Up Close and Personal of Team Ukraine: feat. Yatsenko, Chirgynskiy, Milevskiy, Shust

Time to take a look at our fine young players, our rookies, our future. Ukraine has 4 players on their team that can be considered ‘rookies’ in the national spectrum. All 4 of these guys are eligible for the Gillete Best Young Player Award, which you will be able to vote for on the official FIFA World Cup website. Here is a short summery on these lads;

OLEKSANDR YATSENKO

Position: Defender
Current Club: FC Kharkiv (Ukraine)
Date for Birth: 24 February 1985
Height: uknown
Weight: uknown
Caps: 1
Goals: 0
Number: 3

Yatsenko was drafted into the Ukrainian squad as a replacement for defensive lynchpin Serhyi Fedorov, who was forced to withdraw on 22 May with a hip injury. It was with Fodorov’s club, Dynamo Kyiv, that Yatsenko began his career, although he moved on at the start of season 2005/06 and now plays for the lesser-known Ukrainian outfit FC Kharkiv.
The defender, who turned 21 in February of this year, captained his national U-20 side at the 2005 FIFA U-20 World Cup Netherlands, a competition in which Ukraine reached the Finals. A senior international debut followed in Ukraine’s 1-0 friendly win over Japan on 12 October 2005 and he arrives in Germany as one of the youngsters eligible for the Gillette Best Young Player award.

DMYTRO CHIGRYNSKIY

Position: Defender
Current Club: Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)
Date for Birth: 7 November 1985
Height: 190 cm
Weight: 81 kg
Caps: 11
Goals: 2
Number: 13

The Shakhtar Donetsk star may have played just twenty professional matches, but he has already broken through into Oleg Blokhin’s squad. It speaks volumes about the ability of this young man who came through Shakhtar’s youth system before really showing his quality while out on loan to FC Metalurh Zaporizhzhja during the 2005/2006 season. Spotted at a young age by the national coach, he already has 11 caps under his belt. A solid and uncompromising defender, this tall defender is also effective at the other end of the pitch, as his two international goals and a further pair in the Ukrainian championship testify.

ARTEM MILEVSKIY

Position: Forward
Current Club: Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine)
Date for Birth: 12 January 1985
Height: 190 cm
Weight: 78 kg
Caps: 0
Goals: 0
Number: 15

An impressive combination of power and elegance, Artem Milevskiy’s style is not unlike that of Sweden’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Well built (1.90m) but pacy with it, this forward is, at 21, already a vital cog in the Dynamo Kiev first team. A product of the Smena academy in Minsk, Milevskiy played a key role in the qualification of Belarus for the UEFA U-16 European Championship in 2000, before opting to take Ukrainian nationality.

Blessed with superb ball control and great vision, Milevskiy can also play as a striker. Indeed, at the FIFA World Youth Championship Netherlands 2005, he caught the eye as one half of a remarkable strike duo with compatriot Oleksandr Aliiev.

As yet uncapped at senior level, he could prove to be a useful joker in coach Oleg Blokhin’s pack.

BOHDAN SHUST

Position: Goalkeeper
Current Club: Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)
Date for Birth: 4 March 1986
Height: 189 cm
Weight: 83 kg
Caps: 2
Goals: 0
Number: 23

Already boasting a wealth of experience despite being only 20, the young Shakhtar Donetsk goalkeeper arrives in Germany basking in the glow of a Ukrainian championship medal success in his first professional season.
Having managed to convince his club coach Mircea Lucescu to give him his opportunity, Shust grabbed it with both hands and in five appearances, showcased his great reflexes and command of his six-yard box.

After keeping goal for Ukraine in four matches at the FIFA World Youth Championship Netherlands 2005, he has already been capped once at the highest level by Oleg Blokhin, on 28 February against Azerbaijan (0-0).