TEAM COMPOSITION

KZN / Zenit Kazan

Kazan, Russia

Team manager	SHAMSUTDINOV LENAR
Coach	ALEKNO VLADIMIR
Assistant coach	SEREBRENNIKOV ALEXANDER
Assistant coach 2	PISAREV VLADIMIR
Doctor	SAGITOV ILSHAT
Physiotherapist	SHIRIIAZDANOV RAMIS
Journalist	KHAIROV ALMAZ

	No.	Name	Lastname	Shirt Name	Birthdate	Height	Weight	Spike	Block	Country
	1	Matthew	Anderson	Anderson	18.04.1987	202	100	360	332	USA
	3	Nikolay	Apalikov	Apalikov	26.08.1982	203	103	353	344	RUS
	4	Ivan	Demakov	Demakov	06.01.1993	209	101	350	330	RUS
	5	Valerio	Vermiglio	Vermiglio	01.03.1976	193	85	342	320	ITA
	6	Evgeny	Sivozhelez	Sivozhelez	06.08.1986	196	90	330	320	RUS
	8	Igor	Kolodinsky	Kolodinsky	07.07.1983	194	92	340	325	RUS
	9	Alexey	Cheremisin	Cheremisin	23.09.1980	202	98	350	338	RUS
	10	Yury	Berezhko	Berezhko	27.01.1984	196	93	346	338	RUS
	14	Alexander	Abrosimov	Abrosimov	25.08.1983	207	98	341	325	RUS
L	15	Alexey	Obmochaev	Obmochaev	22.05.1989	188	80	325	310	RUS
	17	Vladislav	Babichev	Babichev	18.02.1981	185	78	316	312	RUS
C	18	Maxim	Mikhaylov	Mikhaylov	19.03.1988	202	103	345	330	RUS

C=Captain L=Libero

Team profile

Zenit Kazan has been Russia’s most successful club in recent years. It was founded with the name Dinamo Kazan in 2000, and in a short time the team moved up through the minor leagues to make their debut in the Russian Championship super league in 2003/04. The Kazan team won bronze in that first season.

Before season 2006/07 the Kazan team, which was called Dinamo-Tattransgas, implemented a vigorous selection that brought in stars such as americans Lloyd Ball and Clayton Stanley, and Russian national team players Vadim Khamuttskikh, Sergey Tetyukhin, Andrey Egorchev and Alexander Kosarev. This brought the club their first championship title.

In 2007/08 Zenit won Europe’s most prestigious club trophy – the European Champions League – on their first try. After that season the Russian national team’s coach, Vladimir Alekno, took over at Zenit. That spring Zenit became the champion of Russia for the second time.

For the first time in their history, in season 2009/10 Zenit Kazan managed to win a “golden double”. The team won the National Championship and the Russian Cup. In November 2009, as one of the strongest teams of the European continent, they participated in the Club World Championships in Doha, Qatar. They took third place in the tournament.

In January 2011 Zenit Kazan acquired their own domestic arena, “St. Petersburg”, with capacity for 5,000 spectators.

Coach profile

Kazan coach Vladimir Alekno started his volleyball career in 1984 with the SKA Minsk volleyball team. He also played for CSKA, Bulgaria's Levski, Italy's Asti and Spoletto, France's Cannes and Tours.

Alekno, born December 4, 1966, coached Tours in France from 1999 to 2004. In 2003, he became a cup winner in France and then league champion in 2004 before leading his team to bronze in the European Champions League.

In 2005 he became coach of Dinamo Moscow, moulding them into champions and cup winners in Russia in 2006. From 2007 to 2008 Alekno was the coach of the Russian men's national team, leading them to three silver medals in the 2007 FIVB World League, 2007 European Championship and 2007 FIVB World Cup, as well as bronze in the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Alekno has been the head coach of Zenit Kazan since 2008. He immediately led the team to triumph in the National Championship, but the next season was one of the most outstanding in his career. Zenit Kazan, for the first time in their history, achieved a “golden” double. The team won the Championship and the Russian Cup, and took bronze in the Club World Championships in Qatar.

Alekno was once again selected to coach the Russian men's national team in 2012 and started its training for the Olympic Games in London where the team won gold in an amazing final against Brazil. In July 2011 the Russian team also won the World League after a nine-year interval.

Alekno is married with two children.