Anatoliy Tymoshchuk

Tymoshchuk playing for Shakhtar Donetsk.

Tymoshchuk started his career playing for his hometown club Volyn Lutsk, having risen through the ranks at the team. Following two successful seasons, the player began to attract attention from bigger clubs.

In 1997, at age 18, Tymoshchuk's contract was purchased from Volyn by Shakhtar Donetsk. At Shakhtar, he was a key member of the team which won three Ukrainian Premier League titles, three Ukrainian Cups and a Ukrainian Super Cup. His time with Shakhtar is credited with establishing him as a great midfielder in Europe.[8]

In 2006, having captained Shakhtar for a number of years, Tymoshchuk became linked with a string of European clubs, including Juventus, Feyenoord, Celtic and Roma.[9]

Tymoshchuk playing for Zenit against Luch-Energiya in 2008.

On 27 February 2007, Tymoshchuk transferred to Zenit Saint Petersburg for a reported €15 million fee.[10] He was soon named as the new captain of the team.[11] Zenit manager Dick Advocaat was very impressed with him, saying, "About Tymoshchuk I can say only good things, and not only the player but also the person. Tymoshchuk – is a professional from head to toes. I never had complaints to him about discipline. While Tymoshchuk and I are at the club, he will be the captain of Zenit."[12]

His first season at the club ended in success, with Zenit winning the Russian Premier League title for the first time in club history and the club's first league title since its 1984 Soviet Top League triumph.[13] At the end of the season, Tymoshchuk was included in the annual list of the best 33 players of the Premier League,[14] and was also voted as league player of the year by popular sports magazine Sport-Express.[15]

After Zenit won the championship, astronaut Yuri Malenchenko—known as a fan of the team—waved Zenit shirt with Tymoshchuk's name on it while in space. In so doing, Zenit became the first team to have its uniform shown in space.[16]

During the 2007–08 European season, Tymoshchuk captained Zenit to the UEFA Cup title, in which they defeated Scottish Premier League club Rangers 2–0 in the final.[17] The club then went on to claim the 2008 UEFA Super Cup in a 2–1 victory over Manchester United.[18]

Tymoshchuk in Bayern Munich colours, 2011

In February 2009, Bayern Munich general manager Uli Hoeneß announced Tymoshchuk had agreed to join Bayern.[19] Initially, Zenit announced no agreement had yet been reached between the two clubs. However, on 18 February, Bayern announced Tymoshchuk would join the club in July 2009 in order to allow Tymoshchuk to play for Zenit until the summer.[20] He played his last match with Zenit on 14 June 2009.

Tymoshchuk officially joined Bayern on 1 July 2009 with a contract set to expire 30 June 2012.[21] The transfer fee was undisclosed, but German media reports estimated the deal at €14 million.[22]

Tymoshchuk played his first match for Bayern against Milan in the 2009 Audi Cup, coming on as a second-half substitute. He also started in the final against Manchester United, where he was substituted off in the 77th minute; Bayern won the match 7–6 on penalties.[23] He scored his first goal for Bayern against Juventus in the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League. On 8 May 2010, Tymoshchuk won his first trophy with Bayern, the 2009–10 Bundesliga, followed one week later by the 2009–10 DFB-Pokal title.[24] In total, Tymoshchuk made 21 Bundesliga appearances in the 2009–10 season, ten as a substitute, but failed to start a match in the whole of the second half of the season.[25]

In late July 2010, Bayern manager Louis van Gaal described Tymoshchuk's prospects as "not very bright", adding, "If a player doesn't play or doesn't have bright prospects then I would leave if I were them."[26] Nevertheless, from October 2010 until March 2011, Tymoshchuk started all of Bayern's matches.[27][28]

