Alexander Gleb. Alexander Pavlovich Gleb: biography

European breeders paid attention to it even earlier. Olympiacos offered a million for him, but they decided not to consider the Greek championship. The Munich 1860 scouts noticed him at a youth tournament in Slovakia - they took his contact information, then looked at him in Belarus, and he went to Munich. At the first training session, Werner Lorant looked at this fragile “Russian” with skepticism. But after he drove Thomas Hessler himself around in training, he was immediately offered a contract. They wanted to take it, but in the end the clubs did not agree.

Stuttgart noticed him at a youth tournament in Germany, he was remembered, and then a contract was signed with him without prior screening. So at the age of 18 he became a player in the Bundesliga club. Before the summer, he played for another six months in BATE (12 matches, 3 goals). He cost the Germans only 150 thousand euros - according to the contract, if he did not play in Germany, he could return to BATE for free. What was shining for him in Germany? A difficult start in the second team, and before him more than one player had broken down...

Oddly enough, he didn’t have to wait long for his debut in the Bundesliga; already in the 3rd round he came on as a substitute against Kaiserslautern. At that time, Stuttgart was going through difficult financial times, although the club still had the same composition: the then little-known Timo Hildebrand was in goal, the Brazilian Marcelo Bordon was in defense, the Bulgarian Krasimir Balakov was in midfield (part of that “Stuttgart” finalist of the 98 Cup Winners’ Cup ), Hungarian Christian Listes, Croatian Zvonimir Soldo (the basis of the Croatian national team - the recent opening of the World Cup), Guinean Pablo Thiam, experienced German Jens Todt, Romanians Viorel Ganya and Sean Dundee were in charge of the attack. But things obviously didn’t work out for Ralf Rangnick’s team – they still spent the first part of the season somehow, and in the second round the club began to fall into the relegation zone. Perhaps the search for a game helped Gleb get more playing time. It is interesting that in the second round of the German Cup, Stuttgart had to play against their double team - Gleb then became a starter for the first team. In the 22nd round, Rangnick even entrusted him with a place in the home match against Hertha (again a 0-1 defeat). Already in the next round, the club was headed by Felix Magath, a key figure in the development of Gleb. That season, Magath relied on experienced players and somehow saved the club from relegation. Gleb spent the whole season wandering from the first team to the second (17 matches, 4 goals in the regional league). Magat is a lover of discipline and after Gleb was late from the national team, he sent him to the second team until the end of the season. Then, because of this, Gleb almost moved to Perugia, with whom they had already agreed on everything, but the club did not let him go.

In Germany, he gradually settled down, in which he was helped by his agent Nikolai Shpilevsky, who once also played football and ended his career in Germany. He arranged Alexander’s life and moved him to, who began to play for Stuttgart 2 in the regional league. In the summer of 2001, Magath completely rebuilt the team - Magath still had some physical stress, but Gleb endured it. The start of the season was a little blurry... Gleb's mobile phone rang while Magath was giving instructions - he started the season on the bench. The player was eager to prove his class to Magath, and in the fourth round, Gleb entered the away match against Nuremberg. This match was a benefit for Gleb - 3 assists, perfect technique and vision of the game brought his club a 4-2 victory! The German publication Kikker gave Gleb the highest score of 1, included him in the team of the tour and recognized him as a player of the tour. Since then, Gleb has become a starting player. This was his first serious season at a serious level - he constantly played and gained experience. They remembered him at home too - CSKA scouts invited him to Moscow. The club finished 8th and had to qualify for the UEFA Cup through the Intertoto Cup in the summer. In training, Gleb often got it from local players, who saw him as a competitor for a place in the team - but in Germany there were no such young players of Gleb’s level.

The following season, Stuttgart reached its full potential. Magath managed to combine two playmakers on the field – Balakov and Gleb. In the Bundesliga, the club became vice-champion - in the last round, already relegated Energia took points from Dortmund, and Stuttgart took advantage of this. Although there was no talk of real rivalry with Bayern - 75 points for the Munich team and 59 for Stuttgart. They started the season in the summer - they had to get into the UEFA Cup (8 matches, 1 goal). In the first round, his goal helped beat the Belgian Lokeren. Then there was an unpleasant duel with the Italian Perugia (3-1 and 1-2). In the final, the French Lille were defeated in a difficult fight (0-1 and 2-0). In the UEFA Cup, the club reached the 1/8 finals, where in a bitter struggle they lost to the future finalist Celtic. After a home defeat 1-3, at home by the 15th minute his team was burning 0-2, but goals from Tiffert, Gleb and Mutzel snatched victory from the Scots - 3-2.

