Andriy Mykolayovych Nesmachnyi (, born 28 February 1979) is a retired Russian-born Ukrainian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

. He has spent his entire career at

Dynamo Kyiv The Football Club 'Dynamo Kyiv', also known as Dynamo Kyiv, or simply Dynamo, ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society ...

in the

Ukrainian Premier League The Ukrainian Premier League ( ) or UPL is a professional association football league in Ukraine and the highest level of the Ukrainian football league system. Originally known as the Vyshcha Liha ( , ) it was formed in 1991 during the 1992 in ...

. He was a skillful, attacking

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

who could also play as

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

and

left midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. Nesmachniy also played for the

Ukraine national football team The Ukraine national football team ( ) represents Ukraine in men's international Association football, football, and is governed by the Ukrainian Association of Football, the governing body for football in Ukraine. Ukraine's home ground is the ...

and is the second most capped foreign-born player for Ukraine with 67 matches.

Club career

Andriy Mykolayovych Nesmachniy was born to ethnic Russian parents on 28 February 1979 in

Bryansk Bryansk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, situated on the Desna (river), Desna River, southwest of Moscow. It has a population of 379,152 at the 2021 census. Bryans ...

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. He started as a graduate of the Tavriya Simferopol school. He then joined

in 1996 playing at amateur level for the Dynamo's reserve teams and in the 1997–98 Vyshcha Liha season made his debut for the first team in the away match against

FC Metalurh Donetsk Football Club Metalurh Donetsk (, ) was a Ukrainian professional football club based in Donetsk that went bankrupt in July 2015. History Club predecessor Football came to the Donetsk region in the time of the Russian Empire when the industr ...

(Round 19) on 18 June 1998. He was originally intended for the main team but spent the next two seasons at the reserve team Dynamo-2 Kyiv. Beginning in the 2000–01 season, Nesmachniy appeared much more often on the main team, where he has stayed until 2011.Profile on official website of Dynamo Kyiv
Nesmachniy retired in 2011 to concentrate on his religious beliefs as he became one of

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co-fou ...

. Nesmachniy almost joined

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

of the English

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

during the January 2007 transfer window. Manager

Mark Hughes Leslie Mark Hughes (born 1 November 1963) is a Welsh association football, football coach and former player who is the head coach of club Carlisle United F.C., Carlisle United. During his playing career he usually operated as a Forward (asso ...

had confirmed his interest saying that he had "good football intelligence" and "a great international experience". He also confirmed that the defender was training with the squad in late December 2006. However, he did not make a promise that a move was going to be a possibility. Nesmachniy in the end, did not join Blackburn.

International career

Nesmachnyi made at least one appearance for the

Ukraine national under-21 football team The Ukraine national under-21 football team is also known as Youth ootballteam of Ukraine () is one of junior national Association football, football teams of Ukraine for participation in under-21 international competitions. The team is manage ...

on 9 October 1999 in an away match against

Russia national under-21 football team The Russia national under-21 football team is overseen by the Russian Football Union. The team competed in the European Under-21 Championship, held every two years, and international friendly matches. The team also participated in the qualifica ...

. Nesmachnyi was first called up to the

in 2000. Since then he has been capped 63 times. His career was highlighted in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, when Ukraine made it to their first ever

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

. Ukraine made it to the quarterfinals, getting out to eventual champions

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. During the World Cup in Germany, Nesmachnyi noticeably did not sing the Ukraine national anthem and place his hand on his heart. When asked about this in an interview, Nesmachnyi announced that "My parents and I are

for a long time. Our Bible-based beliefs does not allow us to idolize anyone and anything, such as a flag and an anthem, and to put my hand on my heart. All glory and praise belongs to God,

Jehovah Jehovah () is a Romanization, Latinization of the Hebrew language, Hebrew , one Tiberian vocalization, vocalization of the Tetragrammaton (YHWH), the proper name of the God in Judaism, God of Israel in the Hebrew BibleOld Testament. The Tetr ...

." On 17 March, Nesmachnyi announced that he personally decided to retire from the Ukraine national football team, and that he continues to have good relations with head coach Oleksiy Mykhailychenko. He explained his decision by saying that he wants to concentrate on his club career in Dynamo as well as on his spiritual and family life. Upon retiring, Nesmachniy has played 67 games for Ukraine, the first being against

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

on 26 April 2000, and the last being on 10 February 2009 against

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

.Андрій Несмачний: "Зосереджуся на виступах за клуб"
– Official Dynamo Kyiv website

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Dynamo-2 Kyiv *

Ukrainian First League The Persha Liha ( ) or Ukrainian First League is a Ukrainian football league system, level of national football competitions (second tier) in Ukraine governed by the Professional Football League of Ukraine, Professional Football League at the disc ...

(2): 1998–99, 1999–2000 Dynamo Kyiv *

(7): 1997–98, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2006–07, 2008–09 *

Ukrainian Cup The Ukrainian Cup ( ) is an association football national knockout cup competition run by the Ukrainian Association of Football. The competition is conducted almost exclusively among professional clubs. Since the 2003–04 season, the Cup winner qu ...

(5): 1999–2000, 2002–2003, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07 * Ukrainian Super Cup (1):

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

References

External links

* * Autobiographic
short video - Where is Andriy now?
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nesmachniy, Andriy 1979 births Living people Footballers from Bryansk Russian emigrants to Ukraine Ukrainian people of Russian descent Ukrainian men's footballers Ukraine men's international footballers Men's association football fullbacks FC Dynamo Kyiv players FC Dynamo-2 Kyiv players FC Dynamo-3 Kyiv players Ukrainian Jehovah's Witnesses Ukrainian Premier League players Ukrainian First League players Ukrainian Second League players Ukrainian Amateur Football Championship players 2006 FIFA World Cup players