Best Ukrainian Players of All Time

Ukraine became independent after their break away from the Soviet Union in 1991. Prior to their independence, Ukrainian players represented the Soviet Union national team.

Ukraine national football team was formed in 1992, and they have been a member of UEFA and FIFA since then – however, Ukraine previously had a national team during the years 1925 to 1935.

After the collapse of the USSR, Ukrainians played their first ever match as "

", on 29th of April, 1992 against Hungary and lost the game 3 – 1.

Although Ukraine is widely regarded as a country with great power in youth football teams, they have not been able to establish themselves as a threat for big European teams on senior level.

While Ukraine's U – 20 team is the reigning champion of the FIFA U-20 World Cup upon winning it in 2019, and the U-21 team had won silver medal in the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, their senior side's most notable achievement has been reaching the quarter finals of 2006 World Cup, which has remained their only participation in the World Cup to this day as well.

Moreover, Ukraine national team has taken part in 3 European Championships throughout their history: their first participation was in 2012, when they were t hosting the competition alongside

. They were also a participating team in Euro 2016 and Euro 2020.

While they had failed to advance past the group stage in their first 2 participation in the European Championship tournaments, The Blue and Yellows managed to proceed to the Quarter finals in the most recent Euro where they were eliminated by the finalists England in the summer of 2021.

When the new – formed Ukraine national team failed to enter 1994 World Cup qualification tournament –as the draw for the qualification stage was held in the December of 1991, which was before Ukraine became an official member of FIFA – a number of famous Ukrainian soccer players, who had been previously playing for the Soviet Union, decided to represent Russia national team, since Russia had taken place of Soviet Union national team in the qualifying tournament for 1994 FIFA World Cup.

Best Ukrainian Players of All Time:

The list of the said players who are regarded as some of the best Ukrainian players of the 1990s, include Andrei Kanchelskis, Viktor Onopko, Sergei Yuran, Yuriy Nikiforov, Ilya Tsymbalar and Oleg Salenko.

After a difficult era for Ukrainian football, they started to develop. The Yellow and Blues have been producing a number of talented football players that carved their names in football fans' minds with their luminous performances during recent years.

In this article, we are going to list the best

Ukraine football players

throughout history, both before and after their independence.

Andriy Shevchenko

• Full name: Andriy Mykolayovych Shevchenko

• Date of birth: 29 September 1976 (age 45)

• Place of birth: Dvirkivshchyna, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union

• Height: 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)

• Position(s): Striker

When football fans all over the world hear the name of Ukraine,

is the first name that comes to their mind. Arguably, Andry Shevchenko is the best Ukrainian soccer player of all time.

Having played for Dynamo Kyiv, AC Milan, and Chelsea, he is considered as one of the most lethal strikers the world of football has ever seen. Fans were on edge whenever the natural goal scorer got sight of goal.

As one of the

famous Ukrainian football players

ever, Shevchenko won the prestigious Ballon d'Or in 2004 and became the 3rd ever Ukrainian to have achieved the award after Oleg Blokhin (1975) and Igor Belanov (1986).

Moreover, the legendary striker has left a number of individual records to his name. Some of them are listed here: Upon recording a tally of 175 goals for AC Milan during 322 appearances, Shevchenko is Rossoneri's 2nd top scorer of all time.

He holds the record of having scored the most number of goals in the Derby della Madonnina – the match between

and their local rivals Inter – with 14 goals. Furthermore, he is ranked 7th in the list of top scorers in European club competitions with 67 goals.

Furthermore, the prolific goal scorer has finished the UEFA Champions League as the top scorer 3 times, as well as being crowned the Serie A top scorer of the season on 2 occasions. He was voted in FIFPro World XI in 2005, in addition to UEFA Team of the Year in 2004 and 2005.

Additionally, Shevchenko was named UEFA Club Forward of the Year for 1998/99 season. Shevchenko won the Golden Foot award in 2005 – an award given to players above the age of 28, and one can win it only once.

In addition to club level, Shevchenko has been a bright presence for his national team as well: he is his national team's all – time top scorer upon scoring 48 goals within 111 appearances.

He captained Ukraine during the 2006 World Cup where they reached the quarter finals, and also took part in EURO 2012 on Ukrainian soil. Moreover, he has been the Ukrainian football player of the year on 6 occasions (1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, and 2005).

The same as his individual records, Shevchenko's club career is filled with a number of prestigious achievements. He has achieved 1 UEFA Champions League title with AC Milan in 2002/3, and also managed to proceed to the tournament's final on 2 more occasions with AC Milan (2004/5) and Chelsea (2007/8).

