Maksym Serhiyovych Kalynychenko (; born 26 January 1979) is a Ukrainian former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

who played in central midfield or as a winger. Observers noted his pace, creativity, and accuracy in free kicks and penalties.

Club career

Early years

Kalynychenko's father was a goalkeeper for an amateur side in Kharkiv, and the young Kalynychenko often acted as striker for his father to practise saves. He was enrolled in the Kharkiv Sportinternat, a sports boarding school where despite his smaller frame, tutors noted his tactical ability. The young Kalynychenko, like most of his family and friends, was a supporter of

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 ...

but was told jokingly that he played in the style of Dynamo's Soviet era rival 'Spartak Moscow'.

Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk

At the age of 17 Kalynychenko was talent-spotted by Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk coach Vyacheslav Hroznyi. Kalynychenko progressed to the first team within a year, and also made appearances for the Ukraine national under-21 football team. However, disputes with Dnipro management led to the dismissal of Hroznyi and several team members, including Kalynychenko. Following this Hroznyi and Kalynychenko migrated to Spartak Moscow.

Spartak Moscow

With Spartak Moscow, Kalynychenko has helped his team win the

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

Championship title in 2000 and 2001. His team was also runners-up for the Russian Premier League in 2005, 2006, and 2007, and got third place in the Russian league in 2002. Kalynychenko also won the Russian Cup in 2003, and was a runner-up in 2006. Kalynychenko has overcome two injuries which have commonly signalled the end of footballers' careers: a torn

cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint, wrist joint and the atlanto-axial joint. In a fashion similar to the cords in ...

in his elbow, and a severed

achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcane ...

. These injuries, and the months spent in recovery, have dampened Kalynychenko's progress and placed him on the bench for long periods of 2005 and 2006. However, he is credited with having overcome these setbacks, steadily improving in skill since his comeback(s). Despite being in his mid-twenties Kalynychenko is considered something of a veteran of Spartak and in the 2005 season was lauded for his penalty kicks taken from long distance, several times coming onto the field as a late substitute and changing the course of the game. Most recently, in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

2006 elimination rounds, Kalynychenko scored key goals in matches against Bayern Munich and

Sporting Clube de Portugal Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

, allowing Spartak to qualify for the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

. Kalynychenko was also voted the best Ukrainian left midfielder for 2006 by a poll in the press, one of 33 of a list of best Ukrainian footballers. After capturing international attention for his World Cup 2006 debut, Kalynychenko was linked with clubs such as

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

, Valencia C.F.,

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

and most recently,

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

. He and Spartak Moscow management have since denied the existence of firm transfer offers in the Russian press. In the winter transfer window of 2006, after Kalynychenko expressed frustration at being left on the bench for long periods, concrete offers came through from

and his former club Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, with a price of 7 million Euros cited. In August 2008, Maksym, along with teammate Egor Titov, was dismissed from Spartak after a conflict with manager Stanislav Cherchesov.

Return to Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk

On 6 August 2008, Kalynychenko signed a 3-year contract with his former club Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk on the rights of a free agent. He was given the shirt number 26. After playing an away match on Saturday, 16 August 2008, against rivals Illychivets Mariupol during which Maksym Kalynychenko scored the winning goal in the 66th minute – helping Dnipro win 2:1, he was named by UA-Football as one of the two best attacking midfielders along with Constantinos Makrides of Metalurh Donetsk, of the fifth round in the Ukrainian Premier League.

International

World Cup 2006

Previous to the World Cup, Kalynychenko's appearances for a Russian club and lingering rumours surrounding his departure from Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk led to a low profile in Ukraine's senior national side. Kalynychenko did not feature in the 2006 qualification campaign, His surprise inclusion on the squad was due (by his own reckoning) to his good form in the tail end Spartak's 2005 season. In the run-up to Germany 2006, coach

Oleh Blokhin Oleg Vladimirovich Blokhin, or Oleh Volodymyrovych Blokhin (, ; born 5 November 1952), is a Ukrainian former association football, football player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of his generation, Blokhin was a stando ...

played Kalynychenko in friendlies against Luxembourg, Costa Rica and

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 ...

. The player also did not feature in the first of Ukraine's proper World Cup games, in which the team were defeated 4–0 by

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. Called to the starting 11 in the next game against

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, Kalynychenko provided the opening assist from which Andriy Rusol scored Ukraine's first ever World Cup final goal. He set up another goal headed in by

Andriy Shevchenko Andriy Mykolayovych Shevchenko (, ; born 29 September 1976) is a Ukrainian former Manager (association football), football manager and Football player, player. Shevchenko is considered one of the greatest Striker (association football), strik ...

, who in turn fed Kalynychenko for the 4th and last goal of the game. Kalynychenko was named Man of the Match for his technical contributions. This game was the turning point for Ukraine, paving the way for their subsequent route to the quarter-finals. Kalynychenko put in a notable performance in the quarter-final against

, with dangerous crosses and a shot on goal from a rebounded attempt by Oleh Husyev. However, none of these chances was converted and Ukraine bowed out of the tournament on a score of 3–0 to Italy. In

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

's debut, Kalynychenko was described as the 'revelation' of his team's World Cup campaign.

Euro 2008 Qualifying

Maksym Kalynychenko was a regular player in the Ukraine squad in the

UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach football in Europe and the transcontinental countries of Turkey, Azerbaijan ...

. He was called up to the team for almost every game, except for three. He also managed to score a goal in a 5–0 win over the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

.Ukraine rout lifts spirits in Kiev
– Euro2008.UEFA.com However, Ukraine did not manage to qualify for the tournament, finishing fourth in its group, behind France, Italy, and Scotland.

Personal life

Kalynychenko is married to Tetyana and they have one daughter, Oleksandra.

References

External links

Official website of Kalynychenko

Profile on Official Spartak website

– Sport-express.ru * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kalynychenko, Maksym 1979 births Footballers from Kharkiv Men's association football midfielders Ukrainian men's footballers Ukraine men's international footballers Ukrainian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Ukrainian sportspeople in Russia during the Russo-Ukrainian War Ukrainian Premier League players Ukrainian Second League players Russian Premier League players FC Spartak Moscow players FC Dnipro players FC Dnipro-2 Dnipropetrovsk players SC Tavriya Simferopol players 2006 FIFA World Cup players Living people Ukrainian football managers FCI Levadia Tallinn managers Ukrainian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Russia Expatriate football managers in Latvia Ukrainian expatriate sportspeople in Latvia Expatriate football managers in Estonia Ukrainian expatriate sportspeople in Estonia