Serhiy Oleksandrovych Rybalka (Ukrainian: Сергій Олександрович Рибалка, born 1 April 1990) is a Ukrainian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Oleksandriya.

Serhiy Rybalka

Personal information
Full name	Serhiy Oleksandrovych Rybalka
Date of birth	(1990-04-01) 1 April 1990 (age 32)
Place of birth	Yamne, Sumy Oblast, Soviet Union (now Ukraine)
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Club information
Current team	Oleksandriya
Youth career
2003–2006	Arsenal Kharkiv
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2006–2008	Arsenal Kharkiv	48	(20)
2008–2010	Dynamo-2 Kyiv	75	(13)
2010–2018	Dynamo Kyiv	67	(2)
2013–2014	→ Slovan Liberec (loan)	37	(8)
2017–2018	→ Sivasspor (loan)	21	(1)
2018–2021	Sivasspor	31	(4)
2021–	Oleksandriya	14	(1)
National team‡
2008–2009	Ukraine U18	5	(0)
2008–2009	Ukraine U19	11	(1)
2010	Ukraine U20	2	(0)
2010–2012	Ukraine U21	10	(6)
2015–	Ukraine	9	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 25 August 2022 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19 May 2019

Club career

Arsenal Kharkiv

Born in Yamne, Sumy Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, Rybalka was the top scorer in Arsenal Kharkiv's history, by scoring 20 goals and surpassing Yuriy Martiniuk who had 19 goals. He caught the interest from many clubs, including from the Israeli Premier League club Maccabi Haifa who saw him as a very talented and perspective youth player. However, he chose to go to FC Dynamo Kyiv.[2][3]

Dynamo Kyiv

Rybalka made his senior team debut on 21 September 2011 in the Ukrainian Cup 3–2 victory against Kremin Kremenchuk.[4] He opened the score in the 14th minute, hitting the free kick into the upper corner.[5] A month later, on 23 October 2011, he made his Ukrainian Premier League debut, coming on at half time in a 6-1 thrashing of Zorya Luhansk.[4][6]

After the debut, Rybalka struggled to establish himself in the squad. In order to help his development, it was decided to loan him to Czech club Slovan Liberec until the end of the 2012–2013 season.[7] Rybalka immediately became one of the key players for Slovan, and in the summer of 2013 his loan was extended for one more season.[8] Rybalka again featured prominently in the side, helping Slovan reach the Round of 32 in the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League.

After a successful loan spell, Rybalka returned to Dynamo for the 2014–15 season. New team manager Serhii Rebrov put a lot more trust in him than did Dynamo's previous managers Yuri Syomin and Oleh Blokhin, by making him a permanent fixture in midfield. On 17 May 2015, in a 1-0 Ukrainian Premier League victory against Dnipro, Rybalka assisted on what became the title-clinching goal by Domagoj Vida.[9] On 16 September 2015, Rybalka made his UEFA Champions League debut in a 2–2 draw against Portuguese team FC Porto in the group stage, he assisted Dynamo's second goal which was scored by Vitaliy Buyalskyi on the 89th minute which gave Dynamo a draw.

Sivasspor

On 8 September 2017, Rybalka was loaned to Sivasspor, who had just returned to the Turkish Super League after a one-year absence.[10] After a season on loan, Sivasspor bought Rybalka out of his Dynamo Kyiv contract, and signed him to a three-year deal.[11]

International career

Rybalka was part of the Ukraine U-19 team that won the 2009 UEFA European Under-19 Championship. On 27 July 2009, in the last match of the group stage against Switzerland, with hosts Ukraine playing a man down and facing elimination from the tournament, Rybalka scored in the 85th minute to establish the final score (1-0), and to propel Ukraine into the semifinal round.[12] He ended up playing in three of his team's five matches, including the Final against England.[13]

On 31 March 2015, Rybalka made his senior team debut for Ukraine in a friendly match against Latvia, coming on at half-time for Dynamo Kyiv teammate Denys Garmash.[14] He became a regular player for Ukraine for the remainder of the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying, featuring in the last six matches, including the play-offs against Slovenia. Rybalka was on Ukraine's squad for the UEFA Euro 2016 final tournament in France, but did not play in any of his team's matches.

Career statistics

Club

As of 19 May 2019[15][14]

International

As of 19 May 2019[16][17]

Honours

Dynamo Kyiv

• Ukrainian Premier League: 2014–15, 2015–16
• Ukrainian Cup: 2014–15
• Ukrainian Super Cup: 2016

Other

• 2009 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship: Champion

References

External links

• Serhiy Rybalka at UAF and archived FFU page (in Ukrainian)
• Serhiy Rybalka at Soccerway

На других языках

[fr] Serhiy Rybalka

[it] Serhij Rybalka

[ru] Рыбалка, Сергей Александрович