The following season they started in the group stage of the Champions League in a group with Manchester United, Glasgow Rangers and Panathinaikos. In such a difficult group they finished second, and in the 1/8 finals of the Champions League they lost to Mourinho’s Chelsea in two nervous matches. In the championship, the club stayed in the Champions League zone for a long time, even in first place in seven rounds. In the last round, Stuttgart lost away to Bayer 0-2 and lost third place to them, giving them the right to start in the Champions League. Interestingly, a season earlier, Gleb made fun of Bayer 3-0 (goal + pass from Alexander).

The season turned out to be a failure - the management set the goal of becoming champions (obvious dizziness from success), but after relegation from the Champions League, the team sat down and lost the necessary points. The management decided not to pay bonuses for the year due to failure to complete the task, after which Felix Magath left the club in the off-season, going for a promotion to Bayern. He wanted to take Alexander with him, but Magath’s “regime” made Gleba so disgusted that the transition was out of the question. But Beckenbauer himself called him the best dribbler in the Bundesliga. In the off-season, Arsenal, Liverpool, Milan and Eidenhoven applied for Gleb. However, the team's new coach, Matthias Sammer, simply did not let Gleb go - in the new season, the club's entire game had to be built through him. But even then his agent Shpilevsky commented that in a season Gleb would become a gunner.

Last season, Gleb carried Stuttgart on himself, eventually pushing them to fifth place - he played in all matches and became the best passer in the Bundesliga with 14 assists. Gleb had clearly outgrown the level of the club and needed a new challenge.

A new challenge in his career was the London Arsenal, where he was sold for 18 million euros (16 direct payments + 2 million bonuses) - over 5 seasons he “rose in price” 120 times, and from the transfer 450 thousand euros (5% of transfer) went to the clubs that raised him (100 thousand to BATE and 350 thousand to Dynamo Minsk). During the transition, an unexpected problem arose - Gleb was one of the highest paid players in the Bundesliga, and Arsenal could not afford such a salary. As a result, it was decided to pay based on “production” - the fixed part of the salary was much less than in Stuttgart, but they paid 60 thousand pounds for a starting job, and 30 thousand for a replacement exit. Gunners coach Arsene Wenger has long been known in Europe as a talent discoverer - in his team, yesterday's understudies become stars, and if they take a ready-made star, they take a long and meticulous approach to such transfers. Wenger looked closely at Gleb for a long time - his style was ideal for the Gunners' one-touch-football. Gleb plays perfectly with one touch, perfectly knows how to quickly aggravate any situation, he is an excellent dribbler. Gleb's only drawback is that he rarely escalates the situation. He plays too close to the other goal to score so few goals. Wenger had to correct this shortcoming of the Belarusian.

Gleb went to the club as a replacement for the Frenchman Robert Pires and was supposed to get his number seven, in the end he stayed, and Gleb had to choose between numbers 5 and 6. Gleb chose 13... In Stuttgart he wore number 15. Alexander also wanted to become Gleb, not Hleb, but everything remained the same. His name was written in the Belarusian manner - Aliaksandr.

It was quite difficult for Gleb to get used to English football, and as soon as his game improved, he was injured and missed about two months. Nevertheless, he played as a starter - in the championship, the Gunners in the last round took advantage of Tottenham's misfire in the match with West Ham and barely took the final fourth place - just a pass to the Champions League. The championship was out of the question this season - it was the season of Mourinho and Chelsea (91 points). The Gunners took only 67 points - it was extremely far from Manchester United (83) and Liver (82). But in the Champions League, for once, Wenger approached a serious title.

In the light group (Ajax, Thun, Sparta), the Gunners took first, and in the 1/8 they ran into Real Madrid. Unpleasant of course, but surmountable (0-0 and 1-0). in the quarterfinals there is another giant - Juventus (2-0, 0-0).

