Evgeni Aldonin

Evgeni Valerievich Aldonin (; born 22 January 1980) is a Russian football coach and a former player.

Career Aldonin began to play youth football in his native town of Alupka before moving to FC Rotor's academy in Volgograd at the age of 16. From 1996 to 2000, he switched between playing for various youth teams and senior reserves, before making his first team debut on 30 April 2000 in the Russian Premier League game against Krylya Sovetov.

After three more seasons with the club, Aldonin moved to CSKA Moscow in early 2004. In his debut game for CSKA, he had won his first career trophy, the 2004 Russian Super Cup, in which he played for 120 minutes against fierce cross-city rivals Spartak Moscow. After his debut, he had quickly secured his place in the team's starting XI, playing mostly as a right-sided central midfielder in the 3–4–3 formation, and would remain an important first team figure for the next eight years until his departure from CSKA at the conclusion of the 2011–12 season. From 2004 to 2012, he had won a total of 11 trophies with CSKA Moscow, including the 2004–05 UEFA Cup and the 2008–09 Russian Cup, where he scored the 91-minute winning goal in the final.

Aldonin regularly played for Russia's national team from 2002 to 2007, and was in the squad for the UEFA Euro 2004, where he made two appearances before the team's elimination at the group stage. In 2006, following Guus Hiddink's appointment as manager, Aldonin had been made captain, although briefly. After just four games played under Hiddink as manager, he was benched in favor of other midfield options, and later stopped receiving call-ups by the summer of 2007.

Personal life Aldonin was born in Crimea, part of Soviet Ukraine at the time. In 1996, aged 16, he moved to Russia, where he would apply for and receive a Russian citizenship by the age of 18.

Aldonin is the father of three children. From 2006 to 2011, he was married to a Russian pop singer Yulia Nachalova, with whom she has a daughter born in 2006. Following his ex-wife's death in 2019, he was given full custody of their daughter. In 2014, he married Olga, with whom he has a son and a daughter born in 2016 and 2019, respectively.

In 2024, Aldonin was diagnosed with cancer, reported as either stomach cancer or pancreatic cancer. In November 2025, he went public with the diagnosis as his condition had worsened despite surgeries, chemotherapy, and rehabilitation efforts in Germany. In July 2026, he returned to Moscow to continue his treatment.

Career statistics

Honours CSKA Moscow Russian Premier League: 2005, 2006 Russian Cup: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11 Russian Super Cup: 2004, 2006, 2007 UEFA Cup: 2004–05