Oleh Valeriyovych Protasov (Ukrainian:Олег Валерійович Протасов; born 4 February 1964) is aUkrainian andSoviet formerfootballer who played as astriker. He was a key member of theSoviet Union national team throughout the 1980s; his 28 goals for the Soviet Union are second in the team's history, behindOleg Blokhin's 42. It should be considered that his first name is often spelled asOleg on most of international rosters, particularly during his playing career.
Following the fall of the Soviet Union, Oleh Protasov got a chance to play abroad. In 1990, he joined Greek sideOlympiacos Piraeus. Leaving Olympiacos in 1994, he played inGamba Osaka,Veria FC, and finallyProodeftiki FC, from where he retired in 1999.
After retiring as a player, Protasov went into coaching, and ledOlympiacos Piraeus to the Greek title in 2003. In 2005, he coached Romanian teamSteaua București.
In December 2005, Oleh Protasov returned in Ukraine to coach his hometown team,Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, after an impressiveUEFA Cup performance withSteaua București. Protasov left by his own choice and was on very good terms with the entire team and owners of the club.[3]
In his first2005–06 season as Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk's coach, Oleh Protasov led the team to a 6th-place finish in theUkrainian Premier League. In the next,2006–07 season, Protasov improved on this, finishing 4th in the league.
In the2007–08 season his side unexpectedly led the title race ahead of the winter break, before a poor second half left his side in 4th once again. Dnipro sacked him on 29 August 2008 after an embarrassing defeat fromAC Bellinzona in UEFA cup qualification match.[4]
After that, Protasov took overFC Kuban Krasnodar in the nearby region of Russia. Kuban had been recently relegated to theRussian First League. Under Protasov's leadership, the club finished 2nd in theleague, with an 8-point lead over their nearest competitors. This finish earned them right to be promoted to theRussian Premier League.
However FC Kuban was affected by the2008 financial crisis, which greatly decreased the club's budget. In a mutual agreement with the club, Protasov left the club on 19 November 2008.[5]
Then, he signed a two-year deal worth 400,000 euro per year withIraklis Thessaloniki, starting from the summer of 2009. On 30 October, it was announced by Iraklis F.C. the termination of their contract, after 5 continual defeats in Super League and Greek Cup.
Protasov agreed on a three years contract withAris Thessaloniki, though Arvanitidis expulsion as head of the football department of the club, led to amateur Aris to terminate the deal after 15 minutes of its announcement.[8]
