Andriy Yarmolenko


Andriy Mykolayovych Yarmolenko is a Ukrainian professional footballer who plays as a winger or forward for English club West Ham United and the Ukraine national team.
Yarmolenko has been a full international for Ukraine since 2009, scoring 37 goals in 83 matches and playing at UEFA Euro 2012 and Euro 2016.

Early life

Yarmolenko's parents, native Ukrainians, were originally from Smolianka village, Kulykivka Raion, Chernihiv Oblast. After their marriage, Valentyna and Mykola Yarmolenko moved to Leningrad where Andriy was born in 1989. In three years time, the family moved back to their native land and settled in the city of Chernihiv.
His mother recollected that Andriy began to play with the ball from the age of 4-5 years. "In the beginning he did not even have a proper ball, so had to play with a self-made one. We were poor and real football was a luxury in those times".. Yarmolenko was noticed by Mykola Lypoviy who invited him to football school and became his first coach.

Club career

Early career

Yarmolenko is a graduate of the Chernihiv Youth Sports School "Yunist". He joined the Dynamo Kyiv Youth Academy at age of 13. However, he returned back to Chernihiv after a year being unable to meet physical requirements in training. Before his move to FC Dynamo Kyiv in 2007, he played for Yunist Chernihiv, FC Desna Chernihiv, Lokomotyv Kyiv, Vidradnyi Kyiv and again Yunist Chernihiv

FC Desna Chernihiv

In the summer 2006, from Yunist Chernihiv, he joined to the main team of FC Desna Chernihiv, here he played in the season 2006–07 in Ukrainian First League, where he made 9 caps and 4 goal scored.

FC Dynamo 2 Kyiv

In 2007, Yarmolenko signed a five-year contract with Ukrainian club Dynamo Kyiv, where he joined its second team, Dynamo-2, which plays in lower leagues, for a couple of seasons. The talented youngster was praised as the "new Sheva" by journalists, who noted his qualities of good physique, shot and especially his speed. The then vice-president of Dynamo, Yozhef Sabo, also praised the youngster, saying, "Yarmolenko has all the makings to become a top-level player."

Dynamo Kyiv

In December 2006, Yarmolenko signed a five-year contract with Ukrainian club Dynamo Kyiv, where he joined its second team, Dynamo-2, which plays in lower leagues, for a couple of seasons. The talented youngster was praised as the "new Sheva" by journalists, who noted his qualities of good physique, shot and especially his speed. The then vice-president of Dynamo, Yozhef Sabo, also praised the youngster, saying, "Yarmolenko has all the makings to become a top-level player."
On 11 May 2008, Yarmolenko debuted for Dynamo's first team in an away match against Vorskla Poltava and scored the winning goal in Kyiv's 1–2 victory. He scored 7 goals in 21 games in his first season and 11 in 19 in his second. He is now regularly used as a left or centre forward.

Rivalry with Taras Stepanenko

In a match in October 2015, Yarmolenko committed a dangerous challenge which almost broke Shakhtar Donetsk player Taras Stepanenko's leg. The two reconciled after the game and exchanged jerseys, but afterwards Yarmolenko threw Stepanenko's shirt on the ground while he thanked the Dynamo fans. In the
Shakhtar–Dynamo derby in April 2016, after the former won 3–0, Stepanenko stepped in front of the Dynamo fans kissing his Shakhtar badge. In a brawl that escalated, Yarmolenko kicked Stepanenko to the ground.

Borussia Dortmund

On 28 August 2017, Yarmolenko signed a four-year contract with Borussia Dortmund. On 10 September 2017, Yarmolenko made his debut for Dortmund as a substitute in the 79-minute against Freiburg. He then got his first start for Dortmund against Tottenham Hotspur in a Champions League fixture, where he scored Dortmund's only goal in the 3–1 defeat.

West Ham United

On 11 July 2018, Yarmolenko signed for Premier League club West Ham United on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut on 12 August in a 4–0 defeat by Liverpool. Making his first start for West Ham on 16 September, he scored his first two goals for the club in a 3–1 away win against Everton, the club's first Premier League win of the 2018–19 season. Yarmolenko suffered an Achilles tear on 20 October 2018 in a 1–0 loss against Tottenham Hotspur, which ruled him out for the remainder of the season.
Yarmolenko returned to the first team squad for the start of the 2019–20 season. On 31 August 2019, he scored his first goal since his return from injury, doubling West Ham's lead with a left-footed volley in a 2–0 win over Norwich City. He netted again in West Ham's next home match in the Premier League, opening the scoring in their 2–0 defeat of Manchester United. In December 2019 he tore his adductor muscle and had still not returned to playing when football was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. He returned to training in May 2020 and on 1 July 2020, in his second appearance since 2019, he scored the winning goal against Chelsea in a 3-2 win..
On 26 July 2020, he scored 1-1 to draw the result versus Aston Villa in the last Match of the 2019–20 season of Premier League.

