Roman Vyacheslavovych Zozulya ( uk, Роман В'ячеславович Зозуля, born 17 November 1989) is a Ukrainian professional
footballer who plays as a
striker
Striker or The Strikers may refer to:
People
*A participant in a strike action
*A participant in a hunger strike
*Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant
*Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America
People wi ...
for Spanish club
Rayo Majadahonda
Club de Fútbol Rayo Majadahonda () is a Spanish football team based in Majadahonda, in the autonomous community of Madrid. Founded in 1976 it plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 1, holding home games at '' Estadio Cerro del Espino'', wi ...
.
He played in the
Ukrainian Premier League for
Dynamo Kyiv and
Dnipro
Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...
. In 2016 he moved to Spain, playing six
La Liga games for
Real Betis before featuring in over 150
Segunda División
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...
games for
Albacete and
Fuenlabrada
Zozulya made his international debut for Ukraine in 2010. He was part of their squad at
UEFA Euro 2016.
Club career
Dynamo Kyiv
Born in
Kyiv, Zozulya was a product of the Dynamo youth system progressing through Dynamo-3 and Dynamo-2. In 2008, after the
2007–08 season he was promoted to the main team.
Dnipro
On 27 February 2014, in a
Europa League match against
Tottenham Hotspur, Zozulya was sent off after he directed a head-butt towards
Jan Vertonghen. Zozulya was sent off and had to be restrained from attacking Vertonghen, who was accused of faking the degree of contact. Tottenham went on to win the game 3–1, knocking Dnipro out.
Betis
On 27 July 2016, Zozulya signed a three-year contract with
La Liga side
Real Betis. He made his debut on 11 September in a 3–2 win at
Valencia CF, as an 80th-minute substitute for
Álex Alegría. He played six games, starting once on 22 January in a goalless draw at home to
Sporting Gijón.
Rayo Vallecano
On 31 January 2017, Zozulya joined
Rayo Vallecano on loan until the end of the season. His arrival was met with protests from the club's fans, unhappy over his purported far-right links after a picture of him wearing a shirt with the
Tryzub and lyrics of poet
Taras Shevchenko was featuring the logo of the
Right Sector. Zozulya vehemently denied any such links in an open letter to Rayo's fans, declaring that he has only assisted the legitimate
Ukrainian army during the
Russian military intervention in Ukraine
The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since February 2014. Following Ukraine's Revo ...
. On 1 February 2017, Zozulya had his contract cancelled due to the reactions of Rayo fans and returned to Betis.
[Roman Zozulya: Player's Rayo Vallecano loan spell ends as fans call him Nazi](_blank)
BBC News (1 February 2017) This meant that he could not play anymore in the 2016–17 season because the
Royal Spanish Football Federation
The Royal Spanish Football Federation ( es, Real Federación Española de Fútbol; RFEF) is the governing body of football in Spain. It is based in La Ciudad del Fútbol of Las Rozas, a municipality near Madrid. It was founded on 14 October 1909 ...
rules say players cannot register for more than two teams in one campaign.
Albacete
On 8 September 2017,
free agent Zozulya signed a one-year contract with
Albacete Balompié. On 25 March 2019, Zozulya endured more harassment during an Albacete away game against
Lugo
Lugo (, ; la, Lucus Augusti) is a city in northwestern Spain in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. It is the capital of the Lugo (province), province of Lugo. The municipality had a population ...
, when the fans of the latter club sang chants aimed at Zozulya, explicitly wishing him death for supposedly supporting the Nazi political movement. As a result of the incident, the fans of Albacete requested that
La Liga seriously punish Lugo. Zozulya received the best player award for the month of October 2019, based on the fans' votes. On 15 December 2019, the league game between Rayo Vallecano and Albacete was abandoned by the referee, after abuse and threats from the home fans over Zozulya's alleged far-right-wing political views. The second half of the game was scheduled to be played the following June, following the resumption of football after the
coronavirus pandemic.
Fuenlabrada
On 31 July 2021, after
''Alba''s relegation, Zozulya signed a two-year contract with fellow second division side
CF Fuenlabrada.
Rayo Majadahonda
On 8 December 2022, Zozulya signed for
Primera Federación club
Rayo Majadahonda
Club de Fútbol Rayo Majadahonda () is a Spanish football team based in Majadahonda, in the autonomous community of Madrid. Founded in 1976 it plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 1, holding home games at '' Estadio Cerro del Espino'', wi ...
on a deal until the end of the
2022–23 season.
International career
Zozulya debuted for
Ukraine on 2 June 2010 against
Norway at
Ullevaal Stadion in
Oslo. He scored a goal after
Yevhen Konoplyanka fired a long shot at
Jon Knudsen
Jon Knudsen (born 20 November 1974) is a Norwegian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is from August 2022, the goalkeeping coach for the Norway women's national team.
Knudsen spent most of his playing career with Stabæk, where h ...
, who fumbled with the ball and let Zozulya kick the ball into the net. He was substituted in the 81st minute. He was member of the Ukrainian 23-man squad for
Euro 2016.
Outside of football
Civil involvement

Zozulya is the founder of the
Narodna Armiya (People's Army) organisation which is a part of the
civil volunteer movement helping Ukrainian forces in the
war in Donbass. In particular Zozulya's organisation is providing food, clothing and technical equipment to
Ukrainian Army and helps families of the military. In 2016, he received a special commendation from the
Ministry of Defense of Ukraine for his support to the
Armed Forces of Ukraine
, imports =
, exports =
, history =
, ranks = Military ranks of Ukraine
, country=Ukraine
The Armed Forces of Ukraine ( uk, Збро́йні си́ли Украї́ни), most commonly known ...
.
Together with
Ruslan Rotan
Ruslan Petrovych Rotan ( uk, Руслан Петрович Ротань; born 29 October 1981) is a Ukrainian former professional footballer and manager of Ukraine national under-21 football team. He was a member of the Ukraine national team. ...
Zozulya is also the co-founder and sponsor of the ''Rotan and Zozulya Academy of Football'' in
Dnipro
Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...
.
Personal life
His sister Olena is married with another Ukrainian football player
Kyrylo Kovalets
Kyrylo Serhiyovych Kovalets ( ua, Кирило Сергійович Ковалець; born 2 July 1993) is a Ukrainian professional football midfielder who plays for Oleksandriya in the Ukrainian Premier League.
Career
Kyrylo Kovalets is pro ...
.
Career statistics
Club
International
International goals
''Source:''
[
]
Honors
Dynamo Kyiv
* Ukrainian Premier League: 2008–09
* Ukrainian Super Cup: 2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
, 2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
* UEFA Europa League: runner-up 2014–15
Orders
* : Decoration of the President of Ukraine for Humanitarian Participation in the Anti-Terrorist Operation
* : Honorary badge of the Chief of General Staff for Services to the Armed Forces of Ukraine
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zozulya, Roman
1989 births
Footballers from Kyiv
Men's association football forwards
FC Dnipro players
FC Dynamo Kyiv players
Living people
Ukraine men's international footballers
Ukraine men's youth international footballers
Ukraine men's under-21 international footballers
Ukrainian footballers
Ukrainian Premier League players
Ukrainian First League players
Ukrainian Second League players
FC Dynamo-2 Kyiv players
FC Dynamo-3 Kyiv players
UEFA Euro 2016 players
La Liga players
Segunda División players
Real Betis players
Rayo Vallecano players
Albacete Balompié players
CF Fuenlabrada footballers
CF Rayo Majadahonda players
Ukrainian expatriate footballers
Ukrainian expatriate sportspeople in Spain
Expatriate footballers in Spain