Sergei Bogdanovich Semak ( ; born 27 February 1976) is a Russian football manager and a former international midfielder who manages Russian Premier League side Zenit Saint Petersburg.
Early life Semak was born in the village of Sychanske, Voroshilovgrad Oblast into a peasant family of modest economical background. He was an excellent student and had an ideal behavior. When he was a child his teachers would argue as to whether he would become a mathematician or a football player.
He left Ukraine shortly before the USSR collapsed, but his parents stayed there. He would become a Russian naturalized citizen.
His older brother Andrei Semak and younger brother Nikolai Semak were also professional footballers.
Club career Semak started training football at the Luhansk football school. In 1992, he signed in Presnya Moscow who played in the Russian Top Division. After 19 matches scoring 4 goals he was sold to Karelia Petrozavodsk, but in 1993 returned to Presnya Moscow, which had changed its name to Asmaral Moscow.
In 1994, Semak was noted and signed by CSKA Moscow. He became the club's captain and leader. With the club he won the Russian Premier League in 2003, the Russian Cup in 2002 and 2005. He left the club after it finished third in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League 2004–05 and did not move on to the knockout stage. This was despite his hat-trick against Paris Saint-Germain in the final group game.
In 2005, Semak then moved to the team he scored the hat-trick against, Paris Saint-Germain, but failed to settle, scoring just one goal. After just one season he returned to Russia.
In 2006, Semak signed for Moscow, where he stayed until 2008 when he moved to Rubin Kazan. In Rubin Semak was moved from the positions of striker and attacking midfielder to the position of a defensive midfielder. At Rubin Kazan he became the captain and leader of the team, and led it to its first two championship titles in 2008 and 2009.
In August 2010, he transferred to Zenit Saint Petersburg. In his three seasons with Zenit, he won the Russian Premier League twice and Russian Super Cup once. He scored his last goal in February 2013 in a Europa League victory over Liverpool.
International career Semak made his international debut for the Russia national team in 1997 and took part in the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan.
Having lost his place in the national team with the arrival of Guus Hiddink in 2006, Semak missed out on Russia's Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, but was recalled to the national team, just prior to the Euro 2008 finals. Semak captained the Russia national team in their first Euro 2008 warm-up friendly against Kazakhstan, and during the rest of the campaign. Semak had a good performance in the crucial match against Greece and provided an assist for the only goal Russia scored with a skilled bicycle kick pass from a wide angle. Another notable performance in Euro 2008 came in the quarter-finals during which he was playing his 50th game for his country, when his precise left-wing cross was volleyed in by Roman Pavlyuchenko against the Netherlands.
Managerial career After his retirement, Semak was named as assistant coach of Zenit Saint Petersburg. He was appointed interim coach of the club after the sacking of Luciano Spalletti on 10 March 2014. He held the position until 18 March when André Villas-Boas was appointed as the team manager.EuroSport: "Бердыев: «У нас нет опыта, зато есть настрой»"
On 30 December 2016, he was appointed a manager of the Russian Premier League club FC Ufa.
On 29 May 2018, he returned to Zenit St. Petersburg, signing a two-year contract with one-year extension option. In his first year, he won the 2018–19 Russian Premier League. He led Zenit to the title again in the 2019–20 Russian Premier League. On 25 July 2020, he sealed the double for the club by winning the 2019–20 Russian Cup. On 2 May 2021, Zenit secured their third title in a row in a 6-1 victory over second-place FC Lokomotiv Moscow. On 30 April 2022, Zenit secured their fourth title in a row. On 7 May 2023, Zenit secured their fifth title in a row. On 25 May 2024, Zenit won their sixth consecutive title. After the deciding game, Zenit extended their contract with Semak until June 2030. On 2 June 2024, Zenit secured another double by winning the 2023–24 Russian Cup. Zenit won their 7th league title under Semak in the 2025–26 season.
Career statistics Club ClubSeasonLeagueCupContinentalOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsPresnya Moscow1992Russian Second League19400––194Karelia Petrozavodsk1992Russian Second League30–––30Asmaral Moscow1993Russian Premier League8110––911994Russian First League13200––132Total213100000223Asmaral-d Moscow1993Russian Second League22323––2461994Russian Third League42–––42Total265230000288CSKA Moscow1994Russian Premier League512110–821995Russian Premier League22412––2361996Russian Premier League3161040–3661997Russian Premier League32522––3471998Russian Premier League29930––3291999Russian Premier League29124120–35132000Russian Premier League3085120–3792001Russian Premier League26500––2652002Russian Premier League2463220–2982003Russian Premier League2470000002472004Russian Premier League30540104114510Total282682592141132982Paris Saint-Germain2004–05Ligue 113110––1412005–06Ligue 113020–20170Total261300020311Moscow2006Russian Premier League28730–403572007Russian Premier League29592––387Total571212200407314Rubin Kazan2008Russian Premier League27500––2752009Russian Premier League2662060103562010Russian Premier League81002100102Total61122081107213Zenit Saint Petersburg2010Russian Premier League122–50–1722011–12Russian Premier League2052072103072012–13Russian Premier League162216110254Total48941183207213Career total4741024612478101577123
International + Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsRussia1997101998901999502000602001812002522003412005402006102008120200990201010Total654
Scores and results list Russia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Semak goal.
+ List of international goals scored by Sergei SemakNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 6 June 2001 Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg, Luxembourg 2–1 2–1 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification2 16 October 2002 Central Stadium, Volgograd, Russia 2–1 4–1 UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying3 4–14 20 August 2003 Lokomotiv Stadium, Moscow, Russia 1–2 1–2 Friendly
Managerial statistics
+ Managerial record by team and tenure Team Nat From To Record Zenit St. Petersburg 10 March 2014 19 March 2014 Ufa 1 January 2017 29 May 2018 — Zenit St. Petersburg 30 May 2018 present —Total
Honours Player CSKA Moscow Russian Premier League: 2003 Russian Cup: 2001–02 Russian Super Cup: 2004
Paris Saint-Germain Coupe de France: 2005–06
Rubin Kazan Russian Premier League: 2008, 2009 Russian Super Cup: 2010
Zenit Russian Premier League: 2010, 2011–12 Russian Super Cup: 2011
Russia UEFA European Championship: 2008 bronze medalist
Individual In the list of 33 best football players of the championship of Russia (8): 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2008, 2009 Member of Grigory Fedotov club
Manager Zenit Russian Premier League: 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24, 2025–26 Russian Cup: 2019–20, 2023–24 Russian Super Cup: 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2026
Individual Russian Premier League Coach of the Season: 2020–21, 2021–22, 2025–26 Russian Premier League Coach of the Month: August 2022, July/August 2024, April 2026.
References
External links
Profile at RussiaTeam