Yaroslav Rakitskyi

Yaroslav Volodymyrovych Rakitskyi (Ukrainian: Ярослав Володимирович Ракицький, pronounced [jɐroˈslɑu̯ woloˈdɪmɪrowɪtʃ rɐˈkɪtsʲkɪj]; Russian: Ярослав Владимирович Ракицкий; born 3 August 1989) is a Ukrainian footballer currently playing as a defender for Russian club Zenit Saint Petersburg. He is best known for his passing ability and free-kicks.

In this Eastern Slavic name, the patronymic is Volodymyrovych and the family name is Rakytskiy.
Yaroslav Rakitskyi
Rakitskyi in 2019
Personal information
Full name Yaroslav Volodymyrovych Rakitskyi
Date of birth (1989-08-03) 3 August 1989
Place of birth Pershotravensk,
Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s) Defender
Club information
Current team
 Zenit Saint Petersburg
Number 44
Youth career
2002 FC Pavlohrad
2003–2004 Shakhtar Donetsk
2005 UOR Donetsk
2006–2009 Shakhtar Donetsk
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2018 Shakhtar Donetsk 210 (9)
2019– Zenit Saint Petersburg 54 (4)
National team‡
2009 Ukraine U20 1 (0)
2008–2011 Ukraine U21 17 (3)
2009–2018 Ukraine 54 (5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16 December 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 6 November 2019

He is also a member of the Ukraine national football team, he made his first team appearance for Ukraine national football team on 10 October 2009 and scored his first goal on 14 October of the same year. Rakitskyi has amassed over 50 caps for Ukraine and represented his country at UEFA Euro 2012 and UEFA Euro 2016.

Club career

2009–10 season

He moved up to the first team during the 2009–10 season, making his debut, at the age of 20, in a 6–1 Ukrainian Cup win against Dnister Ovidiopol (now called FC Odesa). He made his league debut for the club 16 days later, coming as a substitute on 31 August in a 3–1 victory over Zorya Luhansk. His first goal for Shakhtar came in the following round of the Ukrainian Cup in a 3–1 victory over Yednist' Plysky. He also set up the third goal of the match for Oleksandr Gladkiy. Rakytskiy scored his second goal of the season in a 4–1 group stage win over Partizan Belgrade in the Europa League. He ended his first season in the Shakhtar first team with 37 appearances, of which 24 came in the league, and 2 goals. He picked his first trophy at Shakhtar, with the team winning the league.[2]

2010–11 season

Rakytskiy started the 2010–11 with success in the Super Cup as Shakhtar comprehensively defeated Tavriya 7–1.[3] His first league goal came in a 3–1 victory over Kryvbas on 10 July 2010.[4] He also scored Shakhtar's only goal in a 6–1 aggregate lose to Barcelona in the Champions League quarter final, scoring in the 5–1 first leg defeat at Camp Nou.[5] He played in Shakhtar's 2–0 Ukrainian Cup win over Dynamo Kyiv.[6] He made a total of 34 appearances in the 2010–11 season, scoring twice as Shakhtar retained the Premier League title.[7]

2011–12 season

Shakhtar won the Premier League and the Ukrainian Cup in the 2011–12 season.[8] On 29 October Yaroslav picked up a red card in a 3–2 victory over Oleksandria, after receiving two yellow cards.[9] His first goal of the season came in a 2–0 victory over Dynamo Kyiv at the Donbass Arena on 7 April.[10] He scored another goal a few weeks later in a 3–1 victory over Tavriya.[11] He finished the season with 2 goals in 37 appearances, 27 of which were in the league. Shakhtar won the Premier League title for the third year in a row [12] and also retained the Ukrainian Cup in a 2–1 extra time victory over Metalurh Donetsk. Oleksandr Kucher scored the winning goal, after a rebound from Rakytskiy's shot.[13]

2012–13 season

He played in Shakhtar's 2–0 Super Cup victory over Metalurh Donetsk on 10 July, keeping a clean sheet.[14] He managed clean sheets in a 6–0 win against Arsenal Kyiv on 15 July,[15] a 1–0 victory over Kryvbas on 29 July[16] and a 4–0 win over Volyn Lutsk on 6 September.[17] On 26 August he assisted Henrikh Mkhitaryan for the third goal in a 3–0 victory over Karpaty Lviv and kept a clean sheet.[18] and was named Man of the Match.[19] On 15 September he kept a clean sheet in a 3–0 victory against Zorya Luhansk.[20]

2017–18 season

He scored in the final as Shakhtar beat rivals Dynamo Kyiv in the 2017–18 Ukrainian Cup final.[21]

Zenit Saint Petersburg

On 28 January 2019, he signed a 3.5-year contract with Russian Premier League club FC Zenit Saint Petersburg.[22] Some Ukrainians have derided Rakitskyi as a "traitor" for moving to the Russian league, as Zenit are based in Russia and the War in Donbass was ongoing,[23] despite the fact that Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, another famous Ukrainian footballer, is also working as assistant manager for Zenit.[24]

His move to Russia during the war led to him being stopped from being called up to the national team, which led to his official retirement from international football.[25]

He became a starting player for Zenit, and a favourite of the fans, who made positive songs about him.[26] He also became one of the leaders of the Russian league in accuracy of passes.[27]

At the end of the 2019-20 season, he was voted by the league players as the 8th best player in the league.[28]

