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Alexey Smertin
Personal information
Full name	Alexey Gennadyevich Smertin
Date of birth	May 1, 1975 (1975-05-01) (age 32)
Place of birth	Barnaul, Russia
Height	1.75 m
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Fulham
Number	8
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1992-1993 1994-1997 1998 1999-2000 2000-2003 2003-2006 2003-2004 2005-2006 2006-2007 2007-	Dinamo Barnaul Zarya Leninsk-Kuznetski Uralan Elista Lokomotiv Moscow Girondins Bordeaux Chelsea → Portsmouth (loan) → Charlton Athletic (loan) Dynamo Moscow Fulham	042 0(2) 124 (13) 026 0(3) 039 0(7) 084 0(2) 016 0(0) 026 0(0) 018 0(0) 022 0(0) 016 0(2)
National team2
	Russia	055 0(0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:31, 21 September 2007 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 3 March 2007 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Alexey Gennadyevich Smertin (Russian: Алексей Смертин) (born May 1, 1975 in Barnaul, USSR) is a Russian football player. He is an attacking midfielder, currently playing for Fulham in the English Premier League after having his contract with Dynamo Moscow terminated, and was a captain of the Russian national team. He is very versatile and is able to play anywhere in defence and midfield. He has wide variety of passing which he utilises when playing in more advanced, attacking roles.

Contents 1 Club career 1.1 Early Life 1.2 Early career 1.3 Chelsea 1.4 Dynamo Moscow 1.5 Fulham 2 International career 3 References 4 External links

Smertin was born in the Ural mountains but at an early age was raised a village to the east of Chernobyl in the Ukraine due to his father working at the local power plant. in 1986, at only age eleven, Smertin was exposed to radiation due to his family's proximity to the power plant during the disaster that was to occur in 1986. however, whilst many were to experience highly negative side effects, Smertin, who in fact had never been a fan of football before, suddenly possessed the skills of a world class attacking midfielder. although rumours have circulated that he can also play table tennis to a fantastic standard, this has, as yet, not been proven. Frank Lampard once commented that Smertin sometimes posssesses a green aura around him whilst sleeping.

Smertin has previously played for Dinamo Barnaul, Zarya Leninsk-Kuznetski, Uralan Elista, Lokomotiv Moscow, Girondins Bordeaux before moving on to Chelsea.

Claudio Ranieri brought Smertin to Chelsea from Bordeaux in August 2003 for £3.45m before loaning him out to Portsmouth for the 2003-04 season. After some impressive performances at Fratton Park, most notably in Pompey's 1-0 victory over Manchester United, Smertin returned to London. However, Ranieri had now been succeeded by José Mourinho, who had made his own midfield signing in compatriot Tiago Mendes, adding to a midfield that already boasted Frank Lampard, Claude Makélélé, Geremi, and Scott Parker. Smertin only played a bit-part role for the team in 2004/2005 as Chelsea won the title.

He was ultimately deemed surplus to requirements at Stamford Bridge and was loaned out to Charlton for the 2005-06 season. At Charlton], he was starter and had some impressive performances. In January 2006, his contract with Chelsea was terminated, allowing him to return home and sign a four-year contract with Dynamo Moscow for £1 million^[1].

In an interview with the European Soccer Magazine in March 2006, Smertin insisted that he harboured no ill-feeling whatsoever towards Mourinho, and that he was grateful to have been able to participate in the celebrations at Stamford Bridge when Chelsea were crowned English Premier League champions. Smertin also insisted that his time in England was "a good experience", and that he now believes more firmly than before that the Premiership is the most challenging domestic competition in world football.

Smertin played a total of 22 games for Dynamo Moscow before being transfer listed.

After Smertin's release from Moscow, Smertin signed for English Premier League outfit Fulham on a two and a half year deal that will see the player at the club until the summer of 2009^[2]. He started most of the opening games of the 2007/08 season but the arrival of Danny Murphy on transfer deadline day has threatened his place in Fulham's midfield. He has become a fan favorite at Craven Cottage for his great attacking and defensive prowess and long distance strikes. His leadership is a great asset to a young team, and he has greatly helped the young American striker Clint Dempsey. His place in the side and his comeback attempt for the Russian National Team has been hampered by having an overcrowded midfield. Simon Davies and Danny Murphy have caused a drop in his playing time.

Smertin has been capped over 40 times for Russia, including the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004. He was made captain in June 2004. This past year Andrey Arshavin has taken over the duties as Russian Captain. There was speculation Alexey might return to the national team but that has died away since Smertin began to lose playing time at Fullham and Russia qualified for Euro 2008, over England, with a young team on the last day of qualifying.

• Alexey Smertin career stats at Soccerbase

Preceded by Yegor Titov

Russian Footballer of the Year 1999

Succeeded by Yegor Titov

v • d • e Russia squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup
1 Nigmatullin • 2 Kovtun • 3 Nikiforov • 4 Smertin • 5 Solomatin • 6 Semshov • 7 Onopko • 8 Karpin • 9 Titov • 10 Mostovoi • 11 Beschastnykh • 12 Cherchesov • 13 Dayev • 14 Chugainov • 15 Alenichev • 16 Kerzhakov • 17 Semak • 18 Sennikov • 19 Pimenov • 20 Izmailov • 21 Khokhlov • 22 Sychev • 23 Filimonov • Coach: Romantsev

v • d • e Fulham F.C. – current squad

1 Keller • 2 Volz • 3 Bocanegra • 4 Konchesky • 5 Christanval • 6 Stefanović • 7 Seol • 8 Smertin • 9 Healy • 10 Davis • 11 Kamara • 12 Warner • 13 Batista • 14 Kuqi • 15 John • 16 Timlin • 17 Cook • 18 Hughes • 19 Pearce • 20 McBride (c) • 21 Bullard • 22 Omozusi • 23 Dempsey • 24 Bouazza • 25 Davies • 27 Murphy • 28 Milsom • 29 Niemi • 30 Brown • 31 Watts • 34 Baird • 37 Leijer • 38 Ashton • –– Ehui • –– Elliott • Manager: Vacant