Ruslan Takhiruly Baltiyev (, Rūslan Tahirūly Baltiev; born 16 September 1978) is a Kazakh professional football coach, official and a former player who played as a midfielder. He is an assistant coach with the Kazakhstan national team. He is a former Kazakh international, whom he is the top goalscorer.
Club career
Baltiyev started his career in FC Zhetysu in 1997 and after a remarkable first season in professional football moved to Kazakhstani grand FC Kairat. He also made his debut for the national team in the same year. After 4 seasons in the domestic league, his play got noticed by Russian club FC Sokol Saratov. Baltiyev spent 2 seasons with the Russian Premier League club and established a good name in Russian football. After his team's relegation in 2002, he was linked with transfers to Ukrainian and Russian top sides, and eventually found himself at FC Dinamo Moskva, where he became a key player in the season of 2003, having played all matches, helping the club to finish 6th in the league. After a successful season with Dinamo Baltiyev completed a move to another Moscow side FC Moscow, where after two seasons he failed to keep his place in the main squad and returned to Kazakhstan, to play for one of the strongest teams of the domestic league FC Tobol. Baltiyev was one of the best players in the league and helped his new club Tobol to compete for the title and play in European competitions. In December 2009 Baltiyev signed a 2-year contract with FC Zhemchuzhina-Sochi, Russian First Division club.