However, his teams lost both finals to

and

, respectively. Moreover, the natural goal scorer helped AC Milan secure 1 Serie A title, 1 Coppa Italia, 1 Italian Super Cup, and 1 UEFA Super Cup.

He is widely considered as one of the best and most remarkable players in the history of the club due to his outstanding performances during his 7 – year spell at Rossoneri.

Moreover, the opportunistic attacker helped

to the conquest of 5 Ukrainian League titles, in addition to 3 Ukrainian Cups and 1 Ukrainian Super Cup. Unlike his wonderful spells at home country and Italy, Shevchenko's spell at Chelsea is not a noteworthy period of his career.

He managed to win 1 English League Cup and reached the final match of the UEFA Champions League with the Blues of London, but he never succeeded in replicating his astonishing performances with AC Milan and Dynamo Kyiv.

Shevchenko was Ukraine national team's manager during EURO 2020 where they reached the quarter finals for the first time in their history. Regarded as one of the

best Ukrainian players of all time

, Shevchenko's fame and popularity among his people seems unattainable for another player anytime soon.

Oleg Blokhin

• Full name: Oleg Vladimirovich Blokhin / Oleh Volodymyrovych Blokhin

• Date of birth: 5 November 1952 (age 69)

• Place of birth: Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union

• Height: 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)

• Position(s): Forward

Although Blokhin is widely renowned as a prominent Ukrainian manager under whose leadership Ukraine qualified for a major international tournament (the 2006 World Cup) for the first time in their history, he was also known as one of the best players in the world during the 1970s, in addition to being regarded as one of the best Ukraine football players in the history of the game.

Blokhin became the first – ever Ukrainian and the 2nd Soviet player to have achieved the prestigious Ballon d'Or upon receiving the trophy in 1975. Moreover, the prolific goal scorer has been named the Ukrainian Footballer of the year 9 times and the Soviet Footballer of the year 3 times, both are records.

In addition, Blokhin is regarded as one of the greatest – if not 'the greatest' – players in the history of the Ukrainian side Dynamo Kyiv. He is the club's all – time top scorer with 266 goals scored in 582 appearances.

Together with his scoring record, he is also the player with the most number of games played for the club. More notably, upon hitting the target 211 times, he is the Soviet Top League's leading goal scorer in history as well.

The league was one of Europe's strongest leagues at the time. Blokhin was crowned the league's top scorer of the season on 5 occasions.

He is also the most capped player in the history of the tournament with 432 appearances. Furthermore, the unbelievably fast forward holds the record of the most number of goals scored for the USSR national football team with 42 goals, as well as making more appearances than any other player by featuring in 112 caps.

Having played for his hometown club, Dynamo Kyiv, for 18 years, Blokhin led the club to great achievements during his time. He helped them secure 8 Soviet Top League titles, 5 Soviet National Cups, 3 USSR Super Cups, and most remarkably, Blokhin achieved 2 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup titles as well as 1 UEFA Super Cup with Dynamo.

Blokhin managed to score in both of UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final matches. He finished the 1985/86 tournament as the top scorer alongside his teammates Igor Belanov and Oleksandr Zavarov with 5 goals.The club has not yet managed to repeat the feats they have achieved with Blokhin in the European competitions.

In addition to having recorded astounding numbers on club level, Blokhin was a feared presence on the pitch for Soviet Union's opponents on the pitch as well. He became the only player to have featured in more than 100 matches for the USSR national team.

Blokhin took part in 1982 and 1986 FIFA World Cups and fond the back of the net once in each tournament. In 2011, Blokhin, together with Igor Belanov and Vitaliy Starukhin were named as "the legends of Ukrainian football" at the Victory of Football awards.

Having been born to a Russian mother and a Ukrainian father, who were both competitive sprinters, Blokhin was naturally endowed with the ability to run very fast. He mastered the technics from his parents, and became a footballer player with a lightning pace.

After he was retired from football in 1990, Blokhin began coaching as his new career. He has been Ukrainian national team's manager within 2 spells: 2003 – 2007 and 2011 – 2012.

Under his management, Ukraine qualified for their first – and last to this day – World Cup in 2006, and proceeded to the quarter finals as the country's greatest result in an international tournament.

He also coached the team during EURO 2012 where they couldn’t get past the group stage. Moreover, he has coached a number of Greek teams such as

, Paok, and Aek Athens.

