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Yevhen Konoplyanka
2015 UEFA Super Cup 96 (cropped).jpg
Konoplyanka with Sevilla in 2015
Personal information
Date of birth (1989-09-29) 29 September 1989 (age 35)
Place of birth Kirovohrad, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Height 1.78 m
Playing position Winger
Youth career
2002–2004 Olimpik Kirovohrad
2004–2005 DYuSSh-2 Kirovohrad
2006 Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2008 Dnipro-2 Dnipropetrovsk
2007–2015 Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 157 (35)
2015–2017 Sevilla 32 (4)
2016–2017 Schalke 04 (loan) 17 (1)
2017–2019 Schalke 04 40 (5)
2019–2021 Shakhtar Donetsk 28 (4)
2022–2023 Cracovia 36 (2)
2023 CFR Cluj 3 (0)
Total 313 (51)
National team
2006 Ukraine U17 1 (0)
2007–2008 Ukraine U19 9 (3)
2008–2011 Ukraine U21 16 (5)
2010–2023 Ukraine 87 (21)
  • Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Yevhen Olehovych Konoplyanka (Ukrainian: Євге́н Оле́гович Конопля́нка; born 29 September 1989) is a Ukrainian former professional footballer who played as a winger.

Konoplyanka began his professional career at Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, where he made his debut in 2007 and featured in 211 matches across all competitions, scoring 45 goals and helping them to the 2015 UEFA Europa League Final. He then moved on a free transfer to the opponent team who won that match, Sevilla, and won the Europa League in his only season in Spain before joining Schalke 04 on an initial loan. In 2019, Konoplyanka returned to his native country with Shakhtar Donetsk, before brief stints at Cracovia and CFR Cluj.

A full international for Ukraine from 2010 to 2023, Konoplyanka earned over 80 caps and scored 21 goals. He represented his nation in the 2012 and 2016 editions of the UEFA European Championship, and is a three-time Ukrainian Footballer of the Year winner.

Club career

Early career

At age seven, Konoplyanka signed up for a karate class, which he did simultaneously with football, eventually reaching black belt. He is a product of the youth system of Olimpik Kirovohrad, and coach Yuriy Kevlych. He also participated in the Ukrainian National Youth Competition, representing DYuSSh-2 Kirovohrad.

Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk

Konoplyanka was signed as a youth by Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk at age 16. In the winter of 2006, he was promoted to the reserves with a starting salary of $300.

Yevhen Konoplyanka2013
Konoplyanka with Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in 2013

Konoplaynka's senior team debut came in a Ukrainian Premier League match on 26 August 2007 in a home game against Zakarpattia Uzhhorod which ended 0–0. Konoplyanka came on during the 83rd minute, replacing Jaba Kankava.

His first goal in the Ukrainian Premier League came 28 February 2010 in a home game against Zorya Luhansk which ended 2–2. In the second half of the 2009–10 season, Konoplyanka started and played the full 90 minutes in all of the remaining games.

In March 2011, Dynamo Kyiv interim coach Oleh Luzhnyi expressed his desire to see Konoplyanka in his ranks and the media reported that Dynamo would make an offer to Dnipro worth €14 million. In response, Dnipro coach Juande Ramos placed a sensational scare price-tag ranging from €50–€60 million, commenting that "in order to build a great team, great players should play there."

In January 2014, Konoplyanka nearly moved to English team Liverpool for £16 million, his buyout clause, but Dnipro president Ihor Kolomoyskyi refused to sanction the transfer.

Konoplyanka was a major catalyst in Dnipro's successful 2014–15 season where he helped them to a 3rd place in the domestic league and a place in the Europa League final. He was named in the competition's squad of the season.

Sevilla

Sev tren 2016 (9)
Konoplyanka with Sevilla during a 2016 press conference.

On 2 July 2015, Sevilla announced that Konoplyanka was undergoing a medical. A week later, the Spanish club confirmed that he had joined on a free transfer, and signed a four-year deal, with a reported release clause of €40 million.

