russian Cup. During this period, clubs such as Zenit, Manchester United, French PSG and Tottenham began to show interest in his person. Due to a blunder, he was disqualified for two matches.
In 2020, he joined the St. Petersburg Zenit team. In the same year he received the Russian Super Cup. In 2018, he injured a cruciate knee ligament, which sidelined the athlete for the rest of the season. Despite this, he became second for the title of Zenit's best player based on the results of fan voting.
Since 2009, Kokorin has been playing for the Russian youth team. In 2011, the striker was called up to the main team. Together with the team, Alexander went to the Euro 2012 Championship. He took part in the 2014 World Cup matches and in the game against Northern Ireland, where he earned the team a penalty. In the match against Israel he scored the first goal for the Russian team.
Azer Aliyev: biography of a football player
The footballer’s stepfather, Kirill Loginov, became the footballer’s manager. Thanks to his efforts, Alexander Kokorin received a lucrative contract with Dynamo. The move to the Angie team, and then back to Dynamo, was also Loginov’s work.
Alexander Kokorin in the Russian national team
Alexander first received an invitation to the Russian youth team in 2009. He performed successfully more than once and scored seven goals during his entire performance.
Footballer Alexander Kokorin went to Brazil for the FIFA World Cup
Already in 2011, Kokorin began playing for the Russian national team. His performance was highlighted by both Dick Advocaat and, subsequently, Fabio Capello. He first appeared on the field for the national team in a match against Greece. Thanks to his confident performance, he was selected to participate in Euro 2012, where the footballer played in the match against the Czech Republic, but due to the injury he did not appear on the field again during the tournament.
In qualifying for the 2014 World Cup against Israel, Kokorin scored his first goal for the national team. In the match with Luxembourg (September 2013), Kokorin scored a goal in the 21st second of the match, setting a new record for the Russian national team.
At the World Cup in Brazil, Alexander played three matches, scoring one goal in the match against the Algerian national team, which ended in a draw (1:1).
At Euro 2016, the Russian team did not play in the best way, having been eliminated almost at the very beginning of the championship. On this occasion, Kokorin, in the company of Pavel Mamaev, organized a champagne party in Monaco, spending about 250 thousand euros on it - each bottle of the elite drink cost 500 euros, and they treated the whole hall. Kokorin denied all claims, saying that he was not celebrating anything, there were simply a lot of Russians in the restaurant, and he joined their company.
Kokorin and Mamaev at a party in Monaco
Alexander Kokorin on Instagram and before
They say about people like Kokorin: young and early.
His sporting successes began - without exaggeration - from the first grade. Already at the age of nine, Kokorin moved from Valuyki, where he was born on March 19, 1991, to Moscow, where he studied under the auspices of Lokomotiv and repeatedly became the best striker of the Moscow youth sports schools. At seventeen, Kokorin became a Dynamo player, signing a three-year contract. And in the same year he scored his first “championship” goal, becoming one of the few football prodigies. The young striker's career subsequently included both successes and oddities. For example, the famous Dagestan Anzhi in 2013 was ready to pay 19 million euros for Kokorin’s transfer, but during the time that Kokorin was on the team, he never entered the field! And upon returning to Dynamo, Alexander quickly earned recognition as the team's best player.
Today Kokorin is one of the best Russian football players. He scored the fastest goal in the history of the Russian national team: he managed to put the ball into the opponent’s goal at the nineteenth second of the game!
See what, besides football, Alexander Kokorin lives on on the footballer’s Instagram. His official page is updated quite often and reveals the attacker from unexpected sides.
"Zenith"
At the beginning of 2020, the Dynamo striker accepted Zenit’s offer - the St. Petersburg team promised the footballer €3.5 million. Yuri Zhirkov also moved there together with Kokorin. The Blue-White-Blues greeted the new players friendly, although midfielder Oleg Shatov joked: “I didn’t understand that Cristiano Ronaldo had come to the team. And this is just Kokorin.” On April 9, 2016, Alexander Kokorin played his first match for Zenit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BopAql7Fi1j
On August 24, 2020, Zenit reached the group stage of the Europa League, beating the Dutch FC Utrecht thanks to Kokorin's brace. The footballer scored the first goal in the 9th minute, the second at the end of the extra period.
Kokorin scored two goals in the Zenit - Utrecht match
Personal life of Alexander Kokorin
Kokorin dated for some time with Victoria Smirnova (Timati’s cousin), who was a club regular, and as a result of frequent disputes on this basis, the young people broke up.
Ex-girlfriend of Alexandra Kokorin, Victoria
His next passion was a girl named Christina. She accompanied the football player to Euro 2012, but after some time the young people broke up.
Alexander Kokorin and Christina
Now Alexander Kokorin is dating Daria Valitova, the ex-girlfriend of Vlad Topalov and, ironically, Timati. The lovers met in 2013, and Alexander spent quite a long time wooing the proud girl. Now Daria even has a “K9” tattoo on her body – Kokorin’s game number.
Alexander Kokorin and Daria Valitova
On June 4, 2020, Alexander and Daria had a son, Michael. The baby’s face is not shown on social networks, but Daria claims that the boy inherited her eyes, but otherwise he is the spitting image of his dad.
In 2020, the football player entered the first year of the Financial University (St. Petersburg branch).
Personal life
For some time, Alexander met with Victoria Smirnova , Timati’s cousin. The girl was a fan of nightclubs, which was the main reason for the disputes, and later the separation of the couple. The footballer's next passion was a girl named Christina. She accompanied the athlete at the FIFA World Cup in 2012, but after a certain period of time the couple broke up.
Alexander Kokorin with his wife
Kokorin is currently dating Daria Valitova, the ex-girlfriend of Vlad Topalov and Timati. The young people met in 2013 , and Alexander sought the attention of the proud girl for quite a long time. Now the girl even has a “K9” tattoo , which is Alexander’s game number. In June 2017, the couple had a son .
Alexander Kokorin with his wife Daria Valitova
Beating with a stool, court, prison
In October 2020, Alexander Kokorin, together with his friend Pavel Mamaev from FC Krasnodar, became involved in a scandal that threatened to put an end to his football career. On October 7, the friends arrived in Moscow to “celebrate ten years of friendship.”
At 9 am the next day, together with a group of friends, they visited a coffee shop and behaved noisily and indecently. The visitor made a remark to them, to which the football players responded with an act of violence. Kokorin took a chair and hit the man on the head. It soon became clear that the victim of the athletes was an official from the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
However, this blatant act was not the first of that day. Before visiting the coffee shop, Kokorin, Mamaev and their friends had a fight at the Beijing Hotel with a driver who scolded them for their noisy behavior. The man, a 35-year-old driver of TV presenter Olga Ushakova, received a traumatic brain injury and was hospitalized. Amid the uproar in the press, stand-up comedian Danila Poperechny recalled that the other day he was on a train with Mamaev and Kokorin, and they “behaved like animals.”
The footballers were summoned for questioning by the police. As a preventive measure, the athletes were put in a pre-trial detention center until December. However, both celebrated the New Year behind bars. The arrest of Kokorin and Mamaev was extended until April 8. The football player celebrated his 28th birthday behind bars.
Kokorin received a real sentence
On May 8, 2020, the court sentenced Kokorin to 1 year and 6 months in prison.
