Taras Mykolaiovych Stepanenko ( uk, Тарас Миколайович Степаненко; born 8 August 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

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

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 ...

and the Ukraine national team. He started his career at

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 ...

, making his debut in 2007, before joining Shakhtar in 2010.

Club career

Metalurh Zaporizhzhia

Taras began his career with

, playing for the junior team 16 times, scoring 1 goal, in the 2006–07 season, before being promoted to the senior team for the rest of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

. He made his debut for the senior team on 4 March 2007 at the age of 17 in a 3–1 defeat to

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 ...

. He ended his first season in the senior side with 12 appearances. In his second

he scored his first goal for the club on 21 July 2007 in a 1–0

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

victory over

Kryvbas :''Kryvbas'' ''may also refer to the FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih, the football team in Kryvyi Rih. See also Kryvbas (disambiguation)'' Kryvbas (, full name Kryvorizkyi Iron Ore Basin, ) is an important economic and historical region in central Ukraine ...

. He was just one month shy of his 18th birthday when he netted the goal. He went on to make 23 appearances for the club in that season, with 1 goal. His third

saw him become an integral part of the team as he made 29 appearances for the club. The following

he played 17 matches for the club. At the end of the season he agreed a deal to join reigning Premier League champions

. He made a total of 81 appearances for Metalurh's first team, scoring 1 goal.

Shakhtar Donetsk

2010–11

On 11 May 2010 the

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

signed a five-year deal with

for an undisclosed, leaving

with

Serhiy Kryvtsov Serhiy Andriyovych Kryvtsov ( uk, Сергій Андрійович Кривцов; born 15 March 1991) is a Ukrainian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Major League Soccer club Inter Miami and the Ukraine national team. ...

who also joined Shakhtar in a five-year deal. He made his debut for the club in a 7–1

Super Cup A super cup is a competition, usually but not exclusively in association football, which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competitions during the prev ...

victory over

Tavriya Simferopol Sports Club Tavriya ( uk, Спортивний клуб "Таврія") was a Ukrainian football club from Simferopol. Tavriya was a member of the Ukrainian Premier League from its founding and won the first Ukrainian Premier League making them ...

, coming on as a substitute. This was his first trophy with the club. He scored his first goal for the club on 23 November 2010 in a 3–0 Champions League

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concent ...

victory over

Partizan Belgrade Jugoslovensko sportsko društvo Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Југословенско спортско друштво Партизан, lit=Yugoslav Sports Society Partizan), commonly abbreviated as JSD Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, ЈСД Партизан, link ...

. He made 20 appearances for Shakhtar in his first

, including 15 league appearances, scoring 1 goal. He helped Shakhtar to a treble, winning the

and the

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 solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...

2011–12

In his second

with the club he made 12 appearances, 9 in the league and 3 in the cup. He came on in the 109th minute of Shakhtar's 2–1 extra time victory over

Metalurh Donetsk Football Club Metalurh Donetsk ( uk, Футбо́льний клуб «Металу́рг» Доне́цьк, ) was a Ukrainian professional football club based in Donetsk that went bankrupt in July 2015. History Club predecessor Football ...

in the

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� ...

Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

. Shakhtar also secured another

title.

2012–13

He played the full 90 minutes of Shakhtar's 2–0

victory over

, picking up a yellow card in the 60th minute. On 6 August 2012, he assisted

Henrikh Mkhitaryan Henrikh Mkhitaryan ( hy, Հենրիխ Մխիթարյան, ; born 21 January 1989) is an Armenian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for club Inter Milan. Mkhitaryan won four Armenian Premier League titles wi ...

for the second goal in a 4–0

victory over

Volyn Lutsk Volhynia (also spelled Volynia) ( ; uk, Воли́нь, Volyn' pl, Wołyń, russian: Волы́нь, Volýnʹ, ), is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between south-eastern Poland, south-western Belarus, and western Ukraine. Th ...

. He assisted

Oleksandr Kucher Oleksandr Mykolayovych Kucher ( uk, Олександр Миколайович Кучер; born 22 October 1982) is a Ukrainian former professional footballer and current manager of Ukrainian club Dnipro-1. He was a powerful defender who was g ...

for the first goal in a 3–1 victory over

FC Dynamo Kyiv Football Club Dynamo Kyiv (, ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society, the club as a separate business entity was offici ...

on 2 September. On 28 September he picked up a red card in the 89th minute after receiving a second yellow card in a match against

Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Football Club Dnipro ( uk, Футбо́льний Клуб «Дніпро́», ) was a Ukrainian football club based in Dnipro. The club was owned by the Privat Group that also owns BC Dnipro and Budivelnyk Kyiv. In 2018 FC Dnipro was forced in ...

