Dmytro Anatoliiovych Chyhrynskyi ( uk, Дмитро Анатолійович Чигринський; born 7 November 1986) is a Ukrainian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

club Ionikos. He spent most of his professional career, from 2002 to 2015, in two spells with

Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk ( uk, Футбольний клуб «Шахтар» Донецьк , short nickname "miners") is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Donetsk. In 2014, due to the War in Donbass, the club was f ...

. He won honours at the club including five

Ukrainian Premier League The Ukrainian Premier League ( uk, "Українська Прем'єр-ліга", ''Ukrayinska Premier Liha'') or UPL is the highest division of Ukrainian annual football championship. As the Vyshcha Liha ( uk, Вища ліга, ''Top League'') ...

titles, as many

Ukrainian Cup The Ukrainian Cup ( uk, Кубок України) is an association football national knockout cup competition run by the Ukrainian Association of Football. The competition is conducted almost exclusively among professional clubs. Since the 2003� ...

s, and the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

in 2009. He spent the 2009–10 season with

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

in Spain, joining for €25 million, playing rarely and returning to Shakhtar for €15 million. Chyhrynskyi represented the Ukraine national team from 2007 to 2011, making 29 appearances. He was in the nation's squad for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

, but did not play due to injury.

Early life

Chyhrynskyi was born in Iziaslav,

Khmelnytskyi Oblast Khmelnytskyi Oblast ( uk, Хмельни́цька о́бласть, translit=Khmelnytska oblast; also referred to as Khmelnychchyna — uk, Хмельни́ччина) is an oblast (province) of western Ukraine covering portions of the histo ...

, Ukrainian SSR. He was a player in the UFK Lviv youth system before moving to

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: Names of European cities in different languages (C–D), cities' alternat ...

at the age of 14, completing his development at the

academy. He holds a master's degree in

liberal arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the ...

Club career

Shakhtar Donetsk

Chyhrynskyi earned his debut in the Vyshcha Liha in 2004, at the age of 17. In 2005, he was loaned out to Ukrainian club

Metalurh Zaporizhzhia MFC Metalurh Zaporizhzhia ( uk, Футбо́льний клуб «Металу́рг» Запорі́жжя ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Zaporizhzhia. Reestablished in 2017, it is a "phoenix club" of the original Soviet ...

, where he experienced continuous top flight football. After a successful stint at Metalurh, Dmytro was brought back to Donetsk. He quickly emerged as a consistent defender and a leading figure, and first experienced

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

football when coming on as a substitute against

during the

2004–05 UEFA Champions League The 2004–05 UEFA Champions League was the 50th season of UEFA's premier European club association football, football tournament, and the 13th since it was rebranded as the UEFA Champions League in 1992. The competition was won by Liverpool F.C., ...

. The young player cemented a starting position at the team in the 2006–07 season, by the end of which, at the age of 20, he captained Shakhtar in the Ukrainian Cup final against

Dynamo Kyiv Football Club Dynamo Kyiv (, ) is a Ukrainian professional Association football, football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Union, Soviet Dynamo Sports Club, Dynamo Sports Soc ...

in the absence of the regular captain,

Matuzalém Matuzalém Francelino da Silva (born 10 June 1980), commonly known as just Matuzalém, is a Brazilian football manager and former player, who played as a midfielder. Club career Early career Matuzalém began his career at Salvador-based Vitó ...

. During the 2007–08 season, Chyhrynskyi was selected as the

vice-captain Vice-captain, alternate captain (ice hockey) or vice-skip (curling) may refer to a role in a number of sports immediately below the role of captain. The vice-captain may have a number of different roles, including substituting as captain when the re ...

of the team. During the season, he was voted man of the match in the 2–0 win over rivals Dynamo Kyiv in the Ukrainian Cup Final. Also in the same season, he won the Vyshcha Liha with Shakhtar. At the beginning of the 2008–09 season, Chyhrynskyi helped the squad win the

Ukrainian Super Cup The Ukrainian Super Cup ( uk , Суперкубок України) is an association football game of the Ukrainian Premier League in traditional super cup format that acts as the grand-opening for every new football (soccer), football competiti ...

. With Shakhtar, he played in the group stage of the

, finishing third in the group behind Barcelona and

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

. This was not the end of the club's European journey, however, as they parachuted down to the

. He helped the team make it to the quarter-final stage, defeating 1993 European Champions

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

. They then progressed to the semi-finals, where they played Ukrainian rivals Dynamo Kyiv. Shakhtar progressed to the 2009 UEFA Cup Final against

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are be ...

– Chyhrynskyi and Shakhtar won the trophy 2–1 after extra time.

