Khoren Oganesian

Khoren Oganesian (; born 10 January 1955), also known as Khoren Hovhannisyan, is an Armenian former football player and manager. He was awarded the Master of Sport of the USSR, International Class title in 1976.

A midfielder, Oganesian was a member of the Soviet Union national team and mostly played at club level for Soviet Top League and Armenian Premier League club Ararat Yerevan. He is widely considered a legend of Ararat and Armenian football in general. In official games of the USSR championships, Oganesian had 295 matches and scored 93 goals for Ararat. His number of scored goals is a record of the USSR in Armenian football. In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, he was selected as the Golden Player of Armenia by the Football Federation of Armenia as the nation's most outstanding player of the past 50 years.

In a survey taken in 2005 by the Football Federation of Armenia, Oganesian was chosen as the best player of Armenia in the 20th century. On 28 May 2010, on the occasion of the Armenian Republic Day, a number of prominent figures of different areas were honored. For his contribution to the Fatherland Order of the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, the law on State Awards, the highest award of the country, were given to Oganesian, who was awarded the Khorenatsi medal.

Early life Khoren Oganesian was born in an Armenian family on 10 January 1955 in Yerevan, Armenian SSR in a family of sportsmen. His father was a weightlifter, and later an honored coach of the Armenian SSR. His mother specialized in gymnastics. Khoren's older brother played football and his younger brother became a weightlifter and later received the Master of Sport of the USSR title.

Club career Oganesian grew up playing football in a nearby yard with his older brother. In 1969, he joined the team of Ani Yerevan and won the All-Union neighborhood teams tournament Leather Ball and scored one of the goals in the final meeting. Oganesian later engaged in a sports school, after which he entered the Armenian State University of Economics, specializing in state planning. At that time, he was invited to try out for the youth football teams in Armenia, where he was noticed by the head coach of the Soviet Union national under-21 football team, Yevgeny Lyadin. Lyadin wrote a letter of recommendation to the leadership of the local club Ararat Yerevan, where Oganesian was taken into in 1973. He played as a second for two years.

In 1987, he agreed to play for the factory team Arabkir Yerevan, which became a champion of the republic. In 1988, it appeared already in the Soviet First League.

International career In 1975, Oganesian joined the Soviet Union under-21 national team, coached by Valentin Nikolayev. He was a part of the Soviet youth team when it won the UEFA Euro 1976 U-21. most of which proved decisive.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Oganesian moved back to Armenia. Here, along with some of his friends who also participated in football, he decided to found a club. This club was named ADCC, meaning (literal English translation) Armenian General Athletic Union. In Armenian, the club name was abbreviated HMNM, or Homenetmen. Oganesian, already a veteran of football, continued his playing career. In the newly formed club's first season, it became the 1992 Armenian Premier League champion, which was the first ever Armenian Premier League, and the finalist of the 1992 Armenian Cup, also the first of its kind.

Personal life Oganesian is married to his wife Julietta. Khoren has a daughter Edita Oganesian and a son, Zhora Hovhannisyan, who is also a football player. Zhora played for Pyunik Yerevan and Pakhtakor Tashkent, both of which his father also played for. Khoren was managing the clubs Pyunik Yerevan and Lokomotiv Tashkent while Zhora was playing for them.

Career statistics

International goals Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1. 15 October 1980 USSR 5–0 Win 1982 WC Qual. 2. 3. 4 December 1980 Argentina 1–1 Draw Friendly 4. 14 April 1982 Argentina 1–1 Draw Friendly 5. 1 July 1982 Spain 1–0 Win 1982 World Cup 6. 26 July 1983 East Germany 3–1 Win Friendly

Honours

Player Ararat Yerevan Soviet Top League runner-up: 1976 (spring) Soviet Cup: 1975

Homenetmen Yerevan Armenian Premier League: 1992, 1995–96 Armenian Cup: 1996 Armenian Cup runner-up: 1992

Soviet Union U21 UEFA Euro: 1976

Soviet Union Olympic Games bronze medal: 1980 Grigory Fedotov club member – 118 goals

Individual Best 33 players of the Soviet Top League season: 1980, 1982, 1983; runner-up 1979; third place 1981 Best newcomer of the Soviet Top League season: 1975 Most beautiful goal of the season: 1982

Manager Homenetmen Yerevan Armenian Premier League: 1995–96, 1996–97 Armenian Cup: 1996 Armenian Cup runner-up: 1997 Armenian Supercup: 1996, 1998 Armenian Supercup runner-up: 1997