Pavel Pogrebnyak

Russian footballer (born 1983) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pavel Viktorovich Pogrebnyak (Russian: Па́вел Ви́кторович Погребня́к [ˈpavʲɪl ˈvʲiktərəvʲɪtɕ pəɡrʲɪbˈnʲak]; born 8 November 1983) is a Russian former professional footballer who played as a forward.

Full name Pavel Viktorovich Pogrebnyak
Date of birth (1983-11-08) 8 November 1983 (age 42)
Place of birth Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Quick facts Personal information, Full name ...
Pavel Pogrebnyak
Pogrebnyak with Tosno in 2018
Personal information
Full name Pavel Viktorovich Pogrebnyak
Date of birth (1983-11-08) 8 November 1983 (age 42)
Place of birth Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position Forward
Youth career
1989–2002 Spartak Moscow
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2005 Spartak Moscow 18 (2)
2003Baltika Kaliningrad (loan) 40 (15)
2004Khimki (loan) 12 (6)
2005Shinnik Yaroslavl (loan) 23 (4)
2006 Tom Tomsk 26 (13)
2007–2009 Zenit Saint Petersburg 58 (22)
2009–2012 VfB Stuttgart 68 (15)
2012 Fulham 12 (6)
2012–2015 Reading 93 (26)
2015–2018 Dynamo Moscow 25 (1)
2018 Tosno 6 (3)
2018–2021 Ural Yekaterinburg 45 (10)
Total 426 (123)
International career
2004–2005 Russia U21 6 (0)
2006–2012 Russia 33 (8)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals
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Born in Moscow, Pogrebnyak began his career at Spartak Moscow, making his professional debut in 2002. Over the next three years, he spent time away on loan at Baltika Kaliningrad, Khimki and Shinnik Yaroslavl before joining Tom Tomsk in 2006. After a season with them, he moved to top Russian side Zenit St. Petersburg. There he spent three seasons and had his greatest spell of success, winning the Russian Premier League, the Russian Super Cup, the UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Super Cup. In 2009, he joined German side VfB Stuttgart. After two and a half seasons, he moved to English Premier League side Fulham in January 2012, and then to Reading six months later.

He is nicknamed The Pog,[1] Pogreb ("The Cellar")[2] or Velikiy Po ("Po the Great"),[3] the latter popularized by his former Zenit teammate Andrei Arshavin.[4] He is a "powerful player who holds the ball up well."[5]

Club career

Early career

Pogrebnyak started playing football at the age of six for the Spartak Moscow football school. In 2001, he made his debut for the Spartak reserve team and one year later he was selected for the first team squad. Between 2001 and 2003, he scored eight goals in 23 appearances.

In 2003, Pogrebnyak played 40 matches and scored 15 goals while on loan with Baltika Kaliningrad. He played 16 times and scored two goals for Spartak Moscow the next season. The same season he also scored six goals for FC Khimki in 12 appearances. In 2005, Pogrebnyak played for Shinnik Yaroslavl and scored four goals in 23 matches. Pogrebnyak made his true breakthrough during the 2006 season with Tom Tomsk scoring 13 goals in 26 matches and became one of the favorites amongst the local fans.

Zenit St. Petersburg

Pogrebnyak was signed in the off-season by Zenit St. Petersburg. In 2007, he scored 13 goals as Zenit won the national league. Zenit won the 2008 Russian Super Cup 2–1 over Lokomotiv Moscow, with Pogrebnyak scoring the winner in the 82nd minute.

Along with Luca Toni, Pogrebnyak was joint top-scorer in the 2007–08 UEFA Cup season, scoring ten goals and helping Zenit reach the final to be played at the City of Manchester Stadium. However, Pogrebnyak was to miss the final because of suspension following a third tournament booking in the semifinal's second leg win over Bayern Munich. In the final, Zenit still triumphed over runners-up Rangers to add their first European silverware.[6] In the 2008 UEFA Super Cup he scored one of the Zenit's two goals in the 2–1 over English champions Manchester United.

On 28 January 2009, Zenit officials declared that they were on the verge of accepting a bid from Blackburn Rovers which would see the player move to the English side during the January transfer window, but the transfer did not take place.[7]

Stuttgart

Pogrebnyak in August 2010

On 1 August 2009, he agreed to join VfB Stuttgart.[8] Pogrebnyak made his Bundesliga debut seven days later by playing all 90 minutes in the opening day 2–0 defeat to the defending champions Wolfsburg. He scored his first goal in his second game, on 15 August 2009, in Stuttgart's 4–2 win over Freiburg, in which he also won a penalty.[9]

He ended his first season in German football scoring eight goals (six in the league). He then started the 2010–11 season scoring four goals in the first four games including his first hat-trick in Stuttgart's historic 7–0 win against Borussia Mönchengladbach.[citation needed]

Fulham

On 31 January 2012, Pogrebnyak moved to Premier League side Fulham[10] and signed a contract until the end of the season.[11] He then scored on his debut in the 2–1 win over Stoke City on 11 February 2012.[12] In the following game he scored again, this time against London rivals Queens Park Rangers giving Fulham a 1–0 win.[13] He then scored a perfect hat-trick in his next game, in a 5–0 win against Wolves on 4 March, meaning he had scored five goals in his first three games for Fulham.[14] This made him the quickest player to reach five goals in Premier League history. On 21 April 2012, he returned from an ankle injury to score in a 2–1 win against Wigan Athletic at Craven Cottage.[15] He was released by Fulham on 1 July after failing to reach terms to extend his contract. Pogrebnyak announced that whatever happens over his contract he will remain in England.

