Vitaliy Mykolenko, the main left back of Dynamo Kyiv and the national team, turns 23 today
1999 – Vitaliy Mikolenko, defender of the English Everton and the national team, was born. Having passed all the stages of the Dynamo vertical, Vitaliy was one of the leaders in the U-19 and U-21 teams, and on August 20, 2017 he made his debut for the main team in the match against Stal. In that fight, Mikolenko replaced the injured Josip Pivaric. A little time passed, and the young Ukrainian won the competition against the defender of the Croatian national team, vice-champion of the world.
Injury prevented becoming a world champion
Behind the young player are bright performances in the Ukrainian Championship, the Europa League and as part of the national team in the Euro 2020 qualification. During the European Championship qualifying, he successfully competed with Sobol for the left-back position and scored an assist in an important match against the European champions, the Portuguese. Vitaly was also in demand in the age teams. True, an injury prevented him from playing at the 2019 World Cup for U-20, so the World Cup gold medal bypassed him.
As part of the team No. 1, Mikolenko made his debut on November 20, 2018 in a sparring with Turkey. To date, he already has 21 matches for the Ukrainian national team.
Successful performances for Dynamo and the national team did not go unnoticed by European clubs, so on January 1, 2022, the defender signed a four-year contract with English Everton.