West Ham: Yarmolenko scores twice in Euro warm-up match
By Alex Smith
West Ham winger Andriy Yarmolenko scored twice last night as Ukraine defeated Cyprus 4-0 in a UEFA Euro 2020 warm-up match.
He opened the scoring by converting a penalty in the first half after Cypriot player Andreas Panayiotou was sent off. Then, just before the break, Ukraine got another penalty; this time, Manchester City’s Oleksandr Zinchenko scored to make it 2-0.
Striker, Roman Yaremchuk, got the third of the game on the hour mark before Yarmolenko got his second of the match with a deflected strike to seal a comfortable win in Kharkiv.
Andriy Yarmolenko made a strong claim to start for Ukraine in the Euros after a brace that took his international goal tally to 40.
The 31-year-old struggled in a West Ham shirt in the 2020/21 season, failing to score in the Premier League with his only goals coming in the Carabao Cup. It was another season plagued by injury for Yarmolenko, who is yet to show his talent in East London consistently.
However, the winger is a more important player for his country than he is for West Ham. Manager David Moyes usually only uses him as a substitute, but he has scored 40 goals for his country, second in the all-time charts, and has won 94 caps.
AC Milan legend and former Ballon d’Or winner Andriy Shevchenko leads the Ukrainian scoring charts with eight more than Yarmolenko and is now manager of the national side. Ukraine is in Group C for the Euros, and they start with a visit to Amsterdam on Sunday 13th June to face the Netherlands.
They then take on North Macedonia and Austria in Budapest, Hungary, on Thursday 17 June and Monday 21 June respectively. The Netherlands is expected to top the group, with Ukraine predicted to finish second, meaning that the West Ham man hopes to be one of the star players for a team that makes the knockout phase.
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A good Euros for Yarmolenko could see him force a way back amongst the Hammers squad, especially as squad depth will be tested due to Europa League commitments. Or West Ham may look to sell as his contract expires in June 2022. However, good performances for his national team could lead to the Irons putting their price up for him with rumours he may be used as part of the deal to sign Czech Republic midfielder Alex Kral.