West Ham United winger Andriy Yarmolenko has revealed that he has fallen out with former Ukraine teammate and role model Anatoliy Tymoshchuk over Russia's war with Ukraine.
Yarmolenko, 32, has played 106 times for Ukraine since making his debut in 2009 and has scored 44 times for his country, putting him third on the all-time appearances list and second on the all-time caps list.
Former Bayern Munich midfield Tymoshchuk (144), who retired in 2016, currently leads all-time appearance list for Ukraine.
Hammers forward Yarmolenko has revealed that he has fallen out with Tymoshchuk over his current role as the assistant manager of Russian side Zenit St Petersburg. Despite Russia ’s invasion of Ukraine that started in February, Tymoshchuk has not condemned the war publicly and remains on Zenit’s coaching team.
Yarmolenko has opened up on a recent phone call between himself and Tymoshchuk that led to the former national team colleagues falling out.
“I asked him how do you sleep at night,” Yarmolneko told Zorya Londonsk. “He replied ‘I don’t sleep.’ “Then he called me. I told him you used to be a role model for me, now you’re nothing. Then he told me to ‘f*** off’ and I told him the same and that’s that.”
Atalanta midfielder Ruslan Malinovskyi has also hit out at Tymoshchuk for his lack of condemnation against Russia since the war started in February. Following the ex-Bayern midfielder’s lack of campaigning against the country where he currently works, Malinovskyi tweeted: “I don't know about Tymoshchuk, you need to ask him.
“Hard to comment but it’s weird (why he hasn’t) - I think it’s not right. It’s 100 per cent the case that he’s no longer (or ever will be) a legend of Ukraine football. His previous achievements have been forgotten.”
While Tymoshchuk has not come out against Russia’s invasion led by Vladimir Putin, that has so far led to over 46,000 deaths, other Ukrainian footballers have been public in getting their message across to try and help those in need of support in the country.
Former Chelsea and AC Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko, who is currently top of Ukraine’s all-time scorers list with 48 international goals, has regularly campaigned on social media and via multiple news outlets to help the country get more support in combatting Russia’s invasion.
Ukraine could still qualify for this year’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar, but will have to get past two of the home nations if they are to do so. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, their meeting World Cup play-off semi-final against Scotland, that was meant to take place in March, was moved to June 1 in Glasgow.
Should Ukraine beat Steve Clarke’s side, Ukraine would face Wales in a play-off final match in Cardiff four days later on June 5. Ukraine have not been in a World Cup since 2006, where they reached the quarter-finals in Germany, losing 3-0 to eventual winners Italy.
If Ukraine qualify for this year’s competition, they would join England, Iran and the United States of America in Group B. Should they qualify, Ukraine would take on England in their final group game on November 29 at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan.
