Name: Oleksandr Mykolayovych Berezhnoy



Country: Soviet Union | Ukraine
Club: FC Dynamo Kyiv
Position: *SMF, DMF, CMF, SB
Side: RF/RS
Age: 19-21 years (08/12/1957)

Height: 182 cm
Weight: 79 kg

Attack: 72
Defence: 71
Balance: 84
Stamina: 85
Top Speed: 78
Acceleration: 75
Response: 76
Agility: 74
Dribble Accuracy: 79
Dribble Speed: 72
Short Pass Accuracy: 76
Short Pass Speed: 74
Long Pass Accuracy: 74
Long Pass Speed: 73
Shot Accuracy: 70
Shot Power: 81
Shot Technique: 71
Free Kick Accuracy: 64
Curling: 73
Header: 80
Jump: 84
Technique: 79
Aggression: 81
Mentality: 76
Goalkeeper Skills: 50
Team Work: 76

Injury Tolerance: B
Condition/Fitness: 6
Weak Foot Accuracy: 5
Weak Foot Frequency: 5
Consistency: 6
Growth type: Early/Peak

CARDS:
S01 - Marauding
S07 - Man Marking
S09 - Covering


SPECIAL ABILITIES: Reaction - Marking - Covering - Side

Attack/Defence Awareness Card: Balanced


INFO:
One of the best right siders of the late 70s of Dynamo Kyiv. He ousted Troshkin from the main team. Versatile, Berezhnoy could have successfully played both as a winger (extreme midfielder) and even as a defender, only on right touchline. Physically strong, he can sometimes ram any defense, play well with his head, endure pain in a collision, play with both feet. However, he had a slow dribble (fine technique) and did not have enough ability to talk with partners in the language of passing, still he was flying on right flank with his trademark flanking passes, being also a replacement for Troshkin.

Berezhnoy would often be assigned to mark the toughest players e.g. Kipiani: "Lobanovsky had a "trick" - if there was a strong individualist in the opposing team, then he gave me the task to close it. In addition to instructing to play personally, I also had to connect to the attacks. There was enough strength, so I liked to act all over the field. God did not hurt my health. Viktor Kolotov and I did all the rough work. Had a task to pick up the ball and start the attack."

Blokhin on Berezhnoy after 1978 Cup final: "understudy defender Alexander Berezhnoy. And is he a protector? Having played several matches in the main team on the right side of the defense, Alexander then ended up in the middle of the field, and in last year's match against the Belgian Anderlecht he made a "hat-trick" - he scored three goals against the Belgians!"

In 1976 he was enrolled in Dynamo Kiev, where he successfully played for 4 seasons. In 1979 he got injured in the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR and didn't play for a year and a half. He could never reach again that level. Member of the USSR national team (1976-1979), 14 matches.

• Champion of the USSR: 1977
• Winner of the USSR Cup: 1978
• In the lists of the 33 best football players of the USSR (2): No. 1 - 1978 ; No. 3 - 1977
• In the symbolic team of 11 best football players of the USSR in 1977 according to the Coaching Council of the USSR Football Federation.