Taras Stepanenko

Stepanenko Taras Nikolaevich: Ukrainian footballer and midfielder of Shakhtar Donetsk

Stepanenko Taras Mykolayovych is the vice-captain of Shakhtar, an eight-time champion of Ukraine. Ukrainian national team player.

Taras Nikolaevich Stepanenko was born on August 8, 1989 in the village of Velyka Novosyolka, Donetsk region.

Stepanenko played football from a young age. He was a pupil of the club "Torpedo" from Zaporozhye.

Taras also received a higher education. He graduated from the Department of Economics and Tourism of the Zaporozhye National Technical University.

Taras has been married to Margarita Stepanenko since 2013. In marriage, the spouses had three sons: Yaroslav, Svyatoslav and Miron.

Stepanenko plays as a defensive midfielder. The first professional club in Taras's career was Metallurg Zaporozhye. Here he played for youth teams, and at the age of seventeen he joined the adult team. In March 2007, the midfielder made his debut in the main team of Zaporozhye.

In the first season, the young defensive midfielder played 12 matches. Taras scored his first and only goal for Metallurg in July 2007. In the 2007/2008 season, he already played 23 games, and in 2008/2009 Stepanenko became the main player of the Cossacks, having played 29 games.

In 2010, Taras became interested in the grand Ukrainian football - Shakhtar Donetsk. After the end of the 2009/2010 season, the midfielder joined the Pitmen, signing a five-year contract. As part of the Zaporozhye club, Stepanenko played more than eighty games in four years.

Already in the first match for Shakhtar, Taras won his first trophy - the Super Cup. Then the miners left no stone unturned from Tavriya from Simferopol - 7:1 In the Champions League match against Partizan Belgrade in November 2010, Stepanenko scored the first goal in a black and orange T-shirt. In his debut season, the opornik won two more titles - the champion of Ukraine and the owner of the Ukrainian Cup.

Gradually, Taras became an indispensable player in Shakhtar's central zone. He finally established himself at the base in the 2014/15 season, having played 22 matches in the Ukrainian championship.

In 2015 and 2017, the midfielder extended his contracts with the Donetsk club twice. In the winter of 2016, the English club Everton became interested in the Ukrainian footballer. However, Stepanenko decided to stay at home.

Since 2010, as part of the miners, Stepanenko has become the champion of Ukraine eight times, won seven Cup titles and six national Super Cups. For 11 years, the opornik has played 335 matches and upset opposing goalkeepers 24 times. Since 2020, Taras has been the vice-captain of Shakhtar.

According to transfermarkt , the midfielder's transfer fee is estimated (as of May 2021) at 7.5 million euros. The player's highest market value of €10 million was recorded in August 2018.

Taras played four matches for the U-19 team and 28 for the U-21 team. In 2010, the opornik put on a national team jersey for the first time. In November, he came on as a substitute in a friendly against Switzerland. For the first time, he appeared at the base on February 8, 2011 with Romania, making up a pair of central midfielders with Anatoly Tymoshchuk.

For eleven years, Taras played in 60 meetings. Opornik will score three goals against Nigeria, Cyprus and Albania. He scored all the goals in friendly matches. In the game with Bahrain in May 2021, Stepanenko became the captain of the national team.

Matches between the two leaders of Ukrainian football - Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk - are always the heat of passion. Often, meetings of irreconcilable rivals ended in brawls and even fights.

So, in the fall of 2015, in one of the game moments, the striker from Kiev, Andriy Yarmolenko, severely fouled against Stepanenko. Then Taras was very lucky that the collision did not end with a broken leg. After the match, the rivals nevertheless reconciled and even exchanged T-shirts. But Yarmolenko threw Stepanenko's T-shirt on the field .

Six months later, Dynamo and Shakhtar met again in the Ukrainian league. The match ended in a crushing victory for the miners - 3:0. After the third goal was scored, Stepanenko ran up to the podium where the Dynamo fans were sitting and kissed the Shakhtar emblem.

This provoked a conflict between the players of the two teams. At some point, Yarmolenko hooked Stepanenko and knocked him down. After the fight was stopped, both players were sent off the field.

Yarmolenko admitted that he had done wrong by hitting Stepanenko. Forward Kiev promised that when they are at the disposal of the national team, he will shake hands with the miner. Taras himself said that there was no provocation in his actions, and friendship with Andrey was over. Later, according to Stepanenko, they nevertheless reconciled.

After the scandalous match, the goalkeeper of Kyiv "Dynamo" Alexander Shovkovsky also spoke sharply. He advised Stepanenko, who lived in Kyiv, to think about his safety. According to Shovkovsky, the capital's fans will not forgive him for such a provocation. After these words of the goalkeeper, the Shakhtar management had to hire Taras and his family of security guards.

Taras Mykolaiovych Stepanenko (born 8 August 1989) is a Ukrainian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for FC Shakhtar Donetsk and the Ukraine national team. He started his career at Metalurh Zaporizhzhia, making his debut in 2007, before joining Shakhtar in 2010.

Taras Nikolaevich Stepanenko was born on August 8, 1989 in the village of Velyka Novosyolka, Donetsk region.

Stepanenko played football from a young age. He was a pupil of the club "Torpedo" from Zaporozhye.

Taras also received a higher education. He graduated from the Department of Economics and Tourism of the Zaporozhye National Technical University.