Despite his luminous and decorated career as a player, Blokhin has only achieved 2 trophies as a manager: the Greek Cup and the Greek Super Cup with Olympiacos in 1992.

Igor Belanov

• Full name: Igor Ivanovich Belanov

• Date of birth: 25 September 1960 (age 61)

• Place of birth: Odessa, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union

• Height: 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)

• Position(s): Striker

The famous Ukrainian striker came into prominence while shining in Dynamo Kyiv. Belanov managed to conquest 2 Soviet League titles, 3 Soviet National Cups, 2 Soviet Super Cups, and helped the club win the 1985/86 UEFA Cup Winners'.

Due to his astonishing performance within the said season and the 1986 FIFA World Cup, an also being the European Competition's joint top scorer, Belanov was awarded 1986 Ballon d'OR as the best European Footballer of the Year.

He became the 2nd ever Ukrainian to have achieved the award after his fellow teammate in the team Oleg Blokhin. Belanov joined Dynamo in 1985 after he had started his professional career in his home town clubs.

After 6 bright years at Ukraine's capital, Belanov made a moved to Germany to continue his career in Germany. However, within his 6 – year spell at the West European country where he played for

and Eintracht Braunschweig, Belanov couldn’t find any success.

Moreover, he has featured in a total of 33 games for Soviet Union national team and has scored 8 goals within those matches. He was a part of the USSR team squad which took part in 1986 FIFA World Cup and EURO 1988.

He managed to score 4 goals and provide 6 assist throughout 1986 World Cup ,which in addition to his triumphant season with Dynamo, led to winning the 1986 Ballon d'OR. Furthermore, Belanov played a key role in the USSR national team reaching the final match of EURO 1988, where they were beaten by

2 – 0 and finished runner – ups.

He was the tournament's top assist provider. However, during the final match and when the Soviets were behind 2 – 0, Belanov missed a penalty and the game's result remained untouched until the final whistle.

The same as Oleg Blokhin, Belanov's pace was the outstanding facet of his game alongside his shoting power. However, despite Blokhin who had received sprinting trainings from his parents, Belanov was never officially trained yet his running speed was astonishing. He is indubitably one of the

best Ukrainian players of all time

.

Anatoliy Tymoshchuk

• Full name: Anatoliy Oleksandrovych Tymoshchuk

• Date of birth: 30 March 1979 (age 42)

• Place of birth: Lutsk, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union

• Height: 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)

• Position(s): Defensive midfielder / Centre back

Former captain of the Ukrainian national team Tymoshcuk is regarded as one of the greatest Ukrainian midfielders ever. He played for a number of clubs including Volyn Lutsk

, Zenit Saint – Petersburg,

, and the Kazakhstani side Kairat before he hung his boots in 2016.

He is widely regarded as one of the best players in the history of Shakhtar Donetsk and Zenit Saint – Petersburg, having captained and led both teams to the conquest of a number of trophies. He is currently working as an assistant manager at the Russian club.

Tymoshchuk has been named the Ukrainian Player of the Year on 3 occasions (2002, 2006, and 2007). Moreover, he was voted Russian Premier League's Player of the Year in 2007 whilst playing for Zenit.

Furthermore, Tymoshchuk is the most capped player in the history of Ukraine national team by featuring in 144 games from 2000 to 2016. He represented his national team in their first ever participation in a World Cup in 2006 as well as EURO 2012. After Andriy Shevchenko's retirement in 2012, Tymoshchuk inherited the captaincy and kept the armband for 4 years. 

On team level, Tymoshchuk has had a decorated career: He won 3 Ukrainian Premier League title, 4 Ukrainian Cups, and 1 Ukrainian Super Cup with Shakhtar during his spell at his home country from 1998 to 2007.

He made a move to Zenit in the February of 2007, and was immediately named the team's captain by Dick Advocaat, Zenit's head coach at the time. His first season with the Russian club ended with Zenit's League title conquest, while he was voted as the league's player of the season by the famous sports magazine Sport-Express.

Tymoshchuk captained the team in winning the UEFA Cup, the Russian Super Cup, and the UEFA Super Cup during 2007/08 and 2008/9 season. His luminous performances at the Russian side led to Bayern Munch signing him in the summer of 2009.

As a Bayern Munich Player, the hard – working player managed to achieve 2 Bundesliga titles, 2 DFB – Pokal trophies, 2 German Super Cups, and most remarkably, the 2012/13 UEFA Champions League title.

He had reached 2 more Champions League finals with the Bavarians in 2010 and 2012, and eventually their 3rd proceeding to the final brought them Bayern's 5th ever European Cup title.