In the semi-finals we faced the ambitious but inexperienced Villarreal. Here Alexander showed his best qualities and managed to beat the Spaniards - 1-0 and 0-0. In the final, the Gunners had to confront the third Spanish club - the famous Barcelona, ​​which knocked out Chelsea and Milan on the way to the final. There was no equal fight in the final. In the 18th minute, German keeper Jens Lehmann was sent off; in the first half, Sol Campbell put the Gunners ahead, but in the second half, Barca put the squeeze on Wenger's team. As a result, Gleb was content with just the status of a Champions League finalist.

In the summer of 2006, Pires moved to Villarreal, and Gleb finally won his place in the center of the field. But the club, as usual, fought only for a place in the Champions League, and ended up again in fourth place with 68 points after Manchester United (89), Chelsea (83) and Liverpool (68). In the Champions League, a rather unexpected relegation already 1/8 away from PSV. In the League Cup, Arsenal, playing almost double, reached the final. In the final, Gleb came on as a substitute in the 68th minute, but Chelsea, together with Shevchenko, crushed the Gunners.

In the summer, the club's main star, Thierry Henry (Barcelona), left the team, and Swede Frederik Ljungberg went to West Ham to finish his game. Wenger's youth had to take over the game. And they coped with it... almost coped with it. After the first lap, Arsenal was confidently in first place, but very quickly lost their advantage. In the 21st round, Manchester United beat the Gunners for the first time, taking advantage of a misfire in the match with Birmingham. Then they again broke away from Manchester United by five points, but in the 30th round, Manchester United again caught up with Arsenal - a series of unimpressive draws with the middle peasants made themselves felt. Already in the next round there was a defeat from Chelsea and already third place. After that, everything became clear – another season of unfulfilled hopes for Wenger’s forever young team.

Already during the season, they began to talk about Gleb moving to a stronger club. Wenger even had to complain about the behavior of Inter Milan, which allegedly negotiated the transfer behind their back. Then they refuted everything - Gleb seems to be staying. But in the end, in the summer, Barcelona buys him for 15 million euros (for which he bought and sold). Wenger could not keep the player at the club - he was no stranger to losing key players.

He came to Barcelona as a star in a team of stars: Henry, Messi, Eto, Gudjohnssen, Xavi, Dani Alves, Iniesta, Puyol. In Guardiola’s team, he had to prove everything all over again. And at first he didn’t succeed. “ Barça has firmly taken first place in the Primero, but Gleb's contribution to this is small. With such a selection of players, there was no place for him in the main team - he seems good to everyone, but not Messi :) Rarely threatens the goal, and filigree passes... and to whom are they are they needed when the team is already destroying everyone around them?!This state of affairs cannot suit Gleb and he can move to another club in the summer.

Youth. Career before Arsenal.
Alexander Gleb was born in the USSR, in the capital of Belarus, Minsk, in 1981. From early childhood, Sasha dreamed of being an athlete, tried many sports before choosing football. His father played a big role in the development of the athlete, who approved of his son’s choice and tried in every possible way to help him in the future. In 1997, a 15-year-old boy entered the local Dynamo football school (Dynama Minsk).

By the way, this team performed well in the USSR football championship, was the national champion, and played in the quarter finals of European club tournaments three times. So the club had glorious traditions, and so did young Alexander’s teachers. Gleb was made a striker, and he played in this position for about a year until he moved to the Belarusian BATE (BATE) and signed his first professional contract. However, Gleb’s talent was so bright and obvious that an invitation from abroad did not take long to arrive. Having won the Belarusian championship, he went to Germany, then mysterious for him, to the team from Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart.

The first season in the German club was not entirely successful. The Belarusian played mainly as a substitute, and with the arrival of Felix Magath to the team, he stopped appearing in the starting lineup altogether. The team began the next year with pre-season training camps under the leadership of Magath, which were truly legendary among the players. Gleb later said that in terms of intensity these were the most exhausting workouts of his life. Alexander, several times even tried to pack his things, give up on everything and just leave, but something inside him said that he had to endure no matter what. Of course, in Belarus they love football, and know a lot about this game, but this approach was new to him.

