Andrey Olegovich Eshchenko (born February 9, 1984, Irkutsk) is a Russian footballer, a wing-back who played for clubs in Russia and Ukraine and for the Russia national team; since 2025 he has been head coach of Kuban of Krasnodar. In the 2011 season he played for Nizhny Novgorod's Volga.[1]
Playing career
A product of the Irkutsk sports school Zenit (SDYuSHOR), his first coach was Yevgeny Glebovich Lensky. As a child he played basketball from the age of seven; at nine he joined a football section. In 2003 he received an invitation to a tryout with Zvezda of Irkutsk, then playing in the Second League, and immediately signed a three-year contract.[1] In November 2004, playing for the "Vostok" (East) team at the Nadezhda youth tournament in Saransk, he caught the eye of scouts from Khimki, near Moscow.[1]
In 2005 he moved to Khimki (First Division), played 41 matches and scored 2 goals over the season, and then received an offer from Dynamo Kyiv.[2] In the 2005–2006 season he played 12 matches for the Kyiv club, won the Ukrainian Cup, and took silver in the national championship.[1] A series of loans followed — to Dynamo Moscow (2006), Dnipro (Dnipropetrovsk, 2007–2008), and Arsenal (Kyiv, 2009–2011), where Eshchenko established himself in the starting lineup.[2]
In 2011 he returned to Russia, joining Volga (Nizhny Novgorod), where he quickly became one of the team's leaders.[2] Within six months he signed a contract with Lokomotiv Moscow: in the 2012–2013 season he played 17 league matches for the club and was called up to the Russia national team for the first time.[3]
In January 2013 he moved to Anzhi (Makhachkala). That same season the club finished third in the championship and reached the final of the Russian Cup, but Eshchenko missed a significant part of the tournament because of a torn cruciate ligament.[2] After the financial crisis at Anzhi, in the 2014–2015 season he played on loan for Kuban (Krasnodar; 21 league matches), then returned to Anzhi, and spent the first half of the 2015–2016 season with Anzhi again and the second half with Dynamo Moscow (9 matches), who were relegated from the Premier League that year.[3][2]
Since 2016 he played for Moscow's Spartak: he became champion of Russia in the 2016–2017 season and took part in the group stage of the 2017–2018 Champions League.[3][1] His last clubs as a player were Spartak-2 and Krasnoye Znamya (Noginsk), for which he played 6 matches in the second league in the 2022–2023 season.[3]
With the Russia national team
He played 14 matches for the Russia national team between 2012 and 2014, including 2 matches at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.[1] He also played 4 matches for the Russia Olympic team.[1]
Nizhny Novgorod period
In 2011, Yeshchenko played for Volga (Nizhny Novgorod), which was then competing in the Premier League. According to the footballer himself, it was at the Nizhny Novgorod club that he was able to regain his playing form after his Ukrainian period and establish himself as one of the best right-backs in the country, which opened the way for him to Lokomotiv and the national team.[2]
Coaching career
After finishing his playing career in 2022, he joined the coaching staff of Moscow's Spartak as an assistant, and then became deputy technical director of the club's academy (2022–2023).[4] Since July 2023 he has worked at Kuban (Krasnodar): at first as head of the youth football development program. Since June 4, 2025, he has been acting head coach of the first team, and since June 18, 2025, head coach.[4]
Sources
- rusteam.su — Eshchenko Andrey Olegovich. Russia National Football Team
- football-pitch.ru — Andrey Eshchenko: Biography and Career of the Russian Footballer
- news.sportbox.ru — Eshchenko Andrey Olegovich — Head Coach — Eschenko Andrey
- fckuban.fans — Coaching Staff of the Kuban Team (Krasnodar)