Oleksandr Kucher

Oleksandr Kucher is a defender for Shakhtar Donetsk and the Ukraine national team. He was born on 22 October 1982 in Kiev, Ukraine.

Oleksandr is a product of Dynamo Kyiv youth system. He made his professional debut for Arsenal Kharkiv in 2000. Kucher played for the Kharkiv club for two seasons, making a total of 59 appearances and 5 goals. In 2002 the defender moved to Metalurh Donetsk, but failed to become a regular, making only 9 appearances. As a result, he was loaned to FC Kharkiv for the 2002/03 season, to Armenian Banants Yerevan for the 2003/04 season, and again to FC Kharkiv for the 2004/05 campaign, totaling 45 appearances and 3 goals for the temporary clubs. In 2005 Kucher joined Metalist Kharkiv and played 28 matches and scored 2 goals by 2006.

In July 2006 Oleksandr moved to Shakhtar Donetsk, and a month later made his debut for the Ukraine national team in a friendly against Azerbaijan. Together with the Miners Kucher became the fourfold Ukrainian champion and threefold winner of the Ukrainian Cup. In addition, the defender won the UEFA Cup in 2009.

Since 2006 Oleksandr made more than 100 appearances for the Miners (as of October 2012). The defender also participated in more than 40 matches of the UEFA European Championship. He was included in Ukraine Euro 2012 squad, but didn’t participate in the tournament directly.