A free-kick specialist with a deceptive long-range shot, Olexandr Aliyev has endured a frustrating career of peaks and troughs, but he is a midfielder of many talents and has found favour with Ukraine coach Oleh Blokhin during the build-up to UEFA EURO 2012, where he will hope to make a major impact.

• Joined FC Dynamo Kyiv in 2002 and made a handful of first-team appearances but mostly featured for the club's reserve side, FC Dynamo-2 Kyiv, until the 2005/06 season, when he had a spell on loan at FC Metalurh Zaporizhya.

• Scored three league goals for Dynamo in 2007/08 but made his big breakthrough the following campaign under Yuri Semin, registering 13 times in 26 games to help his side win the Ukrainian title; also made 16 appearances in European competition, scoring a brilliant UEFA Champions League goal to beat FC Porto and helping Bilo-Syni to the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup.

• Made his Ukraine debut against Belarus on 6 September 2008 in his country's opening 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier; went on to make seven appearances in that campaign, after which he scored four goals in his next three friendly appearances (versus Lithuania, Romania and the Netherlands).

• Transferred to FC Lokomotiv Moskva for the 2010 Russian Premier-Liga season, he finished as the Railway Men's leading scorer with 14 goals in 25 games.

• Back at Dynamo, he found his best form again in 2011/12, earning a recall to the national side following some eye-catching displays in domestic and European competition.

UEFA honours
UEFA European Under-21 Championship: runner-up 2006