Taras Stepanenko

Taras Mykolayovych Stepanenko (Ukrainian: Тарас Миколайович Степаненко; born 8 August 1989) is a Ukrainian footballer, who is currently playing for FC Shakhtar Donetsk. He started his career at Metalurh Zaporizhya, making his debut in 2007, before joining Shakhtar in 2010.

Taras Stepanenko
Stepanenko with Shakhtar Donetsk in 2016
Personal information
Full name Taras Mykolayovych Stepanenko
Date of birth (1989-08-08) 8 August 1989
Place of birth Velyka Novosilka, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)[1]
Playing position(s) Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Shakhtar Donetsk
Number 6
Youth career
2001–2003 FC Torpedo-Kosmos Zaporizhya
2003 Arsenal Kharkiv
2003–2004 Torpedo Zaporizhia
2004–2006 Kosmos Zaporizhia
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006 Metalurh-2 Zporizhya 16 (1)
2007–2010 Metalurh Zaporizhya 81 (1)
2010– Shakhtar Donetsk 201 (13)
National team‡
2008 Ukraine U19 4 (0)
2007–2011 Ukraine U21 27 (1)
2010– Ukraine 57 (3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 26 June 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14 October 2019
This name uses Eastern Slavic naming customs; the patronymic is Mykolayovych and the family name is Stepanenko.

Club career

Metalurh Zaporizhya

Taras began his career with Metalurh Zaporizhya, playing for the junior team 16 times, scoring 1 goal, in the 2006–07 season, before being promoted to the senior team for the rest of the season.

He made his debut for the senior team on 4 March 2007 at the age of 17 in a 3–1 defeat to Dynamo Kyiv. He ended his first season in the senior side with 12 appearances.

In his second season he scored his first goal for the club on 21 July 2007 in a 1–0 Premier League victory over Kryvbas. He was just one month shy of his 18th birthday when he netted the goal. He went on to make 23 appearances for the club in that season, with 1 goal.

His third season saw him become an integral part of the team as he made 29 appearances for the club.

The following season he played 17 matches for the club. At the end of the season he agreed a deal to join reigning Premier League champions Shakhtar Donetsk. He made a total of 81 appearances for Metalurh's first team, scoring 1 goal.

Shakhtar Donetsk

2010–11

On 11 May 2010 the midfielder signed a five-year deal with Shakhtar Donetsk for an undisclosed, leaving Metalurh Zaporizhya with Serhiy Kryvtsov who also joined Shakhtar in a five-year deal.[2] He made his debut for the club in a 7–1 Super Cup victory over Tavriya Simferopol, coming on as a substitute. This was his first trophy with the club. He scored his first goal for the club on 23 November 2010 in a 3–0 Champions League group stage victory over Partizan Belgrade. He made 20 appearances for Shakhtar in his first season, including 15 league appearances, scoring 1 goal. He helped Shakhtar to a treble, winning the Premier League, Super Cup and the Cup.[3]

2011–12

In his second season with the club he made 12 appearances, 9 in the league and 3 in the cup. He came on in the 109th minute of Shakhtar's 2–1 extra time victory over Metalurh Donetsk in the Ukrainian Cup Final.[4] Shakhtar also secured another Premier League title.[5]

2012–13

He played the full 90 minutes of Shakhtar's 2–0 Super Cup victory over Metalurh Donetsk, picking up a yellow card in the 60th minute.[6] On 6 August 2012 he assisted Henrikh Mkhitaryan for the second goal in a 4–0 Premier League victory over Volyn Lutsk.[7] He assisted Oleksandr Kucher for the first goal in a 3–1 victory over FC Dynamo Kyiv on 2 September.[8] On 28 September he picked up a red card in the 89th minute after receiving a second yellow card in a match against Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, however it did not affect Shakhtar as they won the match 2–1.[9] On 19 October he assisted Dmytro Chygrynskiy for the winning goal in a 2–1 victory against Illichivets Mariupol.[10]

Rivalry with Yarmolenko

In a match in October 2015 Andriy Yarmolenko committed a dangerous challenge which almost broke Stepanenko's leg. The two made up after the game and exchanged jerseys, but afterwards Yarmolenko threw Stepanenko's shirt on the ground while he thanked the Dynamo Kyiv fans. In the Shakhtar-Dynamo derby in April 2016 after the former won 3–0 Stepanenko went in front of the Dynamo fans kissing his badge. In a brawl that escalated Yarmolenko kicked and beat Stepanenko to the ground.[11] After the brawl, three red cards were shown; a straight red card to Yarmolenko and Oleksandr Kucher, and a second yellow to Stepanenko.[12]

