Andriy Voronin

Andriy Viktorovych Voronin (, born 21 July 1979 in Odessa) is a Ukraine Football (soccer), who currently plays for Liverpool FC. He usually plays as a striker, but can also play on the wing or as a play-maker. His previous clubs include FC Chornomorets Odessa, Borussia Mönchengladbach, 1. FSV Mainz 05, 1. FC Köln and Bayer 04 Leverkusen. In the 2002-03 season, Voronin became top goalscorer in the 2. Fußball-Bundesliga. At international level he has frequently been played in midfield.

Career

Borussia Mönchengladbach

Voronin left his youth club Chornomorets Odessa in 1995 to move to Germany where he joined Borussia Mönchengladbach. He made his debut in the Fußball-Bundesliga against FC Bayern Munich in Fußball-Bundesliga 1997/98 at the age of 18 but went on to spend a couple of years mainly in Mönchengladbach's youth teams. Having played just 7 games and scored 1 goal in the top division, he saw his team relegated and after one season and just two matches in the 2. Fußball-Bundesliga joined fellow second division strugglers 1. FSV Mainz 05 in the for a fee of €45,000. This led to speculations about his future, with FC Dynamo Kyiv reported to be willing to bring him back to Ukraine.

VfB Stuttgart, Bologna F.C. 1909 and a number of other clubs were then reported to approach his agent and Mainz initiated negotiations to extend his contract. UEFA.com described Voronin as "one of the most sought-after talents in Germany."

After a successful first two seasons with Bayer as well as at the international level (culminating in participation in the 2006 World Cup in Germany where Ukraine national football team reached the quarterfinals), Voronin's contract was running out at the end of the Fußball-Bundesliga 2006/07 season and he was reported to have declined Bayer's offer of an extension. According to the player, he was approached by clubs from France, Spain, Italy and Scotland (Celtic F.C. were reported to be contemplating a move).

Liverpool

On 26 February, liverpool fc announced that they had signed Voronin on a free transfer and that he would join the team during the summer. Voronin was unveiled as a Liverpool player on 6 July 2007. Voronin was given the number 10 shirt, a number once worn by Anfield legends John Barnes (footballer), Michael Owen and Luis Javier García Sanz.

Voronin made his Liverpool debut in a friendly against Crewe Alexandra F.C] and played well in the 3-0 victory. He scored his first goal on 17 July 2007 against Werder Bremen in a friendly, to give Liverpool a 1-0 lead. He then scored his second goal in the 61st minute as Liverpool went 3-1 up, eventually winning the game 3-2.
He has been nicknamed 'The Crow' by a large portion of Liverpool fans, copying the trait started by the Ukrainian national team fans who have renamed Voronin as 'Vorona' - which means 'The Crow'.
Voronin made his Premier League debut on 11 August 2007, coming on as a substitute in the 78th minute against Aston Villa. A few days later on,15 August 2007 he scored his first competitive goal for Liverpool when he struck a fabulous drive from 25 yards to give Liverpool the lead in the Champions league qualifier against Toulouse.

Benitez was clearly impressed with Voronin:
"He is clever, has great game awareness and gives us so many more options in attack. He can play behind a main striker, lead the line himself, or come into the attack from the flanks."

On 25 August, 2007, Voronin scored his first Premier League goal against Sunderland A.F.C] in the 87th minute. He then scored his next goal in the next league game against Derby County F.C] which Liverpool comfortably won 6-0 to move top of the English Premiership.

International career

While at Mainz, Voronin was called up initially to Ukraine's Ukraine national under-21 football team and in January 2002 to the Ukraine national football team, at the age of 22. He made his international debut in a 4-1 friendly defeat to Romania national football team in March 2002, however was dropped after that, with coach Leonid Buriak explaining: "I've been to Germany twice to watch him and made a conclusion Andriy cannot compete with Andriy Shevchenko, Serhiy Rebrov and Andriy Vorobei as a Striker. He can play in Midfielder as well but he still has to improve some aspects of his game. Anyway, we count on Voronin especially considering his young age."

Voronin was ultimately recalled to the national side, scoring his first international goal in a 2-0 2004 UEFA European Football Championship qualifying qualifying defeat of Greece national football team in September 2002 and a second one in a 2-2 draw against Spain national football team in March 2003.