International career

On 11 August 2007 Yaromolenko represented Ukraine under-19 team in an away exhibition game against Japan, winning 1–0. He also participated in the 2008 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification.
After the qualification on 10 October 2008, Yarmolenko was invited to the under-21 squad which played against the Netherlands. He later participated in qualification and finals of the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.
On 5 September 2009, in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification game against Andorra, Yarmolenko made his first senior appearance for Ukraine and scored in a 5–0 win. On 2 September 2011, in an international friendly against Uruguay in Kharkiv, Yarmolenko set a national team record by scoring 14 seconds into the match, the fastest time in which a Ukraine national team player has scored a goal.
Yarmolenko scored a hat-trick on 15 November 2014, netting all of Ukraine's goals in a 3–0 victory away to Luxembourg in UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying. In November 2015, Yarmolenko scored in both legs of Ukraine's 3–1 play-off victory over Slovenia to qualify the nation for Euro 2016 final stages. Yarmolenko was subsequently included in Ukraine's squad for Euro 2016, where he played in all three matches as Ukraine failed to score and finished bottom of the group.

Career statistics

Club

International

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
15 September 2009Valeriy Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine1–05–02010 FIFA World Cup qualification
214 October 2009Estadi Comunal d'Andorra la Vella, Andorra la Vella, Andorra6–06–02010 FIFA World Cup qualification-
317 November 2010Stade de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland1–12–2Friendly
42 September 2011Metalist Oblast Sports Complex, Kharkiv, Ukraine1–02–3Friendly
57 October 2011Metalist Oblast Sports Complex, Kharkiv, Ukraine3–03–0Friendly
611 November 2011Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex, Kiev, Ukraine1–03–3Friendly
729 February 2012HaMoshava Stadium, Petah Tikva, Israel3–13–2Friendly
828 May 2012Kufstein Arena, Kufstein, Austria1–04–0Friendly
96 February 2013Estadio de La Cartuja, Seville, Spain2–02–0Friendly
1022 March 2013National Stadium, Warsaw, Poland1–03–12014 FIFA World Cup qualification
1126 March 2013Chornomorets Stadium, Odessa, Ukraine1–02–12014 FIFA World Cup qualification
1211 October 2013Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex, Kiev, Ukraine1–01–02014 FIFA World Cup qualification
1315 October 2013San Marino Stadium, Serravalle, San Marino5–08–02014 FIFA World Cup qualification
1415 November 2013Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex, Kiev, Ukraine2–02–02014 FIFA World Cup qualification
155 March 2014Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, Larnaca, Cyprus1–02–0Friendly
1615 November 2014Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg, Luxembourg1–03–0UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
1715 November 2014Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg, Luxembourg2–03–0UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
1815 November 2014Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg, Luxembourg3–03–0UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
1931 March 2015Arena Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine1–01–1Friendly
205 September 2015Arena Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine2–03–1UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
2114 November 2015Arena Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine1–02–0UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
2217 November 2015Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia1–11–1UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
2328 March 2016Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex, Kiev, Ukraine1–01–0Friendly
2429 May 2016Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino, Turin, Italy4–14–3Friendly
253 June 2016Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia, Bergamo, Italy2–13–1Friendly
265 September 2016Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex, Kiev, Ukraine1–11–12018 FIFA World Cup qualification
276 October 2016Torku Arena, Konya, Turkey1–02–22018 FIFA World Cup qualification
289 October 2016Marshal Józef Piłsudski Stadium, Kraków, Poland2–03–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
2915 November 2016Metalist Oblast Sports Complex, Kharkiv, Ukraine2–02–0Friendly
302 September 2017Metalist Oblast Sports Complex, Kharkiv, Ukraine1–02–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
312 September 2017Metalist Oblast Sports Complex, Kharkiv, Ukraine2–02–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
326 October 2017Loro Boriçi Stadium, Shkodër, Albania2–02–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
3310 November 2017Arena Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine1–12–1Friendly
343 June 2018Stade Camille Fournier, Évian-les-Bains, France2–04–1Friendly
353 June 2018Stade Camille Fournier, Évian-les-Bains, France3–04–1Friendly
369 September 2018Arena Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine1–01–02018–19 UEFA Nations League B
3714 October 2019NSC Olimpiysky, Kiev, Ukraine2–02–1UEFA Euro 2020 qualification

Honours

Dynamo Kyiv
Ukraine
Individual