The relationship between Gleb and Magath did not go well at first, but Alexander continued to work, and a few rounds after the start of the championship, Felix put Gleb in the starting lineup. He took the field and made 3 brilliant assists in one match. It became clear that a new “extra-class” footballer had appeared in the Bundesliga. In 2002, Stuttgart took part in the Intertoto Cup and won it, and then the club reached the 1/8 finals of the UEFA Cup, but lost there to Celtic.

In 2003, Stuttgart took second place in the championship, and Gleb became the silver medalist of the German football championship. Left behind are such eminent teams as Borussia Dortmund, Hamburger, Werder and Schalke 04. The team, together with Alexander, gets into the Champions League. A brilliant performance in the group stage allows them to take second place in the group, behind Manchester United, leaving behind Panathinaikos and Rangers. However, in the 1/8 finals the draw brought the team against Chelsea. The first match ended with a zero score, and in the return, the British managed to score a goal that brought them to the quarterfinals.

In the 2004/2005 UEFA Cup, the Swabians, having defeated the Hungarian football club Újpest with a total score of 7:1, again entered the group stage. They occupy first place in the group, leaving behind Benfica, Heerenveen, Dinamo Zagreb and Beveren. However, in the 1/16 finals, the Germans unexpectedly lost to Parma, which, by the way, performed very strongly that season and was stopped only one step away from the final by CSKA Moscow.

The next year, history repeated itself. In the preliminary round, the German team knocked out the Slovenian Domžale from the tournament, but took only third place in the group, behind Rapid Bucureşti and Shakhtar Donetsk. But thanks to the fact that they managed to bypass PAOK and Rennes, the path to the playoffs was open. However, in the 1/16, Stuttgart again showed itself to be not a cup team at all, losing to the English Middlesbrough.

Time spent at Arsenal.
Gleb showed himself so well in the difficult German championship and European tournaments that he attracted the attention of many “grandees”. Such famous clubs as Juventus, Inter Internazionale, Bayern, Milan, Real and Barcelona were after him. However, Arsenal and Arsene Wenger showed the greatest persistence, as a result of which Alexander ended up in London in 2005 and was enthusiastically received by the local public, who perfectly understood that a real “superstar” would play for their favorites.

With each new season, Gleb played better and better for Arsenal. Looking at his play, such young talents as Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie were revealed. Wenger trusted him limitlessly and, given the Belarusian’s versatility, played him on the right and left, under the attackers and in the position of a defensive midfielder.

Interestingly, Gleb failed to win any titles with the Gunners. In the 2006/2007 season, he and his partners reached the League Cup final, in which Arsenal lost 2:1 to Chelsea. In 2007/2008, he won a bronze medal in the English championship. As an active Arsenal football player, Alexander led 129 official matches, scored 10 goals and gave 13 assists.

General characteristics of Alexander Gleb.
I would characterize Gleb as a player with Brazilian technique, English fighting spirit, German passing culture, Spanish inventiveness and Italian clarity of thinking. He is a born artist who doesn't see football as hard work, but actually enjoys the game.

In the late 90s - early 2000s, only 3 football players born in the Soviet Union were widely known in world football - Andrei Shevchenko, Alexander Mostovoy and Valery Karpin. Gleb burst into this small “club” like a bright meteor, and amazed once and for all everyone who saw him play at least once. If he had not left Arsenal and remained at the club for another 3-4 years, he could well have qualified for the Golden Ball - the award for the best football player in Europe. About people like Gleb, they say that they are born once every ten years.

Everyone who has ever communicated with the Belarusian midfielder notes his openness, honesty and amazing sense of humor. In any team, from early childhood, he was always the leader and, like no one else, he knew how to relieve tension in the team. Wherever he plays, he is always spoken of with great warmth by both teammates and fans.

Titles, trophies, awards and achievements of Alexander Gleb.

1999
Champion of Belarus.

2002
The best football player in Belarus.

2003
The best football player in Belarus.

2005 year.
The best football player in Belarus.

2006
The best football player in Belarus.

2007
The best football player in Belarus.

2008
The best football player in Belarus.

year 2009.
Champion of Spain.
Winner of the Spanish Cup.
Champions League winner.

Alexander Gleb. Interesting Facts.
As mentioned above, Gleb could find himself in another sport; he was involved in diving, gymnastics, swimming and tried himself in athletics, but the results were not good and he was advised to go to a football school.