Barcelona

On 26 August 2009, after long negotiations between Shakhtar and Barcelona, a deal was reached for the transfer of Chyhrynskyi. The transfer was valued at around €25 million and included the clause that Chyhrynskyi play in the

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was originall ...

for his former club, coincidentally against Barcelona. On 31 August 2009, Barcelona confirmed that Chyhrynskyi had passed a medical and signed for five years. Chyhrynskyi was the first Ukrainian player to ever play for Barcelona and was expected to display his ability with the ball at his feet and "aerial presence and strong defensive skills" . Chyhrynskyi made his debut for Barcelona on 12 September 2009 in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

against

Getafe Getafe () is a municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city centre, within a flat ar ...

. He played a full 90 minutes on his debut, a 2–0 victory. Though Barcelona retained the title, Chyhrynskyi fared poorly in his debut season with the club. Despite this, manager

Pep Guardiola Josep "Pep" Guardiola Sala (; born 18 January 1971) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player, who is the current manager of club Manchester City. He is considered one of the greatest managers of all time and holds the re ...

had been keen to keep him.

Return to Shakhtar Donetsk

On 6 July 2010, Chyhrynskyi signed a five-year deal to return to his former club Shakhtar Donetsk for a fee of €15 million, making Shakhtar a profit of €10 million. after spending just one season with the Spanish team, playing just 14 times. On 3 November 2010, Chyhrynskyi scored a header against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in the Champions League from a

Jádson Jádson Rodrigues da Silva, professionally known as Jádson (; born 5 October 1983), is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder. He is currently playing for Vitória. Having begun his career at Atlético Para ...

free-kick via a deflection off Craig Eastmond. Chyhrynskyi left Shakhtar by mutual consent on 2 February 2015.

Dnipro

Seven days after leaving Shakhtar, Chyhrynskyi joined fellow league team

Dnipro Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...

on a free transfer and signed a one-year contract.

AEK Athens

On 11 June 2016, Chyhrynskyi signed a two-year contract with a possible extension for a third with

club

AEK Athens A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greece, Greek multi-sport club based in Nea ...

. On 26 February 2017 he scored his first goal for the club in a 3–0 home win against AEL. The following 4 February, he scored in a 2–1 away win against champions

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

, his first goal for the 2017–18 season. In mid-April 2021, the Ukrainian defender was unsure about his future, as his contract was not likely to be renewed and he was strongly considering retiring and serving the team from another official post. On 15 June 2021, AEK Athens announced that Chyhrynskyi would not continue with the club.

Ionikos

On 9 September 2021, Chyhrynskyi signed a one-year contract with newly promoted Super League Greece club Ionikos. On 6 July 2022 he extended his contract with Ionikos for one year more.

International career

After a successful 2005–06 season, Chyhrynskyi was called up to the

squad by coach

Oleg Blokhin Oleg Vladimirovich Blokhin, or Oleh Volodymyrovych Blokhin ( uk, Оле́г Володи́мирович Блохі́н, rus, Оле́г Влади́мирович Блохи́н; born 5 November 1952), is a former Ukrainian and Soviet footbal ...

, following the injury to Serhiy Fedorov. Shortly before the World Cup, Chyhrynskyi was a member of the Ukraine under-21 team, which finished as runners-up in the

2006 UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was the 15th staging of UEFA's European Under-21 Championship. In December 2005, Portugal was selected to host the finals of the competition, which took place from 23 May–4 June 2006. The tournament was w ...

. Showing impressive form during the championship, he was selected as a member of the team of the tournament by UEFA. Although set to be a part of Ukraine's World Cup squad, Chyhrynskyi suffered an injury during the closing stages of under-21 competition, which forced him out of the entire forthcoming tournament. Following his recovery from injury, Chyhrynskyi established himself as a starter for Ukraine in UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying.

Career statistics

Club

International

:Source:

Honours

Shakhtar Donetsk * Vyshcha Liha/Ukrainian Premier League: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2010–11, 2012–13 *

: 2007–08, 2012–13 *

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

: 2008–09 Barcelona *

: 2009–10 *

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

AEK Athens *

: 2017–18 Ukraine U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the compe ...

runner-up:

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

Individual *UEFA European Under-21 Championship Team of the Tournament:

*Super League Greece Team of the Year: 2017–18

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chyhrynskyi, Dmytro 1986 births Living people People from Izyaslav Ukrainian footballers Ukraine youth international footballers Ukraine under-21 international footballers Ukraine international footballers Association football defenders FC Karpaty-3 Lviv players FC Shakhtar Donetsk players FC Shakhtar-2 Donetsk players FC Shakhtar-3 Donetsk players FC Metalurh Zaporizhzhia players FC Barcelona players FC Dnipro players AEK Athens F.C. players Ionikos F.C. players Ukrainian Premier League players Ukrainian First League players Ukrainian Second League players La Liga players Super League Greece players 2006 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Cup winning players Ukrainian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Greece Expatriate footballers in Spain Ukrainian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Ukrainian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Sportspeople from Khmelnytskyi Oblast