Taras Stepanenko

Taras Stepanenko
Stepanenko with Shakhtar Donetsk in 2018
Personal information
Full name Taras Mykolaiovych Stepanenko
Date of birth (1989-08-08) 8 August 1989 (age 35)
Place of birth Velyka Novosilka, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Shakhtar Donetsk
Number 6
Youth career
2001–2003 FC Torpedo-Kosmos Zaporizhzhia
2003 Arsenal Kharkiv
2003–2004 Torpedo Zaporizhzhia
2004–2006 Kosmos Zaporizhia
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006 Metalurh-2 Zaporizhzhia 16 (1)
2007–2010 Metalurh Zaporizhzhia 81 (1)
2010– Shakhtar Donetsk 289 (22)
International career‡
2008 Ukraine U19 4 (0)
2007–2011 Ukraine U21 27 (1)
2010– Ukraine 87 (4)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 4 December 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19 November 2024
In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Mykolaiovych and the family name is Stepanenko.

Taras Mykolaiovych Stepanenko (Ukrainian: Тара́с Микола́йович Степане́нко; born 8 August 1989) is a Ukrainian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Shakhtar Donetsk and the Ukraine national team.

Stepanenko started his career at Metalurh Zaporizhzhia, making his debut in 2007, before joining Shakhtar in 2010.

Club career

Metalurh Zaporizhzhia

Taras began his career with Metalurh Zaporizhzhia, 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 Zaporizhzhia 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 Chyhrynskyi 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]

2023–24

On 26 September 2023, Stepanenko made his 400th appearance for Shakhtar Donetsk in their Ukrainian Cup Round of 16 game against Veres Rivne.[13]

On 20 January 2024, Stepanenko extended his contract with Shakhtar Donetsk until the summer of 2025.[14]

International career

Stepanenko battling for the ball with Franck Ribéry

He was the 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.[15] His first start came on 8 February 2011 in a 2–2 draw against Romania.[16] He made another appearance the following day in a 1–1 draw with Sweden.[17] He played in a 2–0 defeat to Italy on 29 March 2011.[18] 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.[19] On 26 March 2013, Stepanenko received red card for high kick on Vitaliy Bordiyan in a World Cup qualification match against Moldova.[20]

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.[21] He is also an avid reader, his favourite genre being biographies of great men.[22]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 4 December 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Metalurh Zaporizhzhia 2006–07 Ukrainian Premier League 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 0
2007–08 23 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 24 1
2008–09 29 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 30 0
2009–10 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 0
Total 81 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 83 1
Shakhtar Donetsk 2010–11 Ukrainian Premier League 15 0 2 0 2[a] 1 1 0 20 1
2011–12 9 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 12 0
2012–13 18 0 3 0 3[a] 0 1 0 25 0
2013–14 18 2 4 0 4[b] 0 1 0 27 2
2014–15 22 4 5 0 7[a] 1 1 0 35 5
2015–16 18 2 5 0 16[c] 1 1 0 40 3
2016–17 27 1 3 1 10[d] 2 1 0 41 4
2017–18 26 0 3 0 8[a] 0 1 0 38 0
2018–19 26 4 2 0 7[e] 0 1 0 36 4
2019–20 24 1 1 1 11[f] 1 1 0 37 3
2020–21 18 2 0 0 5[g] 0 1 0 24 2
2021–22 13 2 0 0 8[a] 0 1 0 22 2
2022–23 26 3 0 0 10[h] 0 0 0 36 3
2023–24 20 0 3 0 8[i] 0 0 0 31 0
2024–25 9 1 1 0 4[a] 0 0 0 14 1
Total 289 22 35 2 103 6 11 0 438 30
Career total 370 23 37 2 103 6 11 0 521 31
  1. ^ a b c d e f Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  2. ^ Three appearances in UEFA Champions League, one appearance in UEFA Europa League
  3. ^ Nine appearances in UEFA Champions League, seven appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. ^ Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, eight appearances in UEFA Europa League
  5. ^ Six appearances in UEFA Champions League, one appearance in UEFA Europa League
  6. ^ Six appearances in UEFA Champions League, five appearances in UEFA Europa League
  7. ^ Four appearances in UEFA Champions League, one appearance in UEFA Europa League
  8. ^ Six appearances in UEFA Champions League, four appearances in UEFA Europa League
  9. ^ Six appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

As of match played 26 June 2024[23]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Ukraine 2010 1 0
2011 3 0
2012 2 0
2013 7 0
2014 5 1
2015 7 0
2016 11 2
2017 7 0
2018 8 0
2019 6 0
2020 2 0
2021 10 1
2022 4 0
2023 8 0
2024 4 0
Total 85 4
Scores and results list Ukraine's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Stepanenko goal.
List of international goals scored by Taras Stepanenko
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 22 May 2014 V. Lobanovskyi Stadium, Kyiv, Ukraine  Niger 2–1 2–1 Friendly
2 24 March 2016 Chornomorets Stadium, Odesa, Ukraine  Cyprus 1–0 1–0
3 3 June 2016 Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia, Bergamo, Italy  Albania 1–0 3–1
4 11 November 2021 Chornomorets Stadium, Odesa, Ukraine  Bulgaria 1–1 1–1

Honours

Shakhtar Donetsk

References

  1. ^ "Taras Stepanenko | First Team | FC Shakhtar Donetsk". Archived from the original on 7 February 2015. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  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. ^ "Taras Stepanenko's 400th appearance for Shakhtar". shakhtar.com. FC Shakhtar Donetsk. 26 September 2023. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  14. ^ "Taras Stepanenko extended his contract with Shakhtar for one year". shakhtar.com. FC Shakhtar Donetsk. 20 January 2024. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  15. ^ "Switzerland vs Ukraine 2–2". Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  16. ^ "Romania vs Ukraine 2–2". Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  17. ^ "Sweden vs Ukraine 1–1". Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  18. ^ "Ukraine vs Italy 0–2". Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  19. ^ "Ukraine vs Czech Republic 0–0". Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  20. ^ "The clearest red card EVER?! Taras Stepanenko's shocking foul (Ukraine) v Moldova". Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  21. ^ "Тарас Степаненко: "Татуировки – языческие символы. Я человек верующий"".
  22. ^ "Тарас Степаненко: "Татуировки - это языческие символы, мне такое не нужно"".
  23. ^ Taras Stepanenko at National-Football-Teams.com
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