Alexander Hleb facts for kids

In this article, the patronymic is Paulavich and the family name is Hleb.

Quick facts for kids
Alexander Hleb
Personal information
Hleb with Konyaspor in 2014
Full name	Aliaksandr Paulavich Hleb
Date of birth	(1981-05-01) 1 May 1981 (age 44)
Place of birth	Minsk, Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Attacking midfielder, winger
Youth career
1997–1998	Dinamo-Juni Minsk
1998–1999	BATE Borisov
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1998	Dinamo-Juni Minsk	11	(1)
1999–2000	BATE Borisov	25	(4)
2000–2001	VfB Stuttgart II	17	(4)
2000–2005	VfB Stuttgart	137	(13)
2005–2008	Arsenal	89	(7)
2008–2012	Barcelona	19	(0)
2009–2010	→ VfB Stuttgart (loan)	27	(0)
2010–2011	→ Birmingham City (loan)	19	(1)
2011	→ VfL Wolfsburg (loan)	4	(1)
2012	Krylia Sovetov Samara	8	(0)
2012–2013	BATE Borisov	29	(3)
2014	Konyaspor	30	(2)
2015	Gençlerbirliği	15	(2)
2015	BATE Borisov	4	(0)
2016	Gençlerbirliği	12	(0)
2016	BATE Borisov	6	(0)
2017	Krylia Sovetov Samara	7	(0)
2018–2019	BATE Borisov	16	(0)
2019	Isloch Minsk Raion	13	(0)
Total		488	(38)
National team
2000–2004	Belarus U21	24	(5)
2001–2019	Belarus	80	(6)
Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Aliaksandr Paulavich Hleb (Belarusian: Аляксандр Паўлавіч Глеб; born May 1, 1981), often called Alexander Hleb, is a former professional footballer from Belarus. He played as an attacking midfielder or winger. Hleb was known for his excellent passing, quickness, and amazing dribbling skills. He played for the Belarus national team from 2001 to 2019, earning 80 caps.

Early Life and Football Start
Club Career Highlights
International Career
Miscellaneous Facts
Personal Life
Career statistics
- Club
- International
Honours
See also

Early Life and Football Start

Alexander Hleb grew up in Minsk, the capital city of Belarus. His mother worked in construction, and his father drove fuel trucks. Before becoming a footballer, Hleb enjoyed swimming and gymnastics. His younger brother, Vyacheslav, also became a professional footballer.

Club Career Highlights

Starting at VfB Stuttgart

In 2000, Alexander and his brother Vyacheslav were signed by the German club VfB Stuttgart. Alexander made his first game in the Bundesliga on September 5, 2000. He quickly became a regular player for Stuttgart. In 2002, he was named the Belarusian Footballer of the Year.

In the 2002–03 season, Stuttgart finished second in the Bundesliga. They also had a big win against Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League. Hleb became a key player, helping to create goals for his team.

Moving to Arsenal

Hleb playing for Arsenal

In June 2005, Hleb joined the English club Arsenal. He signed a four-year contract. Arsenal's manager, Arsène Wenger, used Hleb in different midfield roles, often on the right side. He played his first game for Arsenal in August 2005.

Hleb scored his first goal for Arsenal in January 2006 in a big 7–0 win. In May of that year, he made history by becoming the first Belarusian player to play in the Champions League final. He played 40 games and scored three goals in his first season.

In the 2006–07 season, Hleb played 48 games and scored three goals. For the 2007–08 season, he played more centrally, behind the main strikers. He had a strong season, showing his skills in many matches.

Time at Barcelona

On July 16, 2008, Hleb moved to the Spanish giant club Barcelona. He signed a four-year contract. Even though he didn't play regularly, Hleb was part of the Barcelona team that won the treble in his first season. This means they won three major trophies: La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the UEFA Champions League.

Hleb played a small part in the Copa del Rey final. He was also part of the squad when Barcelona beat Manchester United in the Champions League final.

Loan Spells and Later Career

After Barcelona, Hleb went on loan to his former club, VfB Stuttgart, for the 2009–10 season. He scored his first goal back at Stuttgart in a Champions League qualifier.

Hleb with Birmingham in 2010 playing against his former club Arsenal

On August 31, 2010, Hleb returned to England, joining Birmingham City on a season-long loan. He scored his first goal for Birmingham in the League Cup. He missed Birmingham City's win in the League Cup final due to an injury.

He also had a loan spell at VfL Wolfsburg in Germany. After his contract with Barcelona ended, he joined Russian Premier League club Krylia Sovetov Samara.

Return to BATE Borisov and Final Clubs

On July 26, 2012, Hleb signed with BATE Borisov in Belarus. He helped them win the 2012 Belarusian Premier League title. He played for BATE in the UEFA Champions League, hoping to earn another move to a big club.

Later in his career, Hleb played for Konyaspor and Gençlerbirliği in Turkey. He also had more spells at BATE Borisov, Krylia Sovetov Samara, and Isloch Minsk Raion before ending his club career.

International Career

Hleb playing for Belarus

Hleb played 24 games for the Belarus under-21 team. He made his first game for the senior national team in 2001. He scored his second international goal in a 5–2 win against Hungary in April 2002.

In August 2007, the new national team manager, Bernd Stange, made Hleb the team captain. Hleb wore the captain's armband for the first time in a 2–1 win against Israel. He played a total of 80 games for Belarus, scoring six goals.

