A canny midfield operator who made his name in the FC Zenit St Petersburg side that won the 2008 UEFA Cup, notably with a goal in the final against Rangers FC, Igor Denisov has carved out a promising international career since then and will be hoping to make his major tournament debut at UEFA EURO 2012.

• Born and brought up in St Petersburg, Denisov attended the local Smena football academy and joined Zenit in 2001 at the age of 17.

• Made his first-team breakthrough in the 2003 season, scoring two goals in 19 appearances, and eventually settled into an advanced midfield role behind twin attackers Andrey Arshavin and Aleksandr Kerzhakov.

• Captained Russia's Under-21 side but did not make his senior international debut until 11 October 2008, against Germany, having turned down a late offer from coach Guus Hiddink to participate at UEFA EURO 2008.

• Came into contention for a national team spot after helping Zenit win the 2007 Premier-Liga and 2008 UEFA Cup, scoring the opening goal in the Manchester final; added the UEFA Super Cup to his trophy collection, playing all 90 minutes of a 2-1 defeat of Manchester United FC in Monaco.

• An established Russian international during the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, he won the domestic double with Zenit in 2010 and helped the Sine-Belo-Golubye retain the Premier-Liga in the transitional 2011/12 campaign.

UEFA honours
UEFA Cup: winner 2008
UEFA Super Cup: winner 2008