Andriy Voronin

Andriy Viktorovych Voronin (Ukrainian: Андрій Вікторович Воронін; born 21 July 1979) is a Ukrainian professional football manager and a former player.

Andriy Voronin
Voronin in 2019
Personal information
Full name Andriy Viktorovych Voronin
Date of birth (1979-07-21) 21 July 1979
Place of birth Odessa, Ukrainian SSR, USSR
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position(s) Striker, attacking midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Ukraine (observer)
Youth career
0000–1995 Chornomorets Odessa
1995–1997 Borussia Mönchengladbach
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997–2000 Borussia Mönchengladbach 9 (1)
2000–2003 Mainz 05 75 (29)
2003–2004 1. FC Köln 19 (4)
2004–2007 Bayer Leverkusen 92 (32)
2007–2010 Liverpool 27 (5)
2008–2009 → Hertha BSC (loan) 27 (11)
2010–2014 Dynamo Moscow 80 (22)
2012–2013 → Fortuna Düsseldorf (loan) 10 (0)
Total 339 (104)
National team
2002–2012 Ukraine 75 (8)
Teams managed
2017 FC Büderich
2017– Ukraine (observer)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only
This name uses Eastern Slavic naming customs; the patronymic is Viktorovych and the family name is Voronin.

Voronin spent five full seasons in the Bundesliga of Germany, and last played as a striker or attacking midfielder for Dynamo Moscow.

His previous professional clubs include Borussia Mönchengladbach, Mainz 05, 1. FC Köln, Bayer Leverkusen, Liverpool, Hertha BSC, and Dynamo Moscow. In the 2002–03 season, Voronin became top goalscorer in the 2. Bundesliga, which earnt him a transfer to the Bundesliga club 1. FC Köln.

At international level, Voronin played 74 matches for Ukraine from his debut in 2002. He was in their squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2012, after which he retired from international football.[1]

Early life and personal life

Voronin was born in Odessa on 21 July 1979, to a Ukrainian Jewish mother and a Russian father.[2][3] Both of his grandfathers fought against the Nazis in the Second World War. Voronin is married to his wife Yulia and they have three children together; Maria, Andriy Jr. and Sonja. He is a Ukrainian Orthodox Christian.[2]

Career

Borussia Mönchengladbach

Voronin left his youth club Chornomorets Odessa in 1995 to move to Germany, where he joined Borussia Mönchengladbach. He made his debut in the German Bundesliga against Bayern Munich in 1997 at the age of 18, but went on to spend a couple of years mainly in Mönchengladbach's youth teams. Having played just seven games and scored one goal in the top division,[4] he saw his team relegated and after one season and just two matches in the 2. Bundesliga joined fellow second division strugglers Mainz for a fee of €45,000.[5]

Mainz 05

Voronin became Mainz' leading striker in his two seasons at the club, and in his third season became the top scorer in the 2. Bundesliga with 20 goals.[6] Voronin's start to the 2002–03 season with Mainz prompted the following quote from German football daily kicker: "The star of the 23 year old forward is on a rise due to the new role he plays for the team – he has complete freedom of actions."[7] This led to speculations about his future, with Dynamo Kyiv reported to be willing to bring him back to Ukraine.[8]

VfB Stuttgart, Bologna and a number of other clubs were then reported to approach his agent and Mainz initiated negotiations to extend his contract. UEFA.com described Voronin as "one of the most sought-after talents in Germany."[5] However, come the end of the season Mainz failed to win promotion. Voronin decided not to renew his contract and ultimately chose to continue his career with 1. FC Köln, who had just been promoted to the top division.

1. FC Köln

Köln were relegated at the end of the season, however Voronin stayed in the top flight after signing for Bayer Leverkusen. Bayer had been interested in Voronin since his time at Mainz and were also impressed with his performance for Köln in a 2–2 draw against them when Voronin scored one and created the other of Köln's goals. After that game Express called him "the only true good footballer at Köln" and Bild wrote: "Köln's only striker (Voronin) was more dangerous than Bayer's entire star attack (Schneider, Ponte, Neuville and Berbatov)."[9]

Bayer Leverkusen

After a successful first two seasons with Bayer as well as at the international level (culminating in participation in the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany where Ukraine reached the quarterfinals), Voronin's contract was running out at the end of the 2006–07 season and he was reported to have declined Bayer's offer of an extension. According to the player, he was approached by clubs from France, Spain, Italy and Scotland (Celtic were reported to be contemplating a move).