In 1999, Gleb came to a tryout at Dynamo Kyiv. However, Valery Lobanovsky, who knew how to recognize young talents like no one else, did not take the Belarusian midfielder to the team. Why this happened is still not clear. Although the master of the coaching department always preferred players of a different type - athletic, hard-working, physically powerful, rather than free artists like Cherenkov, Bergkamp, ​​Messi or the same Gleb.

Gleb moved to Stuttgart for 150 thousand euros, and Arsenal acquired the player for 15 million. That is, the Germans received 100 times more for the football player than they spent at the time. Another argument in favor of the fact that the people of Kiev made a big selection mistake.

There is still no clarity as to why Gleb finally moved to Barcelona. The Arsenal management claims that the Belarusian was offered a new contract in which the player was offered a much higher salary, but Gleb, of his own free will, left the team and decided to move to Spain.

Once Alexander had a small conflict with his partners on the Belarusian national football team. The fact is that the whole team traveled by bus, and Gleb preferred to get to the stadium in his own car. Some players felt that the midfielder was deliberately distancing himself from the team. however, he never had any kind of star fever; the conflict was resolved as quickly as it arose.

Alexander is the first player from Belarus to play in the Champions League final (2006) and also win this tournament (2009).

Career after Arsenal.
In 2008, Gleb moved to the Spanish Barcelona, ​​which at that time was probably considered the strongest club on the planet. It seemed to everyone that Alexander, having made such a choice, would not go wrong, because the style of play of the “blue garnets” was ideal for the midfielder. However, quite unexpectedly, he gets injured, and then begins to experience obvious problems with his physical condition. Josep Guardiola began to play other players in the center of the field, constantly keeping Gleb on the bench. The Belarusian himself has repeatedly stated that in training and bilateral meetings he looked at least as good as the rest of the team’s players, and therefore this behavior of the coach raises big questions. Among other things, Alexander did not fit in with the team, and in general, the Spanish language really turned out to be completely different from what he had imagined before moving. As a result, Sasha played only 19 matches for Barça and was never able to score against the opponents.

In 2009, Gleb was loaned to the German Stuttgart - to the team where, in fact, his stellar career began. Moreover, before this it became known that he refused to Inter Milan because he did not want to play in the Italian championship. However, something clearly broke in the midfielder's game. Perhaps the reasons lie in the field of psychology, but the fact remains that he almost demonstratively stopped shooting on goal. Having never reached his true level in Germany, Gleb was loaned to the English Birmingham City.

Started playing football at the age of 6 years. In addition to this sport, he tried himself in athletics and diving, but did not achieve serious results in these sports. His father, Pavel Grigorievich, supported his son’s endeavors in football and helped him; It was on the instructions of his father that Gleb began playing football at the Dynamo Minsk school. At the age of 17, he signed a contract with BATE Borisov, and the following year the team won the Belarusian championship.

Having attracted the attention of scouts, Alexander and his younger brother Vyacheslav went to Germany in 2000 to play for Stuttgart in the Bundesliga. Their contracts were bought by Stuttgart for 150,000 euros. Alexander made his debut in the Bundesliga on September 5, 2000 in an away match against Kaiserslautern, coming on as a substitute 20 minutes before the end of the match. In his first season for Stuttgart, Gleb appeared on the field in only 6 matches, and already in the next season he became one of the team’s key players.

In the 2002/03 season, Stuttgart took second place in the Bundesliga and qualified for the Champions League, where they defeated Manchester United, and Gleb became the team's playmaker. However, Stuttgart head coach Felix Magath then left the club to take over Bayern in the summer of 2004, and Stuttgart only finished fifth the following season. Gleb became the best assistant in the Bundesliga season 2004/05.

On July 28, 2005, Gleb moved to Arsenal in London, the transfer amount was about 15 million euros (under certain conditions: number of games, etc.). The contract was for 4 years. On August 21, Gleb played his first official match for Arsenal away against Chelsea. Soon after, he was injured in a game for the Belarus national team and was out for several months, losing his place in the Arsenal team, which led to rumors about his desire to return to Germany. However, he returned to the first team on December 7, playing 60 minutes in the Champions League match against Ajax Amsterdam. By January 2006, he had established himself in the first team and scored his first goal for Arsenal against Middlesbrough. On May 17, Gleb became the first Belarusian football player to play in the Champions League final. In total, in his first season for Arsenal, he appeared on the field in 40 matches, scoring 3 goals.

