Mikhail Fomenko

Mykhailo Fomenko is a former coach of the Ukrainian national soccer team.

Brief biography

Mykhailo Fomenko was born on September, 1948 in the village of Krasnopolytsa, Sumy region.

Since 1972 he played for FC Dynamo (Kyiv) and for the national soccer team of the Soviet Union. In both cases - at the position of a fullback.

Mikhail Fomenko had played 24 matches for Dynamo and the same number of matches for the USSR national team (five of them - as a member of the Olympic team).

In 1978 he was forced to finish his career of a player for health reasons.

After two years of training Mikhail Fomenko got a license as a coach.

He started his coaching career at FC Frunzenets (Sumy) in 1979. But already in 1980 he began coaching Kyiv Dynamo, and he was busy during the next four years.

Since 1984 and up to the collapse of the Soviet Union Mikhail Fomenko managed to be a coach at Chernihiv Desna, Kryvyi Rih Kryvbas, Sumy Automobile Club, as well as at foreign clubs - FC Guria (Lanchkhuti) and FC Rashid (Baghdad). He also coached the Iraqi national soccer team for a year.

Since 1992 he has been the head coach of various Ukrainian soccer clubs - from Dynamo Kyiv where Fomenko returned for one season, and CSKA, to Simferopol Tavriia. In addition, in 1994 Mykhailo Fomenko coached the national Guinean soccer team.

On December 26, 2012 Mykhailo Fomenko signed a contract with the national soccer team of Ukraine and was appointed as its head coach. However, despite a successful debut against Norway, under Fomenko, the Ukrainian national team lost all three matches in the European Championship in 2016, after which Fomenko left the national team.

Mykhailo Fomenko statistics

Among Mikhail Fomenko's personal achievements include:

• The title of master of sports of the USSR international class.

• The title of Honored Master of Sports of the USSR.

• Order of Merit of the III and II classes.

• The bronze medal of the national team at the Olympic games of 1976.

Besides, Mikhail Fomenko six times was included into the list of 33 best players of the Soviet Union season, and three times he was on the first place.