Serghei Cleșcenco

Serghei Cleșcenco
Personal information
Date of birth	20 May 1972 (age 52)
Place of birth	Criuleni, Moldavian SSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Moldova (head coach)
Senior career*
Years	Team
1990	Spartak Oryol
1990–1992	Nistru Chișinău
1992–1996	Zimbru Chișinău
1996–1997	Go Ahead Eagles
1997–1998	Zimbru Chișinău
1998	Zenit St. Petersburg
1998–1999	Zimbru Chișinău
1999–2001	Maccabi Haifa
2001–2003	Hapoel Tel Aviv
2003	Chernomorets Novorossiysk
2003–2004	Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv
2004–2005	Zimbru Chișinău
2005–2006	Sibir Novosibirsk
2007–2008	Metallurg-Kuzbass Novokuznetsk
Total
International career
1991–2006	Moldova
Managerial career
2008–2010	Moldova U17
2010–2011	Moldova U19
2011–2012	Milsami Orhei
2012	Milsami Orhei (assistant)
2013	Zimbru Chișinău (executive assistant)
2013	Zimbru Chișinău
2013–2015	Zimbru Chișinău (executive assistant)
2015–2017	União Leiria (assistant)
2017	União Leiria (caretaker)
2017	Rostov (assistant)
2019–2020	Moldova U21
2019–2021	Moldova (assistant)
2021	Moldova U21 (caretaker)
2021–	Moldova
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Serghei Cleșcenco (pronounced [kleʃˈtʃeŋko]; born 20 May 1972) is a Moldovan football coach and a former player. He is the head coach of the Moldova national team, for which he held the records for most goals and most appearances as a player.

He holds the record for the most goals scored in a single season by a foreigner in Israel. He is a former manager of Zimbru Chișinău, where he also spent large parts of his playing career.

Playing career

After a successful period with Zimbru Chișinău, Cleșcenco was taken on trial by English club Watford in early 1998. He impressed, but work permit issues, along with Zimbru Chișinău asking for too much money prevented the deal from going through.^[2]

In 1999, Cleșcenco joined Maccabi Haifa. It was one of the most successful starts ever for a foreigner in Israel as he bagged 22 goals in his first season topping the record set by Polish striker Andrzej Kubica for most goals scored by a foreigner in Israel in a single season. After another strong season in Haifa, he moved to Hapoel Tel Aviv, where he was part of the squad that reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup. He scored one of the goals as they memorably knocked out Chelsea.^[3]

Aged 19, Cleșcenco made his international debut as a substitution in Moldova's first official match, a 2–4 loss against Georgia in 1991. In a 2006 friendly against Lithuania he scored his 11th and last goal for the national team, remaining Moldova's top goalscorer until 2023. In the same year, he made his 69th and last appearance for Moldova against Bosnia and Herzegovina in UEFA Euro 2008 qualification, which was another record at the time.^[1]

Managerial career

Cleșcenco started his managerial career in 2008 at Moldova under-16 and under-17 teams. He led the Moldova under-19 team to 2011 UEFA European Under-19 Championship elite qualification.^[4]

Between 2019 and 2021, Cleșcenco was an assistant coach to Engin Fırat and Roberto Bordin at Moldova's national team. He became the head coach on 3 December 2021. He debuted in a match against Kazakhstan in 2020–21 UEFA Nations League relegation play-outs. The Moldovans lost at penalties and were relegated to 2022–23 UEFA Nations League D. Moldova placed second in its group, being tied to points with Latvia, but had a lower goal difference, failing to achieve promotion.

In UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Moldova obtained a historic shock 3–2 comeback win over Poland. Moldova acquired ten points in a group of five, and also were undefeated at home throughout the qualification. However, the Moldovans did not achieve qualification.

Personal life

Cleșcenco's son, Nicky Cleșcenco, is also a footballer who has appeared for the Moldova national team.^[5]

International goals

Scores and results list Moldova's goal tally first.^[6]

List of international goals scored by Serghei Cleșcenco
#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	1 September 1994	Stadionul Republican, Chișinău	Azerbaijan	1–0	2–1	Friendly
2	1 September 1994	Stadionul Republican, Chișinău	Azerbaijan	2–0	2–1	Friendly
3	16 November 1994	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia	Bulgaria	1–1	1–4	UEFA Euro 1996 qualifier
4	7 June 1995	Stadionul Republican, Chișinău	Albania	2–1	2–3	UEFA Euro 1996 qualifier
5	10 November 1996	Stadion GKS, Katowice	Poland	1–2	1–2	1998 FIFA World Cup qualifier
6	20 August 1998	Spordikeskuse Staadion, Kohtla-Järve	Estonia	1–0	1–0	Friendly
7	18 August 1999	Népstadion, Budapest	Hungary	1–1	1–1	Friendly
8	26 April 2000	Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle	San Marino	1–0	1–0	Friendly
9	1 September 2001	Stadionul Republican, Chișinău	Azerbaijan	1–0	2–0	2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier
10	5 September 2001	Štadión na Sihoti, Trenčín	Slovakia	1–0	2–4	2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier
11	16 August 2006	Stadionul Zimbru, Chișinău	Lithuania	3–2	3–2	Friendly