The next season at Arsenal started well for him: in his first official match of the season, he made 2 assists (Arsenal's victory over Dinamo Zagreb with a score of 3:0 in the qualifying round of the Champions League). Constantly appearing on the field at the base, Gleb became an important part of Arsene Wenger's team. In the 2006/07 season, Gleb played 48 matches for Arsenal (40 of them were in the starting lineup), scoring 3 goals.

In the 2007/08 season, due to a series of injuries in the team, Gleb’s versatility was fully revealed, playing on both flanks of midfield, in central midfield and in the forward position. He showed good performances in the Champions League matches, where he played as an attacking midfielder with a lot of freedom. On July 17, 2008, Gleb moved to Barcelona for £11.8 million.

Things didn't work out for him at Barcelona. He suffered an injury early in the season which forced him to miss more than a month. After that, he was unable to prove to head coach Guardiola that he was worthy of being in the starting lineup. Alexander mostly replaced players who needed rest. By March, he had only started 5 times in the Spanish Championship. Because of this, rumors appeared about a possible move to Bayern. Alexander expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that the coach prefers other players. According to Gleb, of his direct competitors, only Messi surpassed him in terms of level of play.

In July 2009, Gleb was supposed to be part of the deal to exchange Ibrahimovic for Eto'o, but Alexander refused to go on loan to Internazionale. On July 30, it became known that Gleb went on a one-year loan to Stuttgart, for whom he had previously played. At the same time, Alexander admitted that he regrets leaving Arsenal, but nothing can be done about it. He spent the 2009/2010 season in Stuttgart. In the Bundesliga, without scoring a single goal and only hitting the target twice, Gleb returns to Barcelona.

On January 31, 2012, he terminated his contract with Barcelona (valid until June 30, 2012) early by mutual consent.

On February 17, 2012, he officially transferred to Krylia Sovetov Samara.

Achievements

Team

• Champion of Belarus: 1999

• Intertoto Cup winner: 2002
• Silver medalist of the German Championship: 2002/03

• League Cup finalist: 2006/07
• 3rd place in the English Championship: 2007/08
• UEFA Champions League finalist: 2005/06

• Copa del Rey winner: 2008/09
• Champion of Spain: 2008/09
• UEFA Champions League winner: 2008/09

• League Cup winner: 2010/11

Personal

• Best Footballer of Belarus (6): 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
• The first Belarusian footballer to play in the final match of the UEFA Champions League (in 2006 with Arsenal)
• The first Belarusian footballer to win the UEFA Champions League (in 2009 with Barcelona)

Personal life

He is married to Anastasia Kosenkova, a former singer of the Belarusian pop group Topless.

Alexander Gleb was born on May 1, 1981 in the USSR. He is one of the best Belarusian football players, possessing a huge number of honorary titles and awards.

Alexander Gleb was born in the capital of Belarus, Minsk. He started playing football at the age of 6. In addition to this sport, he tried himself in athletics and diving, but his efforts in this area did not bring any special results. Sasha’s father, Pavel Grigorievich, supported his son’s endeavors in football, he tried in every possible way to help him in this difficult sport. It should be noted that it was precisely through the instructions of his father that the boy got into this sport.

Alexander Gleb trained at the Dynamo sports club. His first mentor was the famous coach Sinyakevich. After several months of intense training, Sasha began to demonstrate

excellent skills, and many began to predict an excellent football career for him. The boy confidently controlled the ball and already took a leadership position on the football field.

When the young football player turned 15, he was accepted into the national junior team of Belarus. He switched to experienced coach Alexander Bashmakov. It was at this stage of his development that Sasha showed his leadership qualities, becoming one of the best football players in his country.

The next club after Dynamo was BATE. There his mentor was Yuri Puntusu. Thanks to the efforts of this talented man, Alexander Gleb became a world-class football player, receiving the title of champion of Belarus.

In 2000, Alexander Gleb moved to the Stuttgart football club. Over the course of several years of playing in this club, he became one of the professional

best players in Europe. Sasha took part in the most prestigious championships and became the owner of numerous prestigious titles.

