Yaroslav Rakitskyi

Yaroslav Rakitskiy

Rakitskiy in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Yaroslav Volodymyrovych Rakitskiy
Date of birth	(1989-08-03) 3 August 1989
Place of birth	Pershotravensk, Soviet Union
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Team 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	34	(3)
International career‡
2009	Ukraine U20	1	(0)
2008–2011	Ukraine U21	17	(3)
2009–2018	Ukraine	54	(5)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20 June 2020 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 6 November 2019

Yaroslav Volodymyrovych Rakitskiy (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.

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. Rakitskiy has amassed over 50 caps for Ukraine and represented his country at UEFA Euro 2012 and UEFA Euro 2016.

Career

Club

Shakhtar Donetsk

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.

2010–11 season

Rakytskiy started the 2010–11 with success in the Super Cup as Shakhtar comprehensively defeated Tavriya 7–1. His first league goal came in a 3–1 victory over Kryvbas on 10 July 2010. 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. He played in Shakhtar's 2–0 Ukrainian Cup win over Dynamo Kyiv. He made a total of 34 appearances in the 2010–11 season, scoring twice as Shakhtar retained the Premier League title.

2011–12 season

Shakhtar won the Premier League and the Ukrainian Cup in the 2011–12 season. On 29 October Yaroslav picked up a red card in a 3–2 victory over Oleksandria, after receiving two yellow cards. His first goal of the season came in a 2–0 victory over Dynamo Kyiv at the Donbass Arena on 7 April. He scored another goal a few weeks later in a 3–1 victory over Tavriya. 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 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.

2012–13 season

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

2017–18 season

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

Zenit Saint Petersburg

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

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.

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

International

Rakitskiy 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 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

Since the start of the War in Donbass, Rakitskiy 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.

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

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."

Career statistics

Club

As of 26 May 2019

Club	Season	League			Cup		Champions League		Europa League		Super Cup		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
FC Shakhtar Donetsk	2009–10	Ukrainian Premier League	24	0	4	1	0	0	9	1	0	0	37	2
	2010–11		21	1	2	0	10	1	0	0	1	0	34	2
	2011–12		27	2	5	0	4	0	0	0	1	0	37	2
	2012–13		24	1	2	0	8	0	0	0	1	0	35	1
	2013–14		23	0	1	0	6	0	1	0	1	0	32	0
	2014–15		18	2	5	0	8	0	0	0	1	0	32	2
	2015–16		18	2	2	0	10	0	7	1	1	0	38	3
	2016–17		21	0	2	0	1	0	7	0	0	0	31	0
	2017–18		23	0	3	1	7	0	0	0	1	0	34	1
	2018–19		11	1	0	0	4	0	0	0	1	0	16	1
	Total		210	9	26	2	58	1	24	2	8	0	326	14
FC Zenit Saint Petersburg	2018–19	Russian Premier League	12	3	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	16	3
	Total		12	3	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	16	3
Total			222	12	26	2	58	1	28	2	8	0	342	17

International

As of 20 December 2018

Ukraine national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2009	4	1
2010	4	1
2011	5	1
2012	7	0
2013	6	1
2014	3	0
2015	9	0
2016	6	0
2017	4	0
2018	6	1
Total	54	5

International goals

Scores and results list Ukraine's goal tally first.

No	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	14 October 2009	Comunal, Andorra la Vella, Andorra	Andorra	4–0	6–0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.	7 September 2010	Valeriy Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine	Chile	2–0	2–1	Friendly
3.	8 February 2011	Paralimni Stadium, Paralimni, Cyprus	Romania	1–0	2–2	Cytavision Cyprus Tournament 2011
4.	6 September 2013	Arena Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine	San Marino	9–0	9–0	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
5.	27 March 2018	Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Liege, Belgium	Japan	1–0	2–1	Kirin Challenge Cup

Honours

Shakhtar Donetsk

• Ukrainian Premier League (8): 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018-19
• Ukrainian Cup (6): 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18
• Ukrainian Super Cup (6): 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017

Zenit Saint Petersburg

• Russian Premier League (1): 2018–19

External links

• Yaroslav Rakitskyi at UAF and archived FFU page (in Ukrainian)