Vali Gasimov

Vali Aydin oglu Gasimov (Azeri: "Vəli Qasımov"), also spelled Veli Kasumov (born 4 October 1968, Ganja), is an Azerbaijani former international footballer.

Kasumov played as a striker for Kapaz Ganja, Metalist Kharkiv, Neftchi, Spartak Moscow, Dynamo Moscow, Real Betis, Albacete Balompié, Vitória FC, and Imortal.

In 1992 he became the top scorer of Russian Top Division with 16 goals while playing for Dynamo Moscow.

Real Betis noticed that and brought this promising striker to Spain to play with Trifon Ivanov among others. With few scored goals in the end of the season he was transferred on a loan to Albacete Balompié, joining the portuguese side Vitória FC in the next season (1997-98). Despite showing great technical habilities, Kasumov had a back injury which forced him to rest for a big period of the season. Despite this, he scored 10 goals in 24 matches.

He played another season (1998-99) for Vitória FC scoring only 4 goals in 17 matches. Kasumov was dismissed, joining lower league Imortal where he put an end to his career in 2001.

Veli Kasumov won 14 caps for Azerbaijan in 1994-1998. Currently he lives in Spain.

References

* [http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/azer-recintlp.html Azerbaijan - Record International Players] , rsssf.com
* [http://www.azerifootball.com/contents/default.aspx?lg=3&idpt=1994 History - 1994] , azerifootball.com
* [http://gateway.az/cgi-bin/cl2_gw/browse.cgi?lang=en&topic=000e0104 Ganja today]
* [http://www.klisf.info/numeric/index.app?cmd=ln&lang=en&id=708962973670264 Profile at KLISF]