In 2005, the Belarusian football player moved to the English Arsenal. A month later, he already received the title of the team's best player. He won the hearts of millions of Britons, who accepted the foreign athlete as a long-familiar national player.

At the moment, Alexander Gleb is one of the main players of Arsenal. But, despite this, he never refuses to take part in games for the Belarus national team. He was always proud of his homeland, and will defend its interests even without fabulous fees and titles. Alexander is a true patriot of his country and will do everything to ensure that Belarusian football is not in last place in the world.

Belarusian football player, midfielder, Alexander Pavlovich Gleb was born in 1981 in the capital of the country - Minsk. This player has repeatedly received the title of the best football player in Belarus and is a legendary athlete, an international master of sports. He is the only representative of his state who performed in each of the three most powerful championships of the European continent - German, English and Spanish.

Childhood and first football steps

Alexander has been fond of sports since childhood, but his father helped him choose football, who brought the six-year-old boy to the location of the football section of the Minsk Dynamo. The young football player studied at the Dynamo football school for several years, after which he decided to continue training at BATE, a club located in the city of Borisov. When Alexander was seventeen years old, he signed a professional contract with the Borisov team; in 1999, he entered the big football field for the first time and even won the Belarusian championship.

The beginning of a professional journey

The midfielder’s admirable actions on the field could not escape the gaze of foreign observers, and the very next year the player was invited to the German Stuttgart, where he went with the assistance of manager Shpilevsky. His younger brother Vyacheslav also moved there with him - the club bought the contracts of both players for 150 thousand euros. It was in the German team that the footballer grew to the top level.

Alexander Gleb, who did not immediately make it into the main team, continued to show diligence in training sparring, which Stuttgart head coach Magath could not help but notice, who eventually entrusted him with a place in the team. Alexander honestly worked out his five-year contract. Having played more than 170 official matches for the team, the player scored more than three dozen goals, earning fame as the best passer of the German championship.

Further club career

At the end of the contract with the German club, Alexander decided to apply his professional skills to one of the top clubs in the English Premier League - London Arsenal, which paid Stuttgart 15 million euros for the player’s transfer. Alexander's debut with the Gunners in 2005 was marred by injury, and there were even rumors about his imminent return to Germany, but the following season the player managed to gain a foothold in the team, began to demonstrate excellent play and soon became one of the team leaders. Club partners have repeatedly noted Gleb’s confident actions and his versatility, which allowed him to play as both a playmaker and a winger. As part of the London club, Alexander Gleb almost managed to win the international cup, reaching the Champions League final with the team. The footballer played almost 90 matches for Arsenal, in which he scored seven goals.

Dissatisfied with the lack of trophies, Gleb, despite admonitions, in 2008 moved to the Catalan Barcelona, ​​with whom he hoped to fulfill his dream. But as it turned out, this decision was the beginning of the end of the player’s club career. The injury, the coaches' lack of confidence in the player's strength, Alexander's reluctance to learn the language - all this negatively affected the player's ability to gain a foothold in the Catalans. As a result, the player played 18 official matches on the field in a Barcelona T-shirt, and even won the Champions League Cup with the team, and then the loan began. The player visited Wolfsburg and Birmingham City twice, after which the player and the club came to an early termination of the contract.

In 2012, Krylya Sovetov became a team that Alexander Gleb joined. The footballer played for the Samara team for six months, after which he returned to his native BATE. The player signed a contract with his first club for one year, after which he extended it for another period. At the beginning of 2014, the Belarusian midfielder signed a contract with the Turkish team Konyaspor, but due to contradictions with the coach, he soon stopped playing on the field. To date, the contract has been signed by the Turkish Genclerbirligi and Alexander Gleb, where the player plays as an attacking midfielder.

National team career

In 2000, the BATE player was noticed by the coach of the Belarus youth team and invited the young talent to the team, where Gleb participated in the final part of the 2004 European Championship. For the young team, Alexander scored 5 goals in 24 matches.

Since 2001, the football player has been playing for the adult national team, and for some time was the captain of the national team. Between 2002 and 2008, Alexander was recognized as the best football player in the republic six times. He is also the first among Belarusian footballers to play in the final of the main UEFA tournament.