He was a part of Jupp Heynckes dream team that won the European treble in 2012/13, and after the end of the said season, Tymoshchuk moved back to Russia to begin his second spell with his former club Zenit although he had been receiving several offers from other European teams as well.

It is said that one of the main reasons he was signed by Zenit in 2013 was because of his excellent leadership abilities that could help integrate the squad at the time. He won another Russian League title with the team in 2015, and made the last move of his career in the summer of that year to the Kazakhstani club

.

He stayed there for 18 months, and secured 1 National Cup in addition to 1 Super Cup. As his contract expired in the November of 2016, he began coaching classes without officially announcing his retirement.

He is deservedly regarded as one of the best Ukraine football players ever, and even in 2011, in a nationwide poll in which people were asked about the key individuals in the country's football since the nation's independence in 1991 Tymoshchuk was named the best footballer in the history of Ukraine as he finished first in the poll.

Oleg Protasov

• Full name: Oleh Valeriyovych Protasov

• Date of birth: 4 February 1964 (age 58)

• Place of birth: Dnipropetrovsk, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union

• Height: 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)

• Position(s): Forward

Protasov was one of the best players of the Soviet Union national football team in the 1980s. He stands 2nd among the USSR national team's all - time top scorers with 28 goals behind the previously mentioned Oleg Blokhin (42).

He was named the Soviet Footballer of the year in 1987. Moreover, Protasov is the Soviet league's 8th leading goal scorer of all time upon scoring 125 goals in the competition.

Furthermore, regarded as a prolific goal scorer, Protasov has been crowned Soviet Top League's top scorer of the season on 3 occasions. He won the UEFA Silver boot in 1984.

Protasov has played for several clubs during his professional career. He represented Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk within 1981 to 1987, winning 1 Soviet Top League title and 1 USSR Federatrion Cup. Then he joined Dynamo Kyiv where he stayed for 3 years and helped them achieve 1 Soviet Top Legaue title and 1 Soviet Cup.

After Soviet Union's breakout, he joined the Greek side Olympiacos in 1990 and stayed there for 4 years and secured 2 Greek Cups.

In addition Protasov was a member of the USSR national team which finished EURO 1988 as the runner ups, having scored 2 goals within the tournament.

He also took part in 1986 and 1990 World Cup with the Soviets. In 1984, Protasov represented Ukrainian national team in a match.

Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko

• Full name: Oleksiy Oleksandrovych Mykhaylychenko

• Date of birth: 30 March 1963 (age 58)

• Place of birth: Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union

• Height: 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)

• Position(s): Attacking midfielder

Former midfielder of Dynamo Kyiv, Sampdoria, and Rangers Mykhaylychenko is considered as one of the greatest players of Ukraine. He has been named the Ukrainian Player of the year twice (1987, 1988), as well as being awarded the Soviet Footballer of the Year award in 1988.

Moreover, he finished 4th in 1988 Ballon d'Or, 12th in 1989, and 21st in 1991. Furthermore, Mykhaylychenko is an Olympics gold medalist upon finishing 1st in 1988 Seoul Olympic games with Soviet Union national team.

On club level, the strong midfielder has had a bright career. He played for his hometown club Dynamo Kyiv for 9 years where he was a product of the club's youth academy, and managed to have an appreciable career at the club.

With Mykhaylychenko being in the squad, Dynamo achieved 4 Soviet Top League titles, 3 Soviet Cups, and also the European Cup Winner's Cup in 1985/86. In 1990, he was bought by the Italian side Sampdoria, and helped them to the conquest of their first ever Serie A title during his one and only season at Italy.

He made a move to Rangers to play in the Ibrox stadium for 5 years. During his first season at Scotland they conquered both the Scottish Premier Division and the Scottish Cup, completing a domestic 'double'. He played a key role in the success as he netted 10 goals within 27 league games during the season.

Moreover, he claimed a total of 5 Scottish League titles, 1 Scottish Cup, and 2 Scottish League Cups with

within his 5 year spell at the club. A notable fact about the technical midfielder is that he managed to win 7 consecutive domestic league titles from 1990 to 1996 within three different nations: the USSR IN 1990, Italy in 1991, and Scotland from 1992 to 1996.

Furthermore, he played a total 36 games for the Soviet Union national team and managed to score 9 goals. He was a part of the gold medal – winning team at the 1988 Summer Olympics and the runner – up squad in EURO 1988. Mykhaylychenko also played at the Euro 1992 championship with the CIS, and also represented Ukraine national team on 2 occasions after the fall of the USSR.