Miscellaneous Facts

In Germany, when Hleb played in the Bundesliga, he was sometimes called "Zauberlehrling" which means "Sorcerer's Apprentice." This nickname was given to him because of his smooth skills and amazing tricks with the ball.

Personal Life

Alexander Hleb married Sviatlana in the summer of 2016. Their first child, a daughter, was born in December of the same year. Sviatlana's daughter from a previous marriage also lives with the couple.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Continental		Other		Total		Ref.
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Ref.
Dinamo-Juni Minsk	1998	Belarusian First League	11	1			–		–		–		11	1
BATE Borisov	1999	Belarusian Premier League	13	1			–		–		–		13	1
	2000	Belarusian Premier League	12	3			–		–		–		12	3
	Total		25	4			0	0	0	0	0	0	25	4
VfB Stuttgart II	2000–01	Regionalliga Süd	17	4	1	0	–		–		–		18	4
VfB Stuttgart	2000–01	Bundesliga	6	0	1	0	–		1	0	–		8	0
	2001–02	Bundesliga	32	2	3	0	–		–		–		35	2
	2002–03	Bundesliga	34	4	2	1	–		16	4	–		52	9
	2003–04	Bundesliga	31	5	3	0	1	0	8	0	–		43	5
	2004–05	Bundesliga	34	2	3	2	2	0	8	0	–		47	4
	Total		137	13	13	3	3	0	33	4	0	0	186	20
Arsenal	2005–06	Premier League	25	3	1	0	3	0	10	0	1	0	40	3
	2006–07	Premier League	33	2	3	0	2	0	10	1	–		48	3
	2007–08	Premier League	31	2	2	0	1	0	8	2	–		42	4
	Total		89	7	6	0	6	0	28	3	1	0	130	10
Barcelona	2008–09	La Liga	19	0	8	0	–		9	0	–		36	0
	2009–10	La Liga	0	0	0	0	–		0	0	0	0	0	0
	2010–11	La Liga	0	0	0	0	–		0	0	0	0	0	0
	2011–12	La Liga	0	0	0	0	–		0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		19	0	8	0	0	0	9	0	0	0	36	0
VfB Stuttgart (loan)	2009–10	Bundesliga	27!!0!!1!!0	–		8!!1	–		36!!1
Birmingham City (loan)	2010–11	Premier League	19!!1!!3!!0!!2!!1	–		–		24!!2
VfL Wolfsburg (loan)	2011–12	Bundesliga	4!!1!!0!!0	–		0!!0	–		4!!1
Krylia Sovetov	2011–12	Russian Premier League	8!!0!!0!!0	–		–		–		8!!0
BATE Borisov	2012	Belarusian Premier League	6!!0!!0!!0	–		10!!0	–		16!!0
	2013	Belarusian Premier League	23!!3!!0!!0	–		4!!0	–		27!!3
	Total		29	3	0	0	0	0	14	0	0	0	43	3
Konyaspor	2013–14	Süper Lig	16!!2!!0!!0	–		–		–		16!!2
	2014–15	Süper Lig	14!!0!!1!!0	–		–		–		15!!0
	Total		30	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	31	2
Gençlerbirliği	2014–15	Süper Lig	15!!2!!4!!0	–		–		–		19!!2
BATE Borisov	2015	Belarusian Premier League	4!!0!!1!!0	–		7!!0	–		12!!0
Gençlerbirliği	2015–16	Süper Lig	12!!0!!0!!0	–		–		–		12!!0
BATE Borisov	2016	Belarusian Premier League	6!!0!!0!!0	–		3!!0	–		9!!0
Krylia Sovetov	2016–17	Russian Premier League	7!!0!!0!!0	–		–		–		7!!0
BATE Borisov	2018	Belarusian Premier League	15!!0!!3!!0	–		9!!1	–		27!!1
	2019	Belarusian Premier League	1!!0!!1!!0	–		2!!0!!1!!0	5!!0
	Total		16	0	4	0	0	0	11	1	1	0	32	1
Isloch	2019	Belarusian Premier League	13!!0	–		–		–		–		13!!0
Career total			488	38	42	3	11	1	113	9	2	0	654	51

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Belarus	2001	1	0
	2002	7	2
	2003	3	0
	2004	2	0
	2005	8	1
	2006	7	1
	2007	10	0
	2008	6	0
	2009	5	1
	2010	5	1
	2011	1	0
	2012	2	0
	2013	7	0
	2014	2	0
	2015	5	0
	2016	6	0
	2017	0	0
	2018	2	0
	2019	1	0
Total		80	6

Scores and results list Belarus goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Hleb goal.

List of international goals scored by Alexander Hleb
No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	17 April 2002	Oláh Gábor utcai Stadion, Debrecen, Hungary	Hungary	1–1	5–2	Friendly
2	19 May 2002	Central Dynamo Stadium, Moscow, Russia	Ukraine	2–0	2–0	Friendly
3	9 February 2005	Dyskobolia Stadium, Grodzisk Wielkopolski, Poland	Poland	1–0	3–1	Friendly
4	16 August 2006	Dinamo Stadium, Minsk, Belarus	Andorra	1–0	3–0	Friendly
5	1 April 2009	Almaty Central Stadium, Almaty, Kazakhstan	Kazakhstan	1–1	5–1	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
6	3 March 2010	Antalya Atatürk Stadium, Antalya, Turkey	Armenia	2–1	3–1	Friendly