Reading

On 8 July 2012, shortly after UEFA Euro 2012, Pogrebnyak signed a four-year contract with Reading on a free transfer. Manager Brian McDermott confirmed that it had been a "long process" as the deal was subject to Pogrebnyak obtaining a work permit while the club also denied rumours that he would be earning £65,000 a week.[16][17][18] He made his debut on the opening day of the 2012–13 Premier League against Stoke City and scored his first goal in Reading's next game, a 4–2 defeat to Chelsea.[19][20] He scored a last-minute goal in Reading's home game against West Bromwich Albion in January which saw them come from 2–0 down to win 3–2 but did not score again that season, finishing with eight goals, five in the Premier League.[21][22]

Following Reading's relegation, Pogrebnyak was linked with a move away from the club but did not leave.[23][24] He scored his first goals in more than eight months after netting twice in a 3–1 win over Derby County in September 2013.[25]

Dynamo Moscow

On 27 August 2015, Pogrebnyak moved back to Russia, signing a three-year contract with Dynamo Moscow.[26][27]

Dynamo released him on 25 January 2018, citing disciplinary reasons, such as attending a Juventus - Inter Milan game in Italy on the same day Dynamo played a league game and participating in the annual exhibition FC Spartak Moscow academy alumni game without Dynamo's authorization.[28] Pogrebnyak said he will demand the compensation for the full length of his contract through the Russian Football Union.[29]

Tosno

On 22 February 2018, he signed a contract until the end of the 2017–18 season with FC Tosno.[30] Pogrebnyak was crucial to the biggest achievement in the club's history, which came on 9 May 2018 with their victory in the 2017–18 Russian Cup final.

Ural Yekaterinburg

On 29 August 2018, he signed a contract with FC Ural Yekaterinburg.[31] On 24 July 2020, Pogrebnyak was released from the club.[32] After missing the first 10 games of the 2020–21 Russian Premier League season, he returned to Ural on 16 October 2020.[33] On 10 June 2021, he left Ural once again as his contract expired.[34]

International career

Pogrebnyak debuted for the Russian national team on 16 August 2006 in a friendly match against Latvia, where he scored his first goal. He was also initially called up as part of the Russian squad for UEFA Euro 2008, but because of a knee injury he picked up in a friendly match versus Serbia, he was replaced by Oleg Ivanov before Russia began the tournament.[35] He was confirmed for the finalized UEFA Euro 2012 squad on 25 May 2012.[36]

On 12 May 2014, Pogrebnyak was called up to the provisional 30-man Russian World Cup squad,[37] however four days later he was replaced by Denis Cheryshev as the squad was cut down to 25 players.[38]

Personal life

Pogrebnyak is married to Maria Shatalova – Pogrebnyak[39] and they have three sons.[citation needed] In July 2023, Shatalova – Pogrebnyak filed for divorce.[40]

He is the brother of Kirill Pogrebnyak and Nikolai Pogrebnyak, they are both free agents as of June 2021.

In March 2019 Pogrebnyak was accused of racism after saying it was "laughable" for black players to represent the Russian national team.[41] Russian Football Union fined him 250,000 rubles (approximately €3,300) and put him on probation until the end of the 2018–19 season for his statements.[42]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 13 May 2018
More information Club, Season ...
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Spartak Moscow 2002 Russian Premier League 2020
2004 Russian Premier League 16210531[a]0235
Total 18210005310255
Baltika Kaliningrad (loan) 2003 FNL 4015104115
Khimki (loan) 2004 FNL 12610136
Shinnik Yaroslavl (loan) 2005 Russian Premier League 23421255
Tom Tomsk 2006 Russian Premier League 2613112714
Zenit 2007 Russian Premier League 241142743517
2008 Russian Premier League 1961482[b]23516
2009 Russian Premier League 1551140206
Total 582253002512229039
VfB Stuttgart 2009–10 Bundesliga 28620102408
2010–11 Bundesliga 26832723612
2011–12 Bundesliga 14110151
Total 68156200174009121
Fulham (loan) 2011–12 Premier League 126126
Reading 2012–13 Premier League 2950022317
2013–14 Championship 391310004013
2014–15 Championship 2665010326
Total 94246032000010326
Dynamo Moscow 2015–16 Russian Premier League 16130191
2016–17 Russian Premier League 801090
2017–18 Russian Premier League 100010
Total 25140000000291
Tosno 2017–18 Russian Premier League 632184
Career total 38211129832471932464142
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  1. One appearance in Russian Super Cup
  2. One appearance and one goal in UEFA Super Cup, one appearance and one goal in Russian Super Cup

International

More information National team, Year ...
Appearances and goals by national team and year[43]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Russia 200652
200720
200853
200950
201072
201161
201230
Total338
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Scores and results list Russia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Pogrebnyak goal.
More information No., Date ...
List of international goals scored by Pavel Pogrebnyak[44][45]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
116 August 2006Lokomotiv Stadium, Moscow, Russia Latvia1–01–0Friendly
211 October 2006Petrovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg, Russia Estonia1–02–0Euro 2008 qualifying
323 May 2008Lokomotiv Stadium, Moscow, Russia Kazakhstan1–06–0Friendly
428 May 2008Wacker-Arena, Burghausen, Germany Serbia1–02–1Friendly
510 September 2008Lokomotiv Stadium, Moscow, Russia Wales2–12–12010 FIFA World Cup qualification
63 September 2010Estadi Comunal, Andorra la Vella, Andorra Andorra1–02–0UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
72–0
810 August 2011Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia Serbia1–01–0Friendly
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Honours

References

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