Roman Zozulya

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For the gymnast, see Roman Zozulya (gymnast).
In this Eastern Slavic naming convention, the patronymic is Vyacheslavovych and the family name is Zozulya.

Roman Zozulya
Roman Zozulya2016.jpg
Zozulya with Dnipro in 2016
Personal information
Full name Roman Vyacheslavovych Zozulya
Date of birth (1989-11-17) 17 November 1989 (age 32)
Place of birth Kyiv, Soviet Union
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Striker
Club information
Current team
 Fuenlabrada
Youth career
2002–2006 Dynamo Kyiv
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2011 Dynamo Kyiv 35 (3)
2011–2016 Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 85 (22)
2016–2017 Betis 6 (0)
2017 → Rayo Vallecano (loan) 0 (0)
2017–2021 Albacete 142 (26)
2021– Fuenlabrada 14 (1)
National team‡
2005–2006 Ukraine U17 14 (2)
2007–2008 Ukraine U19 15 (4)
2008–2011 Ukraine U21 22 (1)
2010– Ukraine 33 (4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 6 November 2021
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17 June 2019

Roman Vyacheslavovych Zozulya (Ukrainian: Роман В'ячеславович Зозуля, born 17 November 1989) is a Ukrainian footballer who plays as a striker for Spanish club CF Fuenlabrada and the Ukrainian national team.

Club career[]

Dynamo Kyiv[]

Born in Kyiv, 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 Dnipropetrovsk[]

On 27 February 2014, in a Europa League match against Tottenham Zozulya was sent off after he directed a head-butt towards Jan Vertonghen.[1] Zozulya was sent off and had to be restrained from attacking Vertonghen, who was accused of faking the degree of contact.[2] Tottenham went on to win the game 3–1, knocking Dnipro out of the Europa League.[3]

Betis[]

On 27 July 2016, Zozulya signed a three-year contract with La Liga side Real Betis.[4]

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 was misinterpreted as featuring the logo of the Right Sector. 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.[5][6] On 1 February 2017, Zozulya had his contract cancelled due to the reactions of Rayo fans and returned to Betis.[7] This meant that he could not play anymore in the 2016–17 season because the Royal Spanish Football Federation rules say players cannot register for more than two teams in one campaign.[7]

Albacete[]

On 8 September 2017, free agent Zozulya signed a one-year contract with Albacete Balompié.[8] On 25 March 2019, Zozulya endured more harassment during an Albacete away game against Lugo, when the fans of the latter club sang chants aimed at Zozulya, explicitly wishing him death for supposedly supporting the Nazi political movement.[9] As a result of the incident, the fans of Albacete requested that La Liga seriously punish Lugo. Zozulya received the best player award for the month of October 2019, based on the fans' votes.[10] 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.[11] The second half of the game was scheduled to be played the following June, following the resumption of football after the coronavirus pandemic.[12]

Fuenlabrada[]

On 31 July 2021, after Alba's relegation, Zozulya signed a two-year contract with fellow second division side CF Fuenlabrada.[13]

International career[]

Roman debuted for Ukraine on 2 June 2010 against Norway at Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo. He scored a goal after Yevhen Konoplyanka fired a long shot at Jon Knudsen, who fumbled with the ball and let Roman kick the ball into the net. He was substituted in the 81st minute.[14][15] He was member of the Ukrainian 23-man squad for Euro 2016.[16]

Outside of football[]

Civil involvement[]

Graffiti praising Zozulya at Dnipro's training ground

Zozulya is the founder of the (People's Army) organisation which is a part of the civil volunteer movement helping Ukrainian forces in the war in Donbass. In particular Zozulya's organisation is providing food, clothing and technical equipment to Ukrainian Army and helps families of the military.[17][18] In 2016, he received a special commendation from the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine for his support to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Together with Ruslan Rotan Zozulya is also the co-founder and sponsor of the Rotan and Zozulya Academy of Football in Dnipro.

Accusations of Nazi sympathies[]

In December 2019, a match between the Spanish teams Rayo Vallecano and Albacete (Roman Zozulya's former and current clubs) was suspended,[19] when the former club's fans loudly accused the player of being a sympathizer of Nazi ideology, due to his known support of the Azov Battalion[20] as well as other images he had posted on his Twitter account, which contained references to Nazi symbolism or organizations claimed to support Nazism.[21][22]

Personal life[]

His sister Olena is married with another Ukrainian football player Kyrylo Kovalets.[23]

Career statistics[]

Club[]

As of 26 February 2021
Club Season League Cup Europe Super Cup Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Dynamo Kyiv 2007–08 Ukrainian Premier League 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
2008–09 11 1 3 0 1 0 0 0 15 1
2009–10 11 2 1 1 0 0 1 0 13 3
2010–11 12 0 3 1 8 1 0 0 23 2
Total 35 3 7 2 9 1 1 0 52 6
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 2011–12 Ukrainian Premier League 15 3 2 1 1 0 0 0 18 4
2012–13 23 8 2 0 9 3 0 0 34 11
2013–14 24 7 1 0 10 4 0 0 35 11
2014–15 13 1 2 0 9 1 0 0 24 2
2015–16 10 3 4 2 1 0 0 0 15 5
Total 85 22 11 3 30 8 0 0 126 33
Betis 2016–17 La Liga 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0
Albacete 2017–18 Segunda División 30 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 30 9
2018–19 37 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 37 11
2019–20 38 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 38 4
2020–21 24 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 24 2
Total 135 26 0 0 0 0 0 0 135 26
Career total 255 51 18 5 39 9 1 0 313 65