International career
Stepanenko battling for the ball with Franck Ribéry

He is captain of Ukraine national under-21 football team. He has appeared for Ukraine's under-19 team four times, the under-21 team on 22 occasions, scoring one goal, and the senior team five times. On 17 November 2010, he made his debut for the senior side in the 2:2 draw with Switzerland in a friendly match, coming on as a 65th-minute substitute for Taras Mykhalyk.[13] His first start came on 8 February 2011 in a 2–2 draw against Romania.[14] He made another appearance the following day in a 1–1 draw with Sweden.[15] He played in a 0–2 defeat to Italy on 29 March 2011.[16] On 15 August 2012 he came on as a 72nd-minute substitute for Shakhtar Donetsk teammate Marko Dević in a 0–0 draw with Czech Republic.[17] On 26 March 2013 Stepanenko received red card for high kick on Vitaliy Bordiyan in a World Cup qualification match against Moldova.[18]

Stepanenko was included in Ukraine's squad for the UEFA Euro 2016, making three appearances as Ukraine finished bottom of the group with no points.

Personal life

Taras Stepanenko spoke against the tattoo culture among football players and cited his Christian beliefs as the reason.[19] He is also an avid reader, his favourite genre being biographies of great men.[20]

International goals
Scores and results list Ukraine's goal tally first.
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.22 May 2014V. Lobanovskyi Stadium, Kyiv, Ukraine Niger2–12–1Friendly
2.24 March 2016Chornomorets Stadium, Odessa, Ukraine Cyprus1–01–0Friendly
3.3 June 2016Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia, Bergamo, Italy Albania1–03–1Friendly

Career statistics

Club
As of 26 June 2020
Club Season League Cup Europe Super Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Metalurh Z 2006–07 120000000120
2007–08 231100000241
2008–09 290100000300
2009–10 170000000170
Total 811200000831
Shakhtar 2010–11 150202110201
2011–12 90300000120
2012–13 180303010250
2013–14 182404010272
2014–15 224507110355
2015–16 1825016110403
2016–17 2713110210414
2017–18 260308010380
2018–19 264207010364
2019–20 220118110322
Total 201133126569030621
Career Total 282143326569038922

International
As of 14 October 2019[21]
Ukraine
Year Apps Goals
2010 10
2011 30
2012 20
2013 70
2014 51
2015 70
2016 112
2017 70
2018 80
2019 60
Total 573

Honours

Club

Shakhtar Donetsk

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 February 2015. Retrieved 7 February 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "Fresh blood in Shakhtar". FC Shakhtar Official Site. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
  3. "2010/11Ukraine". Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  4. "Metalurh Donetsk vs Shakhtar Donetsk 1–2". Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  5. "2010/11Ukraine". Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  6. "Metalurh Donetsk vs Shakhtar 0–2". Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  7. "Volyn vs Shakhtar Donetsk 0–4". Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  8. "Shakhtar Donetsk vs Dynamo Kyiv 3–1". Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  9. "Shakhtar vs Dnipro 2–1". Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  10. "Shakhtar vs Illichivets 2–1". Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  11. Frankov, Artem (5 June 2016). "Taras Stepanenko: the Ukraine midfielder who fought Yarmolenko but still made Euro 2016". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  12. Michael Yokhin (4 May 2016). "Shakhtar and Dynamo Kiev rivalry could hurt Ukraine at Euro 2016". ESPNFC. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  13. "Switzerland vs Ukraine 2–2". Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  14. "Romania vs Ukraine 2–2". Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  15. "Sweden vs Ukraine 1–1". Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  16. "Ukraine vs Italy 0–2". Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  17. "Ukraine vs Czech Republic 0–0". Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  18. "The clearest red card EVER?! Taras Stepanenko's shocking foul (Ukraine) v Moldova". Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  19. http://www.sports.ru/football/1035646689.html
  20. http://uafootball.segodnya.ua/chua_news/taras-stepanenko-tatuirovki-eto-yazycheskie-simvoly-mne-takoe-ne-nuzhno-677078.html
  21. "Taras Stepanenko". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman.
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