South Region Russia

Coach: Oleg Sanko
Date of birth: 06/09/1970
As a midfielder, Sanko came through the youth ranks at FC Rostselmash Rostov-Na-Donu (now FC Rostov) and even faced Juventus in a 1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup game. He later moved into amateur football, representing South Region Russia's parent club FC Dongazdobycha before becoming its coach for the UEFA Regions' Cup.

Team profile
South Region Russia are based around an amateur club side, FC Dongazdobycha, who hail from the village of Sulin in the Rostov region. Founded in 1992, they started off in the second division of their regional championship, and have won five first tier titles together since gaining promotion in 2005.

They earned the right to represent Russia at the UEFA Regions' Cup as winners of the 2009 Southern Federal District league and Russian Amateur Cup, beating 2005 finals hosts Małopolska on goal difference to win intermediary round Group 7, thanks to six goals from Sergei Lednev – the top scorer in qualifying.

Coach Aleksandr Boldyrev has been replaced by Sanko – ineligible to play since he has been a professional in the past – since then following a pair of domestic defeats, with the new boss saying: "I follow a classic principle; I'm the boss on the field and a friend outside of it."