Liverpool
Voronin in action for Dynamo Moscow in July 2010

On 26 February 2007, Liverpool announced that they had signed Voronin on a free transfer and that he would join the team during the summer.[10] Voronin was unveiled as a Liverpool player on 6 July 2007 after signing a four-year deal.[11]

Voronin made his Premier League debut on 11 August 2007, coming on as a substitute in the 78th minute against Aston Villa in a 2–1 victory. A few days later on 15 August 2007, he scored his first ever goal for Liverpool in the 1–0 1st leg Champions League qualifier against Toulouse.

Liverpool manager Rafa Benítez was clearly impressed with Voronin, saying:

"He is clever, has great game awareness and gives us so many more options in attack. He can play behind a main striker, lead the line himself, or come into the attack from the flanks."

On 25 August 2007, Voronin scored his first Premier League goal against Sunderland in the 87th minute. He then scored his next goal in the next league game against Derby County which Liverpool comfortably won 6–0 to move top of the Premier League table. He also scored the first goal in the 2–2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur on 7 October 2007. He carried on his scoring record against Tottenham Hotspur by scoring in a win over the north London club on the last day of the season.

On 25 January 2008, Voronin injured his ankle during training.[12] He underwent surgery and made a small number of appearances at the end of the season but failed to make an impact. This led to rumours that Benítez would sell him in order to raise funds for the summer 2008 transfer window, however Voronin played some of the summer friendlies scoring a total of 3 goals in the process.

He made his first start of the 2009–10 season in the Champions League group stage game against Lyon. He had a particularly poor day as he missed various opportunities to score including a one-on-one with Hugo Lloris. He was later substituted for Ryan Babel who scored Liverpool's goal.

Hertha BSC

On the last day of the transfer market Andriy Voronin agreed to be loaned to Hertha BSC for a season.[13]

He had two goals in a 2–1 victory over Bayern Munich on 14 February, to propel Hertha into first place in the Bundesliga. On 7 March he netted a hat-trick against Energie Cottbus. On 11 April 2009, following a retaliatory foul against Leon Andreasen of Hannover 96, he was sent off, receiving the 1000th red card in Bundesliga history.

Voronin was unable to secure a permanent move back to Germany during the summer of 2009, and as a result he returned to the Liverpool squad for the start of the 2009-10 season.

Dynamo Moscow

On 8 January 2010, it was announced that Liverpool had accepted a £4 million offer for him from Dynamo Moscow, Two days later, Voronin officially signed for FC Dynamo Moscow.[14]

Fortuna Düsseldorf

On 31 July 2012, Fortuna Düsseldorf announced to have signed Voronin for one year on loan from Dynamo Moscow.[15]

International career
Voronin playing for Ukraine at UEFA Euro 2012.

While at Mainz, Voronin was called up initially to Ukraine's Under-21 team and in January 2002 to the national team, at the age of 22. He made his international debut in a 4–1 friendly defeat to Romania in March 2002.[16] However, he was dropped after that match, with coach Leonid Buriak explaining, "I've been to Germany twice to watch him and made a conclusion that Andriy cannot compete with [Andriy] Shevchenko, [Serhiy] Rebrov, and [Andriy] Vorobei as a forward. He can play in midfield as well, but he still has to improve some aspects of his game. Anyway, we count on Voronin, especially considering his young age."[17]

Voronin was ultimately recalled to the national side, scoring his first international goal in a 2–0 Euro 2004 qualifying win over Greece in September 2002 and a second one in a 2–2 draw against Spain in March 2003.

He was in the Ukrainian squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, in which Ukraine got to the quarter-finals, beaten by the eventual winners, Italy.

played in the finals of Cyprus International Football Tournaments 2009, where Ukraine beat Serbia(1:0)[18]

Controversy

After a journalist addressed Voronin in Ukrainian after a defeat to Latvia, Voronin responded by saying "can you speak to me in Russian?" When the journalist said that Ukrainian is the state language, Voronin responded saying: "Why do I need your Ukrainian? I was born in Odessa and never heard Ukrainian there."[19]

During his time at Liverpool, Voronin heavily criticized the standard of lifestyle in England and the United Kingdom in general and in particular the city of Liverpool. Voronin took no prisoners in his rant which criticized the Scouse way of talking, the high crime rate in the city and attacked the country's health care. In April 2008, he stated in a Russian newspaper; "Compared with Germany, England is far behind in terms of comfort and culture. Five out of the seven houses near us are occupied by footballers. Steven Gerrard was burgled recently so a police patrol car comes into our area fairly often. We hear police sirens all the time. Leverkusen by contrast was so much quieter. The medical services here are poor. When I was in Germany, there were lots of good clinics and doctors. It's nothing like that here. when our child had a skin allergy, we waited hours for the doctor to see him. When we finally got to see a doctor, he said he didn't know how to treat children and to try rubbing in this ointment. That was it. I was stunned! As a result my wife had to go back to Odessa with him and took a full set of tests there. I study English twice a week with a teacher and I have made some progress in it. But English isn't the main problem. The main thing is to learn to understand the local players like Gerrard and Carragher. They speak with some peculiar local native accent and sometimes I have absolutely no clue what the guys are saying. Many foreign players have the same problem."[20]

