Oleksiy Antonov

Oleksiy Antonov is a striker, born on 8 May 1986 in Pavlohrad, Ukraine.

Oleksiy spent the final stage of training for the professional performance in the youth academy of FC Dnipro. In 2003 Antonov was invited to join Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Reserves, where he played for one season. In the summer of 2004 the Ukrainian completed a move to FC Kuban. From the start of the 2004/05 season, Oleksiy didn’t enjoy great confidence of the head coach, making occasional appearances as a starter. Thus, he spent the following two seasons on the bench as a sub or even wasn’t named for the matches of Kuban.

In 2007 Antonov returned to Ukraine, where he penned a contract with FC Metalist Kharkiv. The club’s coach didn’t want to entrust the footballer with a permanent position in the starting line-up due to his poor performance. That is why the next season Oleksiy was sent on loan to FC Zorya Luhansk, becoming a key figure in the team right at the start of the season. For one season he made 37 outings in the starting 11 and netted 4 goals.

In 2010 the forward joined FC Illichivets Mariupol signing a one-year contract with them. During this period of his professional career, Oleksiy showed an outstanding play finding the net 10 times in 21 matches. In 2011 Antonov’s first professional club expressed an intention to sign the player, which was done in the next transfer window. Oleksiy did not perform well in the season, so, in 2012 he went on long-term loan to FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih.

In the season 2013/2014 Antonov played for Chornomorets. In the summer 2014 he joined a Kazakhstan side Aktobe.

From 2003 to 2007, Antonov was capped for the Ukraine national U-17, U-19 and U-21 teams, appearing in 24 matches and scoring 13 goals. In 2011 he took part in 1 game of the senior squad.