Volodymyr Troshkin

• Full name: Volodymyr Mykolayovych Troshkin

• Date of birth: 28 September 1947

• Place of birth: Yenakiieve, Ukrainian SSR, USSR

• Date of death: 5 July 2020 (aged 72)

• Position(s): Defender

Volodymyr Troshkin was a distingushied right back during the 1970s. He spent most of his career playing for Dynamo Kyiv in the Soviet Top League from 1969 to 1977.

At international level, he featured the USSR national team 31 times, and was a part of the squad that finished the 1972 European Championship runner – ups and also won the 1976 Summer Olympics Bronze medal.

In addition, Troshkin had a great career with Dynamo: he achieved 4 Soviet Top League titles, 1 Soviet Cup, the 1974/75 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, and 1 UEFA Super Cup with the Ukrainian team.

Andriy Yarmolenko

• Full name: Andriy Mykolayovych Yarmolenko

• Date of birth: 23 October 1989 (age 32)

• Place of birth: Leningrad, Soviet Union

• Height: 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)

• Position(s): Forward, winger

The English Premier League side West Ham United's winger is one of 2 currently – active players on our list of the

best Ukrainian players of all time

alongside Yevhen Konoplyanka. Yarmolenko has been a standout performer on both club and international level, especially while playing for Dynamo Kyiv.

His performances in the beginning of the 2010s saw him emerge as one of the most promising young talents in the world of football. He was named the Best Young Player of Ukraine in 2010 and 2011, as well as being awarded the Ukrainian Footballer of the Year award on 4 occasions after that.

Having started his professional career at Desna Chernihiv, Yarmolenko joined Dynamo Kyiv in 2007. He represented the second team of the club, Dynamo – 2, at first. Yarmolenko showcased astounding technical finesse and lightning speed, and became a first team player within a couple of years.

He stayed at Dynamo until 2017, having won 3 Ukrainian Premier League titles, 2 Ukrainian Cups, and 3 Ukrainian Super Cups. Furthermore, he was named the Ukrainian Premier League Footballer of the Year in 2011 and 2014.

He was also crowned the Ukrainian Premier League's top scorer in 2016/17 with 15 goals, and the Ukrainian Cup top scorer in 2009 and 2014. All in all, the 32 – year – old attacker had featured in 340 matches for Dynamo Kyiv, and had scored 137 goals and provided 90 assists.

He is the club's 4th leading goal scorer of all time behind Oleg Blokhin (211), Serhii Rebrov (163), and Maksim Shatskikh (142). Yarmolenko was signed by the German side

in the summer of 2017 with a reported transfer fee of €25.00m.

His spell at Signal Iduna Park didn’t last long and he made a move to his current club, West Ham United, a year later. He has been playing for the English side ever since and has scored 11 goals within 75 matches.

Furthermore, he has been a Ukraine international team player since 2009. He has featured in a total of 106 caps for the Blues and Yellows and has found the back of the net 44 times.

Moreover, Yarmolenko is Ukraine national team's 2nd leading goal scorer of all time, only 4 goals behind the legendary Shevchenko who has scored 48. It seems he is going to take over the record soon enough.

He is also the national team's 3rd most capped player behind Antaoliy Tymoshchuk (144) and Andriy Shevchenko (111). It wouldn't be far – fetched if he ended up standing first in both of the said record rankings, considering his age.

Moreover, he has represented his national team in 3 EURO competitions so far, having recorded 2 goals and 3 assists within 11 matches during the 3 tournaments.

Ukraine has to go through a 2022 World Cup qualification round, and Ukraine fans have pinned their hopes to Yarmolenko to take them to their 2nd ever World Cup. He can make it to the list of the

best Ukrainian soccer players 2022

by shining in the qualifying round.

Valeriy Lobanovskyi

• Full name: Valeriy Vasylyovych Lobanovskyi

• Date of birth: 6 January 1939

• Place of birth: Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union

• Date of death: 13 May 2002 (aged 63)

• Place of death: Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine

• Height: 1.87 m (6 ft 1+1⁄2 in)

• Position(s): Forward

One of the most distinguished individuals in the history of Ukrainian football, both as a footballer and as a manager, is indubitably the great Valeriy Lobanovskyi. In 2002 he was awarded the Hero of Ukraine award (posthumously), his nation's highest honor, for his contribution to Ukrainian football.