Career statistics

Club
Source:[21]
Club Season League Cup Europe Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Borussia Mönchengladbach 1997–98 71100081
1998–99 00000000
1999–00 20000020
Total 911000101
Mainz 05 2000–01 1011000111
2001–02 3482100369
2002–03 312010003220
Total 752941007930
1. FC Köln 2003–04 1942200216
Total 1942200216
Bayer Leverkusen 2004–05 321540624217
2005–06 2973120348
2006–07 3110201024312
Total 92329118411937
Liverpool 2007–08 1952071286
2009–10 801030120
Total 27530101406
Hertha BSC 2008–09 271110503311
Total 271110503311
Dynamo Moscow 2010 2643000294
2011–12 371142004113
2013–14 1770000177
Total 802272008724
Fortuna Düsseldorf 2012–13 1001000110
Total 1001000110
Career total 339104286335400115

International
Source:[22]
Ukraine national team
YearAppsGoals
200241
200391
200460
200581
2006142
2007111
200850
200950
201030
201151
201251
Total758

International goals
Source:[22]
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.12 October 2002Kyiv, Ukraine Greece2–0WonEC 2004 Qual
2.28 March 2003Kyiv, Ukraine Spain2–2DrawEC 2004 Qual
3.30 March 2005Kyiv, Ukraine Denmark1–0WonWC 2006 Qual
4.8 June 2006Luxembourg, Luxembourg Luxembourg3–0WonFriendly
5.15 August 2006Kyiv, Ukraine Azerbaijan6–0WonFriendly
6.21 November 2007Kyiv, Ukraine France2–2DrawEC 2008 Qual
7.1 June 2011Kyiv, Ukraine Uzbekistan2–0WinFriendly
8.28 May 2012Kufstein, Austria Estonia4–0WinFriendly

Honours

Club

Dynamo Moscow

Individual

References
  1. Александр Шовковский: "Лечу вместе с командой в Париж" (Oleksandr Shovkovsky: I'm flying together with the team to Paris). ua-football.com. 13 September 2012.
  2. http://dynamo.kiev.ua/articles/30930.html
  3. http://football.sport.ua/news/94170
  4. Arnhold, Matthias (12 March 2015). "Andriy Viktorovych Voronin - Matches and Goals in Bundesliga". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  5. "Voronin on fast-track to fame". Article on uefa.com. 6 March 2003. Retrieved 8 July 2007.
  6. Matthias Arnhold, Frank Ballesteros and Manuel Schmidt (12 March 2015). "(West) Germany - Second Level Top Scorers". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  7. "Voronin shines". Report on ukrainiansoccer.net. 27 August 2002. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 8 July 2007.
  8. "Dynamo pressures Voronin?". Report on ukrainiansoccer.net. 25 August 2002. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 8 July 2007.
  9. "German press full of praise for Voronin". Report on ukrainiansoccer.net. 10 December 2003. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 8 July 2007.
  10. "Liverpool confirm Voronin signing". BBC Sport. 26 February 2007. Retrieved 8 July 2007.
  11. "Liverpool announce Voronin move". BBC Sport. 6 July 2007. Archived from the original on 17 July 2007. Retrieved 8 July 2007.
  12. "Voronin ruled out for six weeks". BBC Sport. 25 January 2008. Retrieved 20 October 2008.
  13. Voronin signs for Hertha Berlin
  14. "Voronin seals Dinamo Moscow move". BBC News. 10 January 2010. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
  15. "Andrey Voronin von Dynamo Moskau ausgeliehen". Homepage of Fortuna Düsseldof. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  16. Mamrud, Roberto (12 March 2015). "Andriy Viktorovych Voronin - International Appearances". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  17. "Leonid Buriak: "Georgia is always a strong opponent"". Interview on ukrainiansoccer.net. 15 April 2002. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 8 July 2007.
  18. http://www.rsssf.com/tablesc/cypr-intltourn09.html
  19. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  20. "Andriy Voronin bemoans life at Liverpool". www.telegraph.co.uk. 10 April 2008.
  21. "Andriy Voronin » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  22. "Andriy Voronin". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
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