In 2011, new Bayern manager Jupp Heynckes said Tymoshchuk would play more under him.[29] Tymoshchuk was given a chance to start in matches at the time the team was plagued with injuries, filling in at central defence.[30][31] He started in central defence alongside Jérôme Boateng in the Champions League final in Munich, which Bayern lost to Chelsea on penalties. Before the final, Heynckes said, "Tymoshchuk is a great team player. He's really important for us, and in situation, when three players are disqualified, his experience and ability to play in different positions is really useful for us."[32] Because Tymoshchuk played a bigger role under Heynckes than under Van Gaal, he became an important part of the team. Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer said of Tymoshchuk, "For me the main job – not to let goals in. As a result, I love partners who have the same job. Anatoliy – is quite an aggressive footballer, but it's a smart aggression. He knows perfectly, when to choose the right position, to stop the attack of the opponent, and when to use such a move, like taking the ball harshly. No doubt, Tymoshchuk is doing a great job at Bayern!"[33]

Tymoshchuk during his second spell at Zenit, 2013

After winning the 2012–13 Champions League with Bayern, Tymoshchuk returned to Zenit,[34] despite receiving offers from different clubs around Europe.[35] Russian media claim Tymoshchuk was signed by Zenit not only because of his skills as player, but for his ability to integrate the Russians and the foreigners in the team and stop the rumoured conflicts among groups in the squad.[36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43] Tymoshchuk himself said the return to Zenit was the last transfer in his career, indicating he would finish his playing career with the club.[44]

In 2014, Zenit lost 4–2 to Borussia Dortmund, with Dortmund scoring twice in the first five minutes of the match. Tymoshchuk has said there was a chance for his team to score when the scoreline was 3–2, but they never did.[45]

On 6 July 2015, Tymoshchuk signed an 18-month contract with Kazakhstan Premier League side Kairat.[46] He captained the team in his league debut.[47] He helped the team to its 2015 Kazakhstan Cup title. Tymoshchuk left Kairat upon the completion of his contract in November 2016.[48] Without officially announcing his retirement, he began studying for his PRO coaching license.[49]

On 11 March 2022, the Ukrainian Association of Football (UAF) stripped Tymoshchuk of his (Ukrainian) coaching licence and titles because of his role at Zenit St Petersburg and for not speaking against Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.[2][66] The UAF stated that his "conscious choice" to continue at Zenit "damages the image of Ukrainian football".[2] Reports also surfaced suggesting he might be a Russian spy. A Polish sport commentator described his case as that of "a collaborator, erased from Ukrainian sport history".[67]

When criticising Tymoshchuk, Russian sports journalist Vasily Utkin said that "[Tymoshchuk] cares only and exclusively about money," and claimed that whilst a player for Zenit, he asked the club for large numbers of tickets with the purpose of reselling them.[68] However, that story was quickly disproved by others. Former Zenit player Vladislav Radimov called it "complete nonsense" and provided a story how Tymoshchuk at one point gave him two tickets to a game, but refused to take money from him for those tickets.[69] Russian sports journalist Alexey Andronov also spoke out in defence of Tymoshchuk, and said how at one point Tymoshchuk gave him and another journalist tickets to a game, but did not take any money from them for those tickets. He also pointed out how players requesting tickets from their club for friends is a normal practice in Russia, but unheard of in other European leagues.[70]

As of match played 19 November 2016[71]

Tymoshchuk playing against AEL Limassol in the UEFA Champions League during his second spell with Zenit.

As of 21 June 2016[72]

Tymoshchuk and Andriy Shevchenko being honored by UEFA in 2011 for their 100th cap. They are the first and second, respectively, most capped players in the history of Ukraine.

As of match played 21 June 2016. Ukraine score listed first, score column indicates score after each Tymoshchuk goal.[72]

International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	17 April 2002	Lobanovsky Dynamo Stadium, Kyiv, Ukraine	19	Georgia	2–1	2–1	Friendly
2	8 October 2010	Lobanovsky Dynamo Stadium, Kyiv, Ukraine	99	Canada	2–2	2–2	Friendly
3	1 June 2011	Lobanovsky Dynamo Stadium, Kyiv, Ukraine	105	Uzbekistan	1–0	2–0	Friendly
4	6 June 2011	Donbass Arena, Donetsk, Ukraine	106	France	1–0	1–4	Friendly