Yaroslav Rakitskiy is a center defender for Shakhtar Donetsk and the national team of Ukraine. He was born on 3 August, 1989 in Pershotravensk, Ukraine. He is one of the most valuable and successful Ukrainian defenders. In addition to the position of center back he can also play as wing back and defensive midfielder.
At the age of 6, Yaroslav joined the football section of his hometown Pershotravensk. In 2002 he began to perform for the junior team of Samara-Meteoryt, which was based in Pavlohrad. That same year the defender has attracted the attention of Shakhtar Donetsk scouts, who invited him to the academy of the Miners.
In the summer of 2006 Rakitskiy signed his first professional contract with Shakhtar-3, which played in the Ukrainian Second Division. In total, the defender made 31 appearances and scored 4 goals for Shakhtar-3 and helped the team to win silver in the 2006/07 Ukrainian Youth Championship.
In the summer of 2009 Yaroslav took part in Shakhtar training camps in Austria and Switzerland. On 15 August he made his debut for Shakhtar Donetsk in a 6-1 win against Dnister Ovidiopol. Soon the defender took part in another match of Shakhtar, and hit the back of the net of Yednist' Plysky. On 25 August, Yaroslav won his first international cap, coming on the field in a Europa League match against Turkish Sivasspor. That summer Dmytro Chygrynskiy left for Barcelona, and Mircea Lucescu began to include Rakitskiy in the starting lineup.
Yaroslav’s debut in the Ukrainian Premier League occurred on 31 August 2009 in a match against Zorya Luhansk. In that match he appeared on the field as a second half substitute for Vyacheslav Shevchuk. On 27 September Shakhtar proudly marked the opening of their new stadium Donbass Arena by defeating Obolon Kyiv 4-0. Rakitskiy was named the Best Player of the Match.
In that same season Yaroslav appeared in all six matches of Shakhtar in the Europa League group stage, and scored a goal against Partizan Belgrade, helping the Miners to advance to the play-off round.
Shakhtar’s victory over Dynamo Kyiv in 2010 brought Yaroslav his first title of the Ukrainian Champion.
In the 2010/11 season Rakitskiy participated in Shakhtar’s Champions League campaign. The Miners reached the quarterfinals, which is the major European achievement of Shakhtar so far. However, in the quarterfinals, the Ukrainian club lost 1-6 to future champions Barcelona.
In the 2011/12 season Shakhtar once again became the champion of Ukraine, ending the season 7 points ahead of Dynamo Kiev. In that season Rakitskiy played 21 matches and scored one goal. At the beginning of 2012/13 season 23-year old Rakitskiy was already a three-time champion of Ukraine, a two-time winner of the Ukrainian Cup and a twofold holder of the Ukrainian Super Cup.
On 10 October Yaroslav made his debut for the Ukraine national team in a 1-0 win against England. Four days later the defender scored a goal against Andorra and helped his team to reach the play-offs. The rival of Ukraine in the play-offs was Greece. Rakitskiy took part in both matches, but could not help his team avoid defeat with a total score of 0-1. As a result, Ukraine could not get through to the finals of the FIFA World Cup.
In 2012 Rakitskiy was made part of Ukraine’s Euro 2012 squad. The Ukrainians finished third in Group D, giving way to England and France. Yaroslav spent most of the tournament sitting on the bench, but appeared in the last match against England.
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