Oleksandr Hladkyy

Oleksandr Hladkyy

Personal information
Full name	Oleksandr Mykolayovych Hladkyy
Date of birth	(1987-08-24) 24 August 1987
Place of birth	Lozova, Kharkiv Region, Soviet Union
Height
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Dynamo Kyiv
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2003–2005	Metalist Kharkiv	17	(4)
2005–2007	Kharkiv	64	(18)
2007–2010	Shakhtar Donetsk	82	(27)
2010–2014	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	23	(2)
2012–2014	→ Karpaty Lviv (loan)	59	(18)
2014–2016	Shakhtar Donetsk	31	(14)
2016–	Dynamo Kyiv	0	(0)
International career‡
2004–2009	Ukraine U-21	15	(5)
2007–	Ukraine	11	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 25 November 2015 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 6 April 2015

This name uses Eastern Slavic naming customs; the patronymic is Mykolayovych and the family name is Hladkyy.

Oleksandr Mykolayovych Hladkyy (Ukrainian: Олександр Миколайович Гладкий, born 24 August 1987 in Lozova, Kharkiv) is a Ukrainian football forward. He plays for Dynamo Kyiv and the Ukraine national football team. His last name can also be transliterated as Hladkiy, Gladkiy and Gladkyy.

Club career

Kharkiv

Oleksandr Hladkyy started his career in Metalist Kharkiv football academy, and soon after, the young player was invited to another professional club from the city, FC Kharkiv. Under direction of coach Volodymyr Bessonov, Hladkyy became a regular player for the club and soon established himself as one of the best strikers in the league. Oleksandr's first fame came in season of 2006–07, when after scoring 13 goals, Hladkyy became the Ukrainian league's top scorer.

Shakhtar Donetsk

After this success, Oleksandr Hladkyy was noticed by one of Ukrainian leaders FC Shakhtar Donetsk and on 8 June 2007, he signed a 5-year deal worth €2.5 million with the club. On his debut for the club (friendly match), he scored the winning goal. Not long after, he scored two goals in a friendly.

On 7 May 2008 Hladkyy got his first piece of silverware in his career when his Shakhtar beat Dynamo Kyiv 2–0, in the Ukrainian Cup Final where he scored and was also sent off.

He won the premiership with Shakhtar that season but fell 1 goal short of breaking Ukrainian Premier League history by being the top goal scorer two consecutive years. With the addition of Yevhen Seleznyov and Marcelo Moreno, Hladkyy has had difficulty to regain his spot in the starting line-up or even the bench leaving his future in doubt especially with the coach Mircea Lucescu using a 4-5-1 (meaning only one forward) over last years 4-4-2 . After 10 league games with only 1 win Shakhtar coach Mircea Lucescu gave Hladkyy the start and he scored in the 28th minute in a 3–0 win over Chornomorets Odessa. Mircea gave Hladkyy another starting opportunity due to Luiz Adriano being injured, and Oleksandr scored the 3rd goal in Shakhtars 4–2 win over FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih. Hladkyy scored a winner for Shakhtar against Olexandria in the 93rd minute in an Ukrainian Cup quarter final, although this pro comes with a con as he injured second choice goalkeeper Rustam Khudzhamov during a collision in the Shakhtar penalty area. He scored his first two UEFA Champions League goals in a historic 3–2 win in Spain beating giants F.C. Barcelona (whom were on a streak of 20 games without defeat.) This was also big for Shakhtar as Shakhtar collected more points in the group stage than ever before (9).

After not gaining a regular place in Shakhtar Donetsk he transferred to Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk on 17 August 2010. In that period of his career Dnipro fans gave him the nickname "Buratino" due to a specific style of playing.

Shakhtar Donetsk Return

In May 2014, Hladkyy resigned for FC Shakhtar Donetsk, signing a two-year contract.

Dynamo Kyiv

On 23 May 2016, Hladkyy signed a 3 year contract with the Ukrainian champions Dynamo Kyiv, signing as a free agent after his contract with Shakhtar Donetsk has ended.

International career

Oleksandr Hladkyy was a regular member of the Ukraine national under-21 football team and scored 6 goals in 12 games. On 22 August 2007, he made his debut for the senior Ukraine national football team in a friendly against Uzbekistan and scored the opening goal. Since then, he has been called up to the main squad for every game under both Oleg Blokhin, and now, Oleksiy Mykhailychenko.

Career statistics

Club

As of 23 May 2016

Club	Season	League		Cup		Europe		Super Cup		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Metalist	2003–04	8	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	3
	2004–05	9	1	2	0	-	-	-	-	11	1
	Total	17	4	2	0	-	-	-	-	19	4
Kharkiv	2004–05	10	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	10	4
	2005–06	25	1	2	1	-	-	-	-	27	2
	2006–07	29	13	1	0	-	-	-	-	30	13
	Total	64	18	3	1	-	-	-	-	67	19
Shakhtar	2007–08	29	17	7	1	9	2	1	1	46	21
	2008–09	26	4	5	1	10	2	1	0	42	7
	2009–10	22	6	2	1	6	1	-	-	30	8
	2010–11	5	0	-	-	-	-	1	2	6	2
	Total	82	27	14	3	25	5	3	3	124	38
Dnipro	2010–11	19	2	4	2	2	0	-	-	25	4
	2011–12	4	0	2	0	-	-	-	-	6	0
	Total	23	2	6	2	2	0	-	-	31	4
Karpaty	2011–12	8	3	2	1	-	-	-	-	10	4
	2012–13	23	5	3	0	-	-	-	-	26	5
	2013–14	27	10	2	0	-	-	-	-	29	10
	Total	58	18	7	1	-	-	-	-	65	19
Shakhtar	2014–15	19	11	7	4	3	0	1	1	30	16
	2015–16	17	4	3	2	10	3	1	0	31	9
	Total	36	15	10	6	13	3	2	1	61	25
Career total		280	84	42	13	40	8	5	4	367	109

Honours

Club

• Ukrainian Premier League: 2

2008, 2010

• Ukrainian Cup: 2

2008, 2016

• Ukrainian Super Cup: 4

2008, 2010, 2014, 2015

• UEFA Cup: 1

2009

Individual

• Ukrainian Premier league Top Goalscorer (13 goals): 2007
• Ukrainian Premier League Top Assister (11 assists): 2008

See also

• 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship squads#Ukraine

External links

• Player Profile at Shakhtar Donetsk Official Website