On 11 August, he made his competitive debut for Sevilla in the 2015 UEFA Super Cup against Barcelona, as a 68th-minute substitute for captain José Antonio Reyes. He scored an 81st-minute equaliser as Sevilla came from behind to draw 4–4, but they lost 5–4 after extra time. Ten days later, he made his La Liga debut in a goalless draw at Málaga, again as a 65th-minute substitute for Reyes, and on 16 September, he scored on his UEFA Champions League debut, concluding a 3–0 group stage win over Borussia Mönchengladbach at the Estadio Ramon Sánchez Pizjuán with his first touch of the game. Ten days later, after coming off the bench against Rayo Vallecano, he attained his first league goal for the Andalusians, winning the match 3–2 with a late free kick for a first victory of the season.

At the end of the calendar year, Konoplyanka was one of the shortlisted nominees for UEFA Team of the Year. He was an unused substitute in the 2016 UEFA Europa League Final, where Sevilla beat Liverpool 7–1 in Basel to claim their fifth trophy. He played seven matches in their Copa del Rey campaign, scoring a late equaliser as a substitute in a 2–2 draw at Celta Vigo in the semi-finals (6–2 aggregate), and also came off the bench in the final where they lost 2–0 to Barcelona after extra time. On 9 August, he scored a penalty in the 2016 UEFA Super Cup against Real Madrid, an eventual 3–2 loss following extra time in Trondheim.

Schalke 04

On 30 August 2016, Konoplyanka was loaned to Schalke 04 with an obligatory buyout clause at the end of the campaign for €12.5 million. He made his debut on 9 September in a 2–0 home loss to reigning Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, and scored his first goal on 20 October, the game's only in an away Europa League group game at Krasnodar. Six days later, he struck twice in the first half of a 3–2 win at 1. FC Nürnberg in the second round of the DFB-Pokal. In a mid-table season, his only goal of 17 league games was scored on 17 December to equalise in a 1–1 draw with SC Freiburg at the Veltins-Arena.

Shakhtar Donetsk

On 2 September 2019, Konoplyanka signed a three-year deal with Shakhtar Donetsk.

Cracovia

After becoming a free agent, on 11 February 2022 Konoplyanka signed a half-year contract with an extension option for Ekstraklasa club Cracovia. He left the team following the conclusion of the 2022–23 season, after scoring two goals in 36 league matches.

CFR Cluj

On 25 July 2023, it was announced that Konoplyanka joined Romanian team CFR Cluj. He made his debut for the club on 3 August, in a 1–2 away loss to Adana Demirspor in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa Conference League.

On 3 January 2024, Konoplyanka was released by CFR Cluj after only playing four games. On 17 July 2024, Konoplyanka announced his retirement from professional football.

International career

Mikael Lustig - Yevhen Konoplyanka 20120611
Konoplyanka challenging Sweden's Mikael Lustig at Euro 2012

In April 2010, Konoplyanka was first called up to Ukraine's senior national team by head coach Myron Markevych. He made his international debut on 25 May, playing the entirety of a 4–0 friendly win over Lithuania in Kharkiv. Four days later at Arena Lviv, he scored the equaliser as Ukraine came from behind to defeat Romania 3–2 in another friendly. Participated in the final match of Cyprus International Football Tournaments in 2011, when Ukraine won Sweden.

In the Euro 2012 tournament, Konoplyanka started in all three of Ukraine's matches as the co-hosts exited in the group stage. In their opening game at the Olympic Stadium in Kyiv, he assisted Andriy Shevchenko's winning goal with a corner for a 2–1 victory against Sweden.

On 11 September 2012, Konoplyanka scored a long-range goal in a 1–1 draw against England at Wembley Stadium in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier. The BBC said of his performance: "the tremendous Yevhen Konoplyanka delivered a masterful performance to dictate in midfield". He scored two more goals in Ukraine's qualifying campaign, in victories over San Marino and Montenegro, but the team lost to France in a play-off for the tournament.

Konoplyanka scored twice in 11 matches as Ukraine qualified for Euro 2016, their first successful qualification campaign. He captained the team for their 3–1 aggregate win over Slovenia in the play-off in November 2015.

He was included in Ukraine's squad for Euro 2016 in France, where Ukraine failed to score and finished bottom of the group.

