Roman Vyacheslavovych Zozulya ( uk, Роман В'ячеславович Зозуля, born 17 November 1989) 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

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

for Spanish club

Rayo Majadahonda Club de Fútbol Rayo Majadahonda () is a Spanish football team based in Majadahonda, in the autonomous community of Madrid. Founded in 1976 it plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 1, holding home games at '' Estadio Cerro del Espino'', with ...

. He played in the Ukrainian Premier League for

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 ...

and

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 ...

. In 2016 he moved to Spain, playing six

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 ...

games for

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

before featuring in over 150

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

games for

Albacete Albacete (, also , ; ar, ﭐَلبَسِيط, Al-Basīṭ) is a city and municipality in the Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, and capital of the province of Albacete. Lying in the south-ea ...

and Fuenlabrada Zozulya made his international debut for Ukraine in 2010. He was part of their squad at

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe o ...

Club career

Dynamo Kyiv

Born in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

, Zozulya was a product of the Dynamo youth system progressing through Dynamo-3 and Dynamo-2. In 2008, after the 2007–08 season he was promoted to the main team.

Dnipro

On 27 February 2014, in a

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

match against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

, Zozulya was sent off after he directed a head-butt towards Jan Vertonghen. Zozulya was sent off and had to be restrained from attacking Vertonghen, who was accused of faking the degree of contact. Tottenham went on to win the game 3–1, knocking Dnipro out.

Betis

On 27 July 2016, Zozulya signed a three-year contract with

side

. He made his debut on 11 September in a 3–2 win at Valencia CF, as an 80th-minute substitute for

Álex Alegría Alexander "Álex" Alegría Moreno (born 10 October 1992) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a forward. Club career Betis Born in Plasencia, Province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Alegría finished his development with CP Cacereño, a ...

. He played six games, starting once on 22 January in a goalless draw at home to Sporting Gijón.

Rayo Vallecano

On 31 January 2017, Zozulya joined Rayo Vallecano on loan until the end of the season. His arrival was met with protests from the club's fans, unhappy over his purported far-right links after a picture of him wearing a shirt with the Tryzub and lyrics of poet

Taras Shevchenko Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko ( uk, Тарас Григорович Шевченко , pronounced without the middle name; – ), also known as Kobzar Taras, or simply Kobzar (a kobzar is a bard in Ukrainian culture), was a Ukraine, Ukrainian p ...

was featuring the logo of the

Right Sector Right Sector ( uk, Пра́вий се́ктор, ''Pravyi sektor'') is a right-wing to far-right, Ukrainian nationalist organization. It originated in November 2013 as a right-wing, paramilitary confederation of several radical nationalist orga ...

. Zozulya vehemently denied any such links in an open letter to Rayo's fans, declaring that he has only assisted the legitimate Ukrainian army during the

Russian military intervention in Ukraine The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since February 2014. Following Ukraine's Revo ...

. On 1 February 2017, Zozulya had his contract cancelled due to the reactions of Rayo fans and returned to Betis.Roman Zozulya: Player's Rayo Vallecano loan spell ends as fans call him Nazi

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

(1 February 2017) This meant that he could not play anymore in the 2016–17 season because the

Royal Spanish Football Federation The Royal Spanish Football Federation ( es, Real Federación Española de Fútbol; RFEF) is the governing body of football in Spain. It is based in La Ciudad del Fútbol of Las Rozas, a municipality near Madrid. It was founded on 14 October 1909 ...

rules say players cannot register for more than two teams in one campaign.

Albacete

On 8 September 2017,

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

Zozulya signed a one-year contract with Albacete Balompié. On 25 March 2019, Zozulya endured more harassment during an Albacete away game against

Lugo Lugo (, ; la, Lucus Augusti) is a city in northwestern Spain in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. It is the capital of the Lugo (province), province of Lugo. The municipality had a population ...

, when the fans of the latter club sang chants aimed at Zozulya, explicitly wishing him death for supposedly supporting the Nazi political movement. As a result of the incident, the fans of Albacete requested that

seriously punish Lugo. Zozulya received the best player award for the month of October 2019, based on the fans' votes. On 15 December 2019, the league game between Rayo Vallecano and Albacete was abandoned by the referee, after abuse and threats from the home fans over Zozulya's alleged far-right-wing political views. The second half of the game was scheduled to be played the following June, following the resumption of football after the coronavirus pandemic.

Fuenlabrada

On 31 July 2021, after ''Alba''s relegation, Zozulya signed a two-year contract with fellow second division side

CF Fuenlabrada Club de Fútbol Fuenlabrada, S.A.D. is a football club based in Fuenlabrada, Community of Madrid, Spain, that currently competes in Primera División RFEF – Group 1, the third tier of the Spanish league system. It was founded in 1975. It holds ...

Rayo Majadahonda

On 8 December 2022, Zozulya signed for

Primera Federación The Primera Federación, formerly known as Primera División RFEF, is the third tier of the Spanish football league system beginning with the 2021–22 season. It is administered by the Royal Spanish Football Federation. It is below the top tw ...

club

on a deal until the end of the 2022–23 season.

International career

Zozulya debuted for

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

on 2 June 2010 against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

at Ullevaal Stadion in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

. He scored a goal after Yevhen Konoplyanka fired a long shot at

Jon Knudsen Jon Knudsen (born 20 November 1974) is a Norwegian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is from August 2022, the goalkeeping coach for the Norway women's national team. Knudsen spent most of his playing career with Stabæk, where h ...

, who fumbled with the ball and let Zozulya kick the ball into the net. He was substituted in the 81st minute. He was member of the Ukrainian 23-man squad for

Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

Outside of football

Civil involvement

Zozulya is the founder of the Narodna Armiya (People's Army) organisation which is a part of the civil volunteer movement helping Ukrainian forces in the

war in Donbass War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular ...

. In particular Zozulya's organisation is providing food, clothing and technical equipment to Ukrainian Army and helps families of the military. In 2016, he received a special commendation from the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine for his support to the

Armed Forces of Ukraine , imports = , exports = , history = , ranks = Military ranks of Ukraine , country=Ukraine The Armed Forces of Ukraine ( uk, Збро́йні си́ли Украї́ни), most commonly known ...

. Together with

Ruslan Rotan Ruslan Petrovych Rotan ( uk, Руслан Петрович Ротань; born 29 October 1981) is a Ukrainian former professional footballer and manager of Ukraine national under-21 football team. He was a member of the Ukraine national team. ...

Zozulya is also the co-founder and sponsor of the ''Rotan and Zozulya Academy of Football'' in

Personal life

His sister Olena is married with another Ukrainian football player Kyrylo Kovalets.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

''Source:''

Honors

Dynamo Kyiv * Ukrainian Premier League: 2008–09 *

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 ...

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 ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk *

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

: runner-up 2014–15

Orders

* : Decoration of the President of Ukraine for Humanitarian Participation in the Anti-Terrorist Operation * : Honorary badge of the Chief of General Staff for Services to the Armed Forces of Ukraine

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zozulya, Roman 1989 births Footballers from Kyiv Men's association football forwards FC Dnipro players FC Dynamo Kyiv players Living people Ukraine men's international footballers Ukraine men's youth international footballers Ukraine men's under-21 international footballers Ukrainian footballers Ukrainian Premier League players Ukrainian First League players Ukrainian Second League players FC Dynamo-2 Kyiv players FC Dynamo-3 Kyiv players UEFA Euro 2016 players La Liga players Segunda División players Real Betis players Rayo Vallecano players Albacete Balompié players CF Fuenlabrada footballers CF Rayo Majadahonda players Ukrainian expatriate footballers Ukrainian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Spain