Oleg Salenko

Oleg Anatolyevich Salenko (Russian: Олег Анатольевич Саленко, Ukrainian: Олег Анатолійович Саленко; born 25 October 1969) is a Russian-Ukrainian former footballer who played as a forward. He scored a record five goals in a group-stage match in the 1994 World Cup, helping him earn the Golden Boot as joint-top tournament goalscorer.[2]

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming conventions, the patronymic is Anatolyevich and the family name is Salenko.
Oleg Salenko
Salenko in 2014
Personal information
Full name Oleg Anatolyevich Salenko
Date of birth (1969-10-25) 25 October 1969
Place of birth Leningrad, Russian SFSR,
Soviet Union
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
Smena Leningrad
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1986–1988 Zenit 47 (10)
1989–1992 Dynamo Kyiv 91 (28)
1993–1994 Logroñés 47 (23)
1994–1995 Valencia 25 (7)
1995–1996 Rangers 16 (7)
1996–1998 İstanbulspor 18 (11)
1999–2000 Córdoba 3 (0)
2000–2001 Pogoń Szczecin 1 (0)
Total 248 (86)
International career
1984–1991 Soviet Union U20 4 (5)
1992 Ukraine[1] 1 (0)
1993–1994 Russia 8 (6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Salenko was born to a Ukrainian father and a Russian mother in Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union. He played for Zenit Leningrad, Dynamo Kyiv, Logroñés, Córdoba, Valencia, Rangers and İstanbulspor during his club career, that lasted from 1986 to 2000.

Eventually, he faded from the international football scene and finally had to end his career prematurely, at the age of 31, for health reasons stemming from injuries. Salenko returned to playing professional football in the 2000–01 season and signed for Pogoń Szczecin. He retired after playing a single game however due to his physical conditioning.

International career

Salenko played for the Soviet Union under-20 team at the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship, becoming the tournament top scorer with 5 goals. He played a total of only nine international matches, including the Ukraine 1–3 Hungary friendly, which was the first international game for the Ukraine national football team to be recognised by FIFA. He also had eight appearances for Russia and scored six goals, all of them at the World Cup in which he was joint top scorer. His last international appearance was 6–1 win against Cameroon when he scored five times.

As of 2022, he is the only player to win the Golden Boot at both the U-20 World Cup and FIFA World Cup.

1994 FIFA World Cup

Salenko set a World Cup record by scoring five goals in one game in Russia's 6–1 win against Cameroon on 28 June 1994.[3] He finished the 1994 World Cup with six goals, having scored from the penalty spot against Sweden in the previous match and shared the Golden Boot with Bulgarian Hristo Stoichkov after being knocked out in the first round and having played only three matches while Bulgaria played a total of seven matches and achieved a fourth-place finish.[4] As of 2022, Salenko is the only player ever to win the Golden Boot award on a team eliminated from the World Cup finals at the group stage.[4]

Beach football

In 2003, Salenko was appointed as manager of the Ukraine national beach soccer team. His team played three games, the only win being over USA 6–5, and losing the other two to Brazil and Spain. The tournament took place at the end of July in Portugal under the name Mundialito.[5] After the tournament, he was dismissed. He was later taking part of FFU assisting staff, but later stopped involving in football to focus on his business.

Career statistics

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year[6]

National teamYearAppsGoals
Ukraine
199210
Total10
Russia
199310
199476
Total86
Career total 9 6

International goals

Scores and results list Russia's goal tally first.[6]
NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.24 June 1994Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, United States Sweden1–01–31994 FIFA World Cup
2.28 June 1994Stanford Stadium, Stanford, United States Cameroon1–06–11994 FIFA World Cup
3.2–0
4.3–0
5.4–1
6.5–1

Honours
Dynamo Kyiv
Rangers

Individual

References
  1. "Players Appearing for Two or More Countries". RSSSF. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  2. "Interview with Oleg Salenko". football24.ua.
  3. "Russia 6-1 Cameroon". FIFA.com. 28 June 1994. Archived from the original on 23 February 2015. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  4. "Behind the World Cup record: Oleg Salenko". FIFA.com. 27 March 2017. Archived from the original on 21 June 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  5. List of matches of the national team in Ukrainian Archived 26 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  6. "Oleg Salenko". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
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