International[]

As of 14 June 2019[24]
Ukraine
Year Apps Goals
2010 1 1
2011 0 0
2012 4 0
2013 9 2
2014 7 0
2015 1 0
2016 11 1
Total 33 4

International goals[]

Source:[24]

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 2 June 2010 Ullevaal Stadium, Oslo, Norway  Norway 0–1 0–1 Friendly
2. 22 March 2013 National Stadium, Warsaw, Poland  Poland 1–3 1–3 WC 2014 Qual
3. 15 November 2013 Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex, Kyiv, Ukraine  France 1–0 2–0 WC 2014 Qual
4. 29 May 2016 Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino, Turin, Italy  Romania 1–1 3–4 Friendly

Honors[]

Dynamo Kyiv

FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk

Orders[]

Відзнака Президента України «За гуманітарну участь в антитерористичній операції» (грамота).jpeg
  •  Ukraine: Decoration of the President of Ukraine for Humanitarian Participation in the Anti-Terrorist Operation[25]
  •  Ukraine: Honorary badge of the Chief of General Staff for Services to the Armed Forces of Ukraine

References[]

  1. ^ Mike Dyce. "Europa League: Roman Zozulya gets straight red for head butting Tottenham player, chaos ensues (GIF)". fanside.com. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  2. ^ "Jan Vertonghen Defends Himself Over Accusations of Simulation for Roman Zozulya Red Card. In May 2015 Zozulya and Dnipro went on to the final of the Europa League, but his team lost, 3-2". insidefutbol.com. 1 March 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  3. ^ "UEFA Europa League: Tottenham 3 Dnipro 1". FourFourTwo. 27 February 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  4. ^ "Real Betis signs Roman Zozulya". Real Betis. 27 July 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  5. ^ "Zozulya: Rayo sign forward following ideology controversy". AS English. 1 February 2017. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  6. ^ Ukrainians cry foul over accusations of neo-Nazi links against striker Zozulia, UNIAN (1 February 2017)
  7. ^ a b Roman Zozulya: Player's Rayo Vallecano loan spell ends as fans call him Nazi, BBC News (1 February 2017)
  8. ^ "Roman Zozulya, nuevo jugador del Alba" [Roman Zozulya, new player of Alba] (in Spanish). Albacete Balompié. 8 September 2017. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
  9. ^ Zozulya helped Albacete to sack Lugo, fans of which shocked by songs which death to the Ukrainian (Зозуля допоміг Альбасете розгромити Луго – фанати шокували піснями з побажанням смерті українцю). Football24.ua. 23 March 2019
  10. ^ "Zozulia, Jugador Cinco Estrellas de octubre | Albacete Balompié". Zozulia, Jugador Cinco Estrellas de octubre | Albacete Balompié (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  11. ^ "Rayo-Albacete game suspended after nazi insults to Zozulia". AS.com. 15 December 2019.
  12. ^ "Spanish football to resume a day early with second half of abandoned match". BBC Sport. 3 June 2020. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  13. ^ "El CF Fuenlabrada ficha a Roman Zozulya" [CF Fuenlabrada sign Roman Zozulya] (in Spanish). CF Fuenlabrada. 31 July 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  14. ^ "Бог любить трійцю" [God loves Trinity]. ffu.org (in Ukrainian). Football Federation of Ukraine. 2 June 2010. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  15. ^ "Zozulia nets winner on Ukraine debut". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 2 June 2010. Archived from the original on 21 June 2010.
  16. ^ "UEFA Euro 2016 - Teams - Ukraine". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Archived from the original on 1 June 2016.
  17. ^ Юрий Сай (29 April 2015). Роман Зозуля презентовал фонд "Народная армия", который будет помогать нашим воинам (in Russian). fakty.ua. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  18. ^ Роман Зозуля совместно с волонтерами Днепропетровска основали фонд "Народная Армия" (in Russian). dneprpost.com.ua. 28 April 2015. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  19. ^ "Rayo Vallecano v Albacete abandoned as fans call Roman Zozulya a Nazi". BBC Sport. 15 December 2019.
  20. ^ @zozulyaroman18 (23 February 2015). (Tweet) https://twitter.com/zozulyaroman18/status/569983512012562433 – via Twitter. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  21. ^ "Did ESPN Let A Nazi Soccer Player Off The Hook?". vocativ.com. Vocativ. 23 March 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  22. ^ "¿Por qué llaman "nazi" a Roman Zozulia?". lavozdegalicia.es (in Spanish). La Voz de Galicia. 16 December 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  23. ^ Кирило Ковалець: Коли знайшов майбутню дружину ВКонтакте, не знав, що вона сестра Романа Зозулі (in Ukrainian). ua-football.com. 5 April 2021.
  24. ^ a b "Zozulya, Roman". National Football Teams. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  25. ^ ""Це не моя заслуга": український футболіст удостоївся високої нагороди за допомогу бійцям АТО". styler.rbc. Styler. 26 October 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2021.

External links[]

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