International career

Rakitskyi made his debut for the national team on 10 October 2009, at the age of 20, in a 1–0 victory over England in a World Cup qualifier. His first goal for Ukraine came just four days later and a 6–0 win against Andorra. He scored his second goal in a 2–1 friendly win over Chile on 7 September 2010 [29] and scored his third goal in another friendly match, a 2–2 draw with Romania which saw Ukraine take victory 4–2 in a penalty shootout and the finals of this tournament came out (Cyprus International Football Tournaments 2011 [30]

Since the start of the War in Donbass, Rakitskyi faced repeated questioning in the press about his refusal to sing the Ukrainian national anthem when he played for Ukraine. He has not been called up to the national team since his transfer to Zenit Saint Petersburg.[23]

The popular opinion was that he stopped being called up to the national team due to political reasons,[31][32] when some commented how not calling him up was unprofessional,[33] while others accused Rakitsky of "putting himself before the interests of the national team" by moving to Russia.[34][35]

When Rakitsky subsequently retired from the national team in 2019, he said, "Big football turned into big politics. Those who call up people for the national team are driven by fear."[25]

Career statistics

Club
As of 26 May 2019[36][37]
Club Season League Cup Champions
League		 Europa
League		 Super Cup Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
FC Shakhtar Donetsk 2009–10 Ukrainian Premier League 24041009100372
2010–11 211201010010342
2011–12 27250400010372
2012–13 24120800010351
2013–14 23010601010320
2014–15 18250800010322
2015–16 182201007110383
2016–17 21020107000310
2017–18 23031700010341
2018–19 11100400010161
Total 21092625812428032614
FC Zenit Saint Petersburg 2018–19 Russian Premier League 12300004000163
Total 12300004000163
Total 222122625812828034217

International
As of 20 December 2018[38]
Ukraine national team
Year Apps Goals
2009 41
2010 41
2011 51
2012 70
2013 61
2014 30
2015 90
2016 60
2017 40
2018 61
Total 545

International goals
Scores and results list Ukraine's goal tally first.
NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.14 October 2009Comunal, Andorra la Vella, Andorra Andorra4–06–02010 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.7 September 2010Valeriy Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine Chile2–02–1Friendly
3.8 February 2011Paralimni Stadium, Paralimni, Cyprus Romania1–02–2Cytavision Cyprus Tournament 2011
4.6 September 2013Arena Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine San Marino9–09–02014 FIFA World Cup qualification
5.27 March 2018Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Liège, Belgium Japan1–02–1Kirin Challenge Cup

Honours

Shakhtar Donetsk[36]

Zenit Saint Petersburg

References
  1. http://shakhtar.com/en/team/player/?id=362
  2. "Ukraine 2009/10". Retrieved 7 September 2012.
  3. "Shakhtar age their rage in Super Cup rout". Retrieved 7 September 2012.
  4. "Shakhtar Donetsk vs Kryvbas 2-0". Retrieved 7 September 2012.
  5. "Barcelona vs Shakhtar Donetsk 5-1". Retrieved 7 September 2012.
  6. "Shakhtar sign off with Ukrainian Cup success". Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  7. "Ukraine 2010/11". Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  8. "Ukraine 2011/12". Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  9. "Oleksandria vs Shakhtar 2-3". Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  10. "Shakhtar vs Dynamo Kyiv 2-0". Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  11. "Shakhtar vs Tavriya 3-1". Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  12. "Ukraine 2011/12". Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  13. "Shakhtar keep hold of Ukrainian Cup". Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  14. "Metalurh Donetsk vs Shakhtar Donetsk 0-2". Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  15. "Shakhtar Donetsk 6–0 Arsenal Kyiv". Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  16. "Shakhtar vs Krvbas 1-0". Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  17. "Volyn vs Shakhtar 0-4". Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  18. "Shakhtar Donetsk vs Karpaty 3-0". Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  19. "Rakitskiy named as Man of the Match". Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  20. "Zorya vs Shakhtar 0-3". Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  21. https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2018/05/09/ukraine/cup/fc-dynamo-kyiv/joint-stock-company-fc-shakhtar-donetsk/2780207/?ICID=PL_MS_01
  22. "Yaroslav Rakitskyi joins Zenit". FC Zenit Saint Petersburg. 28 January 2019.
  23. Robert O'Connor (6 September 2019), Shakhtar Donetsk: The Ukrainian serial winners forced to flee from war, BBC Sport, retrieved 6 September 2019
  24. https://www.rferl.org/a/fans-jeer-ukrainian-soccer-player-s-transfer-to-russia-rakitskyy/29744161.html
  25. https://www.sports.ru/football/1079899176.html
  26. https://www.sports.ru/football/1082499673.html
  27. https://www.sports.ru/football/1081380835.html
  28. https://www.sports.ru/football/1087351055.html
  29. "Ukraine vs Chile 2-1". Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  30. "Romania vs Ukraine 2-2". Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  31. https://www.sports.ru/football/1075173019.html
  32. https://www.sports.ru/football/1079914681.html
  33. https://www.sports.ru/football/1077493490.html
  34. https://www.sports.ru/football/1077468577.html
  35. https://www.sports.ru/football/1071153556.html
  38. Rakytskiy, Yaroslav at National-Football-Teams.com
  40. "Zenit crowned 2019/20 RPL champions". Russian Premier League. 5 July 2020.
  41. "Late Dzyuba penalty seals Russian Cup for Zenit". Russian Premier League. 25 July 2020.
  42. ""Зенит" обыграл "Локомотив" и стал пятикратным победителем Олимп-Суперкубка России" (in Russian). Russian Premier League. 7 August 2020.
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