Career statistics

Club

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
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 2007–08 Ukrainian Premier League 2 0 1 0 0 0 3 0
2008–09 Ukrainian Premier League 12 0 0 0 0 0 12 0
2009–10 Ukrainian Premier League 22 4 2 0 24 4
2010–11 Ukrainian Premier League 25 6 3 0 3 0 31 6
2011–12 Ukrainian Premier League 28 8 2 1 2 0 32 9
2012–13 Ukrainian Premier League 20 2 3 0 9 3 32 5
2013–14 Ukrainian Premier League 27 8 1 1 8 4 36 13
2014–15 Ukrainian Premier League 21 7 4 0 17 1 42 8
Total 157 35 16 2 39 8 212 45
Sevilla 2015–16 La Liga 32 4 7 1 12 2 1 1 52 8
2016–17 La Liga 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 2 1
Total 32 4 7 1 12 2 3 2 54 9
Schalke 04 (loan) 2016–17 Bundesliga 17 1 2 3 8 2 27 6
Schalke 04 2017–18 Bundesliga 27 4 3 2 30 6
2018–19 Bundesliga 13 1 2 0 6 0 21 1
Total 57 6 7 5 14 2 78 13
Shakhtar Donetsk 2019–20 Ukrainian Premier League 20 4 1 0 9 1 30 5
2020–21 Ukrainian Premier League 8 0 1 0 4 0 1 0 14 0
2021–22 Ukrainian Premier League 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0
Total 28 4 2 0 15 1 1 0 46 5
Cracovia 2021–22 Ekstraklasa 10 0 10 0
2022–23 Ekstraklasa 26 2 2 2 28 4
Total 36 2 2 2 38 4
CFR Cluj 2023–24 Liga I 3 0 0 0 1 0 4 0
Career total 313 51 34 10 81 13 4 2 432 76

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Ukraine 2010 6 2
2011 9 2
2012 10 2
2013 10 2
2014 6 0
2015 10 3
2016 9 2
2017 8 2
2018 10 4
2019 7 2
2020 1 0
2021 0 0
2022 0 0
2023 1 0
Total 87 21
Scores and results list Ukraine's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Konoplyanka goal.
List of international goals scored by Yevhen Konoplyanka:Scores and results list Ukraine's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Konoplyanka goal.
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 29 May 2010 Ukraina Stadium, Lviv, Ukraine  Romania 2–2 3–2 Friendly
2 17 November 2010 Stade de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland  Switzerland 2–2 2–2 Friendly
3 2 September 2011 Metalist Stadium, Kharkiv, Ukraine  Uruguay 2–1 2–3 Friendly
4 11 November 2011 NSC Olympiyskiy Stadium, Kyiv, Ukraine  Germany 2–0 3–3 Friendly
5 29 February 2012 HaMoshava Stadium, Petah Tikva, Israel  Israel 2–0 3–2 Friendly
6 11 September 2012 Wembley Stadium, London, England  England 1–0 1–1 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
7 7 June 2013 Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro  Montenegro 2–0 4–0 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
8 6 September 2013 Arena Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine  San Marino 5–0 9–0 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
9 9 June 2015 Linzer Stadion, Linz, Austria  Georgia 2–0 2–1 Friendly
10 15 June 2015 Arena Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine  Luxembourg 3–0 3–0 UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
11 5 September 2015 Arena Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine  Belarus 3–0 3–1 UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
12 29 May 2016 Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino, Turin, Italy  Romania 1–3 3–4 Friendly
13 3 June 2016 Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia, Bergamo, Italy  Albania 3–1 3–1 Friendly
14 11 June 2017 Ratinan Stadium, Tampere, Finland  Finland 1–0 2–1 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
15 10 November 2017 Arena Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine  Slovakia 2–1 2–1 Friendly
16 3 June 2018 Stade Camille Fournier, Évian-les-Bains, France  Albania 1–0 4–1 Friendly
17 4–1
18 6 September 2018 Městský fotbalový stadion, Uherské Hradiště, Czech Republic  Czech Republic 1–1 2–1 2018–19 UEFA Nations League B
19 16 November 2018 Štadión Antona Malatinského, Trnava, Slovakia  Slovakia 1–2 1–4 2018–19 UEFA Nations League B
20 7 June 2019 Arena Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine  Serbia 3–0 5–0 UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
21 5–0

Honours

Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk

Sevilla

Shakhtar Donetsk

Individual

See also

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