Zenit head coach Sergei Semak is 48 years old: biography and main achievements

The head coach of the Zenit football club, Sergei Semak, turns 48 on February 27. The press service of the blue-white-sky blues congratulated the coach on the holiday, wishing him to achieve new records and awards. She thanked him for participating in the life of Zenit and receiving the second star, which is awarded for every five champion titles.

Sergei Semak was born on February 27, 1976 in the village of Sychanskoye near Lugansk (then Voroshilovgrad). He devoted his entire life to football, from the age of 16 he found himself in the Karelian Asmaral system, and then in CSKA. Semak became the youngest captain in the history of Russian football at 19 years old.

In 2005, the future Zenit coach moved to PSG. In the same year he was awarded the title of Honored Master of Sports. After this, Semak went to Moscow, and then to Rubin Kazan, where he won the first championship title in the club’s history.

Sergei Semak surpassed the bar of one hundred goals scored in the Russian championships in 2007. Then he entered the Club of 100 Russian scorers of the Sport-Express newspaper and the club of Grigory Fedotov. The following year, Semak returned to the national team as team captain, winning bronze medals at the European Championship. After that, he joined the Igor Netto Club. This is a community of players who have played more than 50 matches for the Russian national team.

Semak joined Zenit in 2010. Over three seasons, he played 72 matches, scored 13 goals and provided seven assists. Semak joined the blue-white-blue coaching staff in June 2013, accepting the offer of Luciano Spalletti. Semak became the head coach of Zenit on March 11, 2014. With him, the team played against CSKA (0:1) and Borussia Dortmun (2:1).

Nine days after being appointed head coach, Semak joined Andre Villas-Boas’ staff. In August 2014, the mentor joined the coaching staff of the Russian national team, where he worked with Fabio Capello and Leonid Slutsky.

In September 2015, the mentor led the team for six matches of the Russian championship due to the disqualification of the Portuguese coach. Semak then continued to work on the coaching staff of Mircea Lucescu, and in 2016 he took over as head coach of Ufa. Thanks to him, the team finished the 2017/18 Season in sixth place with the best result in the team’s history and gave Ufa the opportunity to qualify for the UEFA Europa League.

Semak took charge of Zenit in May 2018. With the blue-white-blue team, the head coach collected all the national trophies, the club became a five-time champion of Russia. The team won one Cup and four national Super Cups. In July 2023, Semak became Zenit’s record holder for the number of victories – 140 at the moment.