, however it did not affect Shakhtar as they won the match 2–1. On 19 October he assisted

Dmytro Chyhrynskyi Dmytro Anatoliiovych Chyhrynskyi ( uk, Дмитро Анатолійович Чигринський; born 7 November 1986) is a Ukrainian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Super League Greece club Ionikos. He spent most ...

for the winning goal in a 2–1 victory against

Illichivets Mariupol Football Club Mariupol ( uk, Футбольний клуб "Маріуполь" ) was a Ukrainian professional football club based in Mariupol, that competed in the Ukrainian Premier League. The club ceased to exist as a result of the Siege of ...

Rivalry with Yarmolenko

In a match in October 2015

Andriy Yarmolenko Andriy Mykolayovych Yarmolenko ( uk, Андрій Миколайович Ярмоленко; born 23 October 1989) is a Ukrainian professional footballer who plays as a winger or forward for Emirati UAE Pro League club Al Ain and captains the ...

committed a dangerous challenge which almost broke Stepanenko's leg. The two made up after the game and exchanged jerseys, but afterwards Yarmolenko threw Stepanenko's shirt on the ground while he thanked the Dynamo Kyiv fans. In the Shakhtar-Dynamo derby in April 2016 after the former won 3–0 Stepanenko went in front of the Dynamo fans kissing his badge. In a brawl that escalated Yarmolenko kicked and beat Stepanenko to the ground. After the brawl, three red cards were shown; a straight red card to Yarmolenko and

, and a second yellow to Stepanenko.

2023–24

On 26 September 2023, Stepanenko made his 400th appearance for Shakhtar Donetsk in their

Round of 16 game against Veres Rivne.

International career

He was the captain of

Ukraine national under-21 football team The Ukraine national under-21 football team is also known as Youth ootballteam of Ukraine ( uk, Молодіжна збірна України) is one of junior national football teams of Ukraine for participation in under-21 international compet ...

. He has appeared for Ukraine's under-19 team four times, the under-21 team on 22 occasions, scoring one goal, and the senior team five times. On 17 November 2010, he made his debut for the senior side in the 2:2 draw with

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

, coming on as a 65th-minute substitute for

Taras Mykhalyk Taras Volodymyrovych Mykhalyk ( uk, Тарас Володимирович Михалик; born 28 October 1983) is a Ukrainian amateur footballer who plays as a centre-back for Votrans Lutsk. He is a versatile player, having professionally playe ...

. His first start came on 8 February 2011 in a 2–2 draw against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. He made another appearance the following day in a 1–1 draw with

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. He played in a 2–0 defeat to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

on 29 March 2011. On 15 August 2012, he came on as a 72nd-minute substitute for

teammate

Marko Dević Marko Dević ( sr-Cyrl, Марко Девић; ukr, Марко Девiч, Marko Devich; born 27 October 1983) is a retired football player. A naturalized Ukrainian citizen since 2008, Serbian-born Dević made his international debut for his a ...

in a 0–0 draw with

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. On 26 March 2013, Stepanenko received red card for high kick on Vitaliy Bordiyan in a World Cup qualification match against Moldova. Stepanenko was included in Ukraine's squad for the

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 ...

, making three appearances as Ukraine finished bottom of the group with no points.

Personal life

Taras Stepanenko spoke against the

tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several Process of tatt ...

culture among football players and cited his

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

beliefs as the reason. He is also an avid reader, his favourite genre being biographies of great men.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Ukraine's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Stepanenko goal''.

Honours

Shakhtar Donetsk *

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'') ...

(10): 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2021–22,

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

(7): 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19 *

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 ...

(7):

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

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 ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

References

External links

* *
Ukrainian Premier League statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stepanenko, Taras 1989 births Living people Footballers from Donetsk Oblast Ukrainian men's footballers Ukraine men's under-21 international footballers Ukraine men's youth international footballers Ukraine men's international footballers Ukrainian Premier League players Ukrainian Second League players FC Metalurh Zaporizhzhia players FC Metalurh-2 Zaporizhzhia players FC Shakhtar Donetsk players Ukrainian Christians Men's association football midfielders UEFA Euro 2016 players UEFA Euro 2020 players