 His achievements as a Dynamo Kyiv player include 1 Soviet Top League title, and 1 Soviet Cup. Lobanovskyi made a name for himself due to his ability to accurately deliver curled balls from corner spot and free kicks (so-called curl balls).

He was usual able to score a goal directly from the corner. He had regularly been working on these shots during training sessions, using Magnus effect and his own calculations. In year 1961, with Lobanovsklyi being in the squad and scoring 10 goals, Dynamo Kyiv became the first football team to win USSR title which was not from Moscow.

However, his career as a player ended sooner than usual and at the age of 29. He recorded a total of 71 goals within 253 Soviet Top League matches before retiring and starting the process of becoming one of the best managers in the history of the game.

 Despite his mediocre career as a player, Lobanovskyi went on to become one of the greatest and most decorated European managers of all time. Throughout his coaching career Lobanovskyi won 33 official trophies, becoming the second most decorated manager of all time (behind

) and the most successful football manager of the 20th century.

With Dynamo, he achieved 8 Soviet League titles, 6 Soviet Cups, and made the team the first ever Soviet team to have won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1975, a feat he managed to repeat in 1986. Moreover, he led the Soviet national team to the final match of EURO 1988, as well as the Bronze medal in 1976 Summer Olympic games.

Serhiy Rebrov

• Full name: Serhiy Stanislavovych Rebrov

• Date of birth: 3 June 1974 (age 47)

• Place of birth: Horlivka, Soviet Union (now Ukraine)

• Height: 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)

• Position(s): Striker

Serhiy Rebrov came into prominence when his partnership with Andriy Shevchenko in the frontline of Dynamo Kyiv during the 1990s was catching football fans' eyes.

Rebrov is the Ukrainian Premier League's leading goal scorer of all time upon scoring 123 goals within 263 appearances (alongside the Uzbek Maksim Shatskikh).

Rebrov has been named the Ukrainian Player of the Year twice (1996, 1998), in addition to winning the Ukrainian Premier League Player of the Season award on 3 occasions (1996, 1998, 1999). He was also the league's top scorer in 1997/98 season.

Rebrov spent most of his career playing for Dynamo Kyiv and thrived under the bright lights of the Ukrainian club. He represented the club within 2 spells: 1992 – 2000 and 2005 – 2008.

He made a move from Shakhtar Doentsk to Dynamo Kyiv in 1992. From 1992/3 season to 1999/2000, Dynamo and Rebrov achieved 8 consecutive Ukrainian League title during the prolific striker's first spell at the club.

He also helped the club secure 5 Ukrainian Cups, and reach the semi – finals of 1998/99 UEFA Champions League. Rebrov later played for the English side Tottenham Hotspur, Fenerbahce – where he won the Turkish Super League in 2003/4 season - and West Ham United before returning to Dynamo in 2005.

He recovered his great form immediately and was the team's top scorer in the League during 2005/6, and was named player of the season according to a poll of team managers and captains.

Rebrov had a brief spell at the Russian club

before he hung his boots in 2009. He helped Rubin Kazan win their 1st and 2nd titles in the history of the Russian league.

Rebrov has had a luminous managerial career as well: he was in charge of Dynamo Kyiv from 2014 – 2017, and led the club to the conquest of 2 League titles, 2 Ukrainian Cups, and 1 Ukrainian Super Cup. He later achieved 3 league titles with the Hungarian side Ferencvárosi TC.

Yevhen Konoplyanka

• Full name: Yevhen Olehovych Konoplyanka

• Date of birth: 29 September 1989 (age 32)

• Place of birth: Kirovohrád, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union

• Height: 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)

• Position(s): Winger

The 32 – year – old Yevhen Konoplyanka is a 3 – time Ukrainian Footballer of the Year award winner upon receiving the honor in 2010,2012, and 2013 (jointly with Andriy Yarmolenko).

Konolyanka played for the Ukrainian side Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk from 2007 – 2015, helping them reach the Europa League final in 2014/15 while he was named in the squad of the season.

Dnipro lost the final match to the Spanish club

, and Konoplyanka made a move to Sevilla for the following season. He achieved the Europa League in 2015/16 with the Spanish side.

Moreover, he went on to represent the German club Schalke 04 and later on Shakhtar Donetsk before moving to the Polish club Cracovia in 2022. Konoplyanka won a Ukrainian League title with Shakhtar in 2019/20.

Furthermore, he has been an international since 2010, having earned 86 caps for Ukraine national team in addition to scoring 21 goals. He took part in EURO 2012 and EURO 2016.

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