Taras has been married to Margarita Stepanenko since 2013. In marriage, the spouses had three sons: Yaroslav, Svyatoslav and Miron.

Stepanenko plays as a defensive midfielder. The first professional club in Taras's career was Metallurg Zaporozhye. Here he played for youth teams, and at the age of seventeen he joined the adult team. In March 2007, the midfielder made his debut in the main team of Zaporozhye.

In the first season, the young defensive midfielder played 12 matches. Taras scored his first and only goal for Metallurg in July 2007. In the 2007/2008 season, he already played 23 games, and in 2008/2009 Stepanenko became the main player of the Cossacks, having played 29 games.

In 2010, Taras became interested in the grand Ukrainian football - Shakhtar Donetsk. After the end of the 2009/2010 season, the midfielder joined the Pitmen, signing a five-year contract. As part of the Zaporozhye club, Stepanenko played more than eighty games in four years.

Already in the first match for Shakhtar, Taras won his first trophy - the Super Cup. Then the miners left no stone unturned from Tavriya from Simferopol - 7:1 In the Champions League match against Partizan Belgrade in November 2010, Stepanenko scored the first goal in a black and orange T-shirt. In his debut season, the opornik won two more titles - the champion of Ukraine and the owner of the Ukrainian Cup.

Gradually, Taras became an indispensable player in Shakhtar's central zone. He finally established himself at the base in the 2014/15 season, having played 22 matches in the Ukrainian championship.

In 2015 and 2017, the midfielder extended his contracts with the Donetsk club twice. In the winter of 2016, the English club Everton became interested in the Ukrainian football player. However, Stepanenko decided to stay at home.

In the 13th round of the Ukrainian Championship of the 2015/2106 season, the midfielder played one of the best matches in his career. In the meeting with Zorya Lugansk, Taras scored two goals, one of which he scored with an overhead kick at the very end of the meeting. As a result of the tour, the midfielder became the best player in the championship. In the same season, Taras led the Pitmen to the field with the captain's armband for the first time and played his 100th match for Shakhtar.

Since 2010, as part of the miners, Stepanenko has become the champion of Ukraine eight times, won seven Cup titles and six national Super Cups. For 11 years, the opornik has played 335 matches and upset opposing goalkeepers 24 times. Since 2020, Taras has been the vice-captain of Shakhtar.

According to transfermarkt , the midfielder's transfer fee is estimated (as of May 2021) at 7.5 million euros. The player's highest market value of €10 million was recorded in August 2018.

Taras played four matches for the U-19 team and 28 for the U-21 team. In 2010, the opornik put on a national team jersey for the first time. In November, he came on as a substitute in a friendly against Switzerland. For the first time, he appeared at the base on February 8, 2011 with Romania, making up a pair of central midfielders with Anatoly Tymoshchuk.

.Team career

Taras played four matches for the U-19 team and 28 for the U-21 team. In 2010, the opornik put on a national team jersey for the first time. In November, he came on as a substitute in a friendly against Switzerland. For the first time, he appeared at the base on February 8, 2011 with Romania, making up a pair of central midfielders with Anatoly Tymoshchuk.

For eleven years, Taras played in 60 meetings. Opornik will score three goals against Nigeria, Cyprus and Albania. He scored all the goals in friendly matches. In the game with Bahrain in May 2021, Stepanenko became the captain of the national team.

Matches between the two leaders of Ukrainian football - Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk - are always the heat of passion. Often, meetings of irreconcilable rivals ended in brawls and even fights.

So, in the fall of 2015, in one of the game moments, the striker from Kiev, Andriy Yarmolenko, severely fouled against Stepanenko. Then Taras was very lucky that the collision did not end with a broken leg. After the match, the rivals nevertheless reconciled and even exchanged T-shirts. But Yarmolenko threw Stepanenko's T-shirt on the field .

Six months later, Dynamo and Shakhtar met again in the Ukrainian league. The match ended in a crushing victory for the miners - 3:0. After the third goal was scored, Stepanenko ran up to the podium where the Dynamo fans were sitting and kissed the Shakhtar emblem. This provoked a conflict between the players of the two teams. At some point, Yarmolenko hooked Stepanenko and knocked him down. After the fight was stopped, both players were sent off the field.

Yarmolenko admitted that he had done wrong by hitting Stepanenko. The Kiev forward promised that when they were at the disposal of the national team, he would shake hands with the miner. Taras himself said that there was no provocation in his actions, and friendship with Andrey was over. Later, according to Stepanenko, they nevertheless reconciled.

After the scandalous match, the goalkeeper of Kyiv "Dynamo" Alexander Shovkovsky also spoke sharply. He advised Stepanenko, who lived in Kyiv, to think about his safety. According to Shovkovsky, the capital's fans will not forgive him for such a provocation. After these words of the goalkeeper, the Shakhtar management had to hire Taras and his family of security guards.

According to media reports, Taras' annual salary at Shakhtar is 1.2 million euros. He gets 100,000 a month. Stepanenko lives in a residential building in the village of Lesniki, Kyiv region.

Taras Mykolaiovych Stepanenko (born 8 August 1989) is a Ukrainian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for FC Shakhtar Donetsk and the Ukraine national team. He started his career at Metalurh Zaporizhzhia, making his debut in 2007, before joining Shakhtar in 2010.