Khoren Oganesian
Thursday, August 20, 2020Khoren Oganesian (born 10 January 1955), also known as Khoren Hovhannisyan, is a former Armenian and Soviet football player who played as a midfielder and current manager and coach. He was awarded the Master of Sport of the USSR, International Class title in 1976.
Oganesian was a member of the USSR national football 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 May 28, 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.
Khoren Oganesian was born 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.
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.