Alexander Hleb is a Belarusian midfielder, born on 1 May 1981 in Minsk.
Alexander Hleb is a legend of Belarusian sport, he was often named the best football player of the country. He is the only Belarusian who played in three strongest championships of the Old World.
During his childhood Hleb was engaged in various sports, but his father insisted that he concentrated on football. After several years at the youth academy of Dinamo Minsk, Alexander moved to BATE Borisov. Alexander debuted for BATE in 1999 and eventually won the national championship by the end of the season.
The Belarusian midfielder’s brilliant play attracted the attention of German VfB Stuttgart, where Hleb and his younger brother Vyacheslav transferred in 2000. At first Alexander could not get into the starting lineup, but after convincing Felix Magath he was given a place in the starting lineup. The Belarusian justified confidence reposed in him by becoming one of the best playmakers in Bundesliga in the 2004/05 season, and making it into the symbolic team of the tournament. In 2005, after five years of defending the colors of the Swabians, during which he made 137 appearances and scored 13 goals, Hleb decided to move to Arsenal.
The Belarusian halfback debuted for The Gunners in August 2005. At first things went wrong, Alexander got injured, and there were rumors of his return to Germany, but in the next year Hleb managed to gain a foothold in Arsenal’s first team. Together with the Londoners he reached the finals of the Champions League. Over time, Hleb became a leader of the team. His versatility allowed him to play effectively as both winger and playmaker. The more unexpected and unpleasant for the fans was Alexander’s decision to leave for Barcelona. In spite of remonstrance of Arsène Wenger, Hleb remained steadfast and left the club for good. The midfielder scored 7 goals in 89 games for Arsenal.
The transition to Barcelona, as it later turned out, was the first link in the chain of unfortunate decisions of the player. The Belarusian legionnaire failed to integrate in the Catalan club. Whether it was Hleb’s reluctance to learn Spanish, or the coaching staff’s disbelief in his abilities, but Alexander was unable to gain a foothold in the Spanish giants, and played mere 19 matches for Barça in four years. Despite that, together with the club he had become the winner of the Champions League.
Hleb entered a period of constant loans and injuries. He failed to integrate in Stuttgart and Birmingham City. At VfL Wolfsburg the Belarusian couldn’t find a common language with his former coach Felix Magath. In short, Europe began to forget about Hleb, and so he decided to move to Russian side Krylia Sovetov Samara, from where he returned to his native BATE Borisov.
Aged 32, Hleb signed for a Turkish side Konyaspor in January 2014.
As part of Belarus U-21 Alexander Hleb won 24 caps and scored 5 goals. Since 2001 the midfielder defends the colors of the national team, and at one time even was its captain.
Found a mistake? Highlight it with mouse and press CTRL + Enter. Thank you!
There is no content in this category.
There is no content in this category.
Become an author on the sports blogging platform Scorum.
There are no comments.
Fans are not available.