Eduard Mkrtychevich Spertsyan (Armenian: Էդուարդ Մկրտիչի Սպերցյան; Russian: Эдуард Мкртычевич Сперцян; born 7 June 2000) is an Armenian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Russian Premier League club Krasnodar. Born in Russia, he plays for the Armenia national team.

Eduard Spertsyan
Spertsyan with Krasnodar in 2022
Personal information
Full name Eduard Mkrtychevich Spertsyan
Date of birth (2000-06-07) 7 June 2000 (age 24)
Place of birth Stavropol, Russia
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team
Krasnodar
Number 10
Youth career
2010–2018 Krasnodar
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018–2019 Krasnodar-3 13 (1)
2018–2021 Krasnodar-2 74 (17)
2018– Krasnodar 105 (35)
International career
2021– Armenia 32 (6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 8 December 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17 November 2024

Club career

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Spertsyan made his debut in the Russian Professional Football League for FC Krasnodar-2 on 17 March 2018 in a game against FC Biolog-Novokubansk.[1] He made his Russian Football National League debut for Krasnodar-2 on 1 October 2018 in a game against FC Khimki.[2]

After scoring seven goals in the first nine games of the FNL season for FC Krasnodar-2, he made his Russian Premier League debut for FC Krasnodar on 18 September 2020 in a game against FC Khimki.[3] On 28 October 2020, he made his European debut as a late substitute in the Champions League 4–0 home loss to Chelsea, making him the youngest ever Armenia national team player to ever play UEFA Champions League group stages, surpassing Henrikh Mkhitaryan for over a year and one month.[4] He was top assister at the 2022–23 Russian Premier League with 11 assists, two more than the runners-up, adding to his 10 goals on that same season - making him the only player in the league to reach double digit goals+assists and also earning him a spot in the Team Of The Season as well as the Best Midfielder of the Season award for 2022-23 - amid rumors linking him to teams like AFC Ajax, AC Milan and Olympique de Marseille. He also captained his team to the 2022–23 Russian Cup final, where they'd lose after going to penalty kick shootout.

International career

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On 17 February 2021, the Football Federation of Armenia confirmed that Spertsyan would join the Armenia national team in March to prepare for the World Cup qualifiers. Spertsyan made his debut for the national team on 31 March 2021 against Romania. He came on as a substitute at half-time, scoring in the 56th minute at the Republican Stadium. He scored in two Nations League matches against Ireland. He scored the only goal in a match in Yerevan for Armenia to get the win, as well as at the away game in Dublin as Ireland would go on to win 3–2 at the Aviva Stadium.[5] On 17 October 2023 he scored the only goal for Armenia in a friendly game vs North Macedonia from a freekick.

Career statistics

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Club

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As of match played 8 December 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Russian Cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Krasnodar-2 2017–18 Russian Football National League 2 11 1 11 1
2018–19 Russian Football National League 11 0 5[a] 0 16 0
2019–20 Russian Football National League 20 0 20 0
2020–21 Russian Football National League 32 16 32 16
Total 74 17 5 0 79 17
Krasnodar-3 2018–19 Russian Second League 12 1 12 1
2019–20 Russian Second League 1 0 1 0
Total 13 1 13 1
Krasnodar 2020–21 Russian Premier League 5 0 0 0 2[b] 0 7 0
2021–22 Russian Premier League 25 8 2 0 27 8
2022–23 Russian Premier League 28 10 13 4 41 14
2023–24 Russian Premier League 29 11 4 0 33 11
2024–25 Russian Premier League 18 6 6 0 1[c] 0 25 6
Total 105 35 25 4 2 0 1 0 133 39
Career total 192 53 25 4 2 0 6 0 225 57
  1. ^ Appearances in FNL Cup
  2. ^ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  3. ^ Appearance in Russian Super Cup

International

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As of match played 17 November 2024[6]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Armenia 2021 7 1
2022 6 2
2023 10 1
2024 9 2
Total 32 6
Scores and results list Armenia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Spertsyan goal.
List of international goals scored by Eduard Spertsyan
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 31 March 2021 Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, Yerevan, Armenia   Romania 1–0 3–2 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
2 4 June 2022 Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, Yerevan, Armenia   Republic of Ireland 1–0 1–0 2022–23 UEFA Nations League B
3 27 September 2022 Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Republic of Ireland   Republic of Ireland 2–2 2–3
4 17 October 2023 Stadion Blagoj Istatov, Strumica, North Macedonia   North Macedonia 1–3 1–3 Friendly
5 7 September 2024 Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, Yerevan, Armenia   Latvia 4–1 4–1 2024–25 UEFA Nations League C
6 17 November 2024 Skonto Stadium, Riga, Latvia   Latvia 1–0 2–1 2024–25 UEFA Nations League C

Honours

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FC Krasnodar

Individual

References

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  1. ^ "Game Report by PFL". Russian Professional Football League. 17 March 2018.
  2. ^ "Безвыигрышная серия прервалась матчем с "Химками"". FC Krasnodar. 1 October 2018.
  3. ^ "Krasnodar v Khimki game report". Russian Premier League. 18 September 2020.
  4. ^ "Krasnodar v Chelsea game report". UEFA. 28 October 2020.
  5. ^ Ireland shocked in Armenia as Spertsyan hits winner RTÉ News, 4 June 2022.
  6. ^ "Eduard Spertsyan". eu-football.info. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  7. ^ "Eduard Spertsyan voted Armenia's Player of the Year". Public Radio of Armenia. 26 December 2022.
  8. ^ "Все лауреаты первой ежегодной премии Winline Герои РПЛ" [All winners of the first Winline Heroes of the RPL award] (in Russian). Russian Premier League. 4 June 2023. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  9. ^ "Все лауреаты второй премии Winline Герои РПЛ" [All winners of the second Winline Heroes of the RPL award] (in Russian). Russian Premier League. 26 May 2024. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  10. ^ "Все лауреаты первой ежегодной премии Winline Герои РПЛ" [All winners of the first Winline Heroes of the RPL award] (in Russian). Russian Premier League. 4 June 2023. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  11. ^ "ЭДУАРД СПЕРЦЯН – WINLINE ЛУЧШИЙ ИГРОК ОКТЯБРЯ" (in Russian). Russian Premier League. 11 November 2023.
  12. ^ "ЭДУАРД СПЕРЦЯН – АВТОР WINLINE ГОЛА АПРЕЛЯ!" (in Russian). Russian Premier League. 10 May 2024.
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