Serhiy Rebrov

Serhiy Stanislavovych Rebrov (Ukrainian: Сергій Станіславович Ребров, born on 3 June 1974 in Horlivka, Donetsk Oblast) is a retired Ukrainian football forward turned midfielder, who is currently managing the Ukrainian club FC Dynamo Kyiv.

Rebrov gained international fame as an attacking partner of Andriy Shevchenko at Dynamo Kyiv throughout the 1990s and until 2014 was the all-time top scorer of the Ukrainian Premier League.

From his debut in 1992, he was capped 75 times by Ukraine, scoring 15 goals. He played in the nation's first ever World Cup, in 2006.

Rebrov joined Shakhtar Donetsk as a youth in 1990. In his debut 1991 season, then a 17-year-old, he scored 2 goals in 7 games in the USSR Premier League. In his second season, playing in the newly established Ukrainian Premier League, he became a joint 3rd goalscorer, catching the eye of Dynamo Kyiv scouts.

Dynamo Kyiv

Rebrov moved to Dynamo Kyiv in August 1992 and has since become the highest all-time scorer in the Ukrainian Premier League. His total tally in the league with Shakhtar and Dynamo is 123 goals in 261 games.

He scored several key goals in European competitions, notably in the 1997–98 and 1998–99 seasons of the UEFA Champions League, including a famous goal against Barcelona from a tight angle. Dynamo reached the Champions League semi-final in 1999, but lost to Bayern Munich on aggregate. In the 1999–2000 season, Rebrov became a joint top scorer in the UEFA Champions League with 10 goals (including 2 goals in qualification games) as Dynamo progressed to the last sixteen before going out on head-to-head record against Real Madrid.

England

On 17 May 2000, he was transferred to Tottenham Hotspur for £11 million, where he managed a modest return of 9 goals in 29 games over his first Premier League season, appearing to struggle to adjust to the different style of play in England. Things grew worse for Rebrov after the sacking of George Graham in March 2001, as he was frozen out by new manager Glenn Hoddle, with extremely few first team starts or substitute appearances. He went out on two consecutive loan spells to Fenerbahçe.

Subsequently, Rebrov signed a one-year contract with West Ham United in the Championship after his contract with Tottenham expired. He scored just once in the league for West Ham, the winner in a 3–2 win over Watford on 27 November 2004. He also scored once in the League Cup against Notts County.

Return to Dynamo Kyiv

On 1 June 2005, Rebrov became a free agent after declining to re-sign and two days later he signed a new two-year contract with Dynamo Kyiv, with the option of a one-year extension. In the new 2005–06 season, Rebrov became Dynamo's top scorer with 13 goals, two behind league joint top scorers Brandão and Okoduwa, despite playing in midfield. Rebrov also topped the league in points, with goals and assists – and was named player of the season according to a poll of team managers and captains.

In July 2007, Rebrov became Dynamo's captain. In the 2007–08 season, he was mostly benched, starting only seven out of eighteen matches before the winter break. His contribution in some games was heavily criticised by the press. It was reported that Rebrov could move to Arsenal Kyiv during the transfer window. However, under new manager Yuri Semin, Rebrov started all games and was named best player at the close season Channel One Cup. In February 2008, Dynamo president Ihor Surkis stated that the club was planning talks with Rebrov with a view of extending his contract. Shortly thereafter, Rebrov received an offer of a two-year contract from Russian Premier League club Rubin Kazan.

Rubin Kazan

Rebrov playing for Rubin Kazan.

On 3 March 2008, Dynamo announced that Rebrov had signed a two-year contract with Rubin Kazan and would join the new club at the end of the season, in summer 2008. With the Russian season starting in spring, Rubin eventually agreed a $1 million compensation with Dynamo for Rebrov's early release from his contract. He was part of the team that won the 2008 Russian Premier League for the first time in Rubin's history, playing in midfield in 24 out of his team's 30 league matches and scoring 5 goals.

Retirement

Rebrov's retirement was announced on 20 July 2009. At the same time he became an assistant manager at Dynamo Kyiv reserves team. During his career he played in various European Leagues with 423 games recorded and 145 goals netted. His career achievements resulted in him being inducted into the Viktor Leonenko Hall of Fame in March 2012.

Managerial career

On 17 April 2014 Rebrov was named caretaker manager of Dynamo Kyiv. On May 19, after the victory in Ukrainian cup he was named manager.

Rebrov was at the centre of a race row in September 2008 by giving Spurs' new signing Roman Pavlyuchenko some controversial advice, reportedly warning him not to go out near Tottenham's White Hart Lane ground because lots of "dark-skinned people" live there. According to the Daily Mirror, Rebrov's comments came in an interview in Russian magazine Football Weekly on how £13.8 million signing Pavlyuchenko should adapt to British life.

Rebrov, who played for Spurs between 2000 and 2004, said: "I wouldn't go for a walk on my own around White Hart Lane. A lot of dark-skinned people live there. So naturally the crime rate is higher than anywhere else. It's not nice to be a robbery victim. So I suggest that Roman doesn't walk but drives around instead".

Rebrov scored Ukraine's first ever World Cup goal in their opening qualifying group 9 match in 1998, against Northern Ireland. The match in Belfast finished 1-0 thanks to Rebrov's contribution. Ukraine finished 2nd in the group behind Germany, with Rebrov again scoring the winner in another 1-0 victory away to Albania in March 1997, and at home to the same team in August. His three goals helped his team into the play-offs, where they lost 3-1 on aggregate to Croatia.

Rebrov's club exploits earned him a recall to the national team and a ticket to the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, where he scored a long range shot against Saudi Arabia as Ukraine progressed to the quarterfinals before going down to Italy.

At the time of his retirement on 20 July 2009 he was the fourth most capped player in the Ukrainian national team's history having represented his country 75 times and was their second all-time scorer with 15 goals.

Club

• Other - Super Cup & League Cup

International

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	31 August 1996	Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland	Northern Ireland	1–0	1–0	1998 FIFA World Cup Qualification
2	23 March 1997	Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex, Kyiv, Ukraine	Moldova	1–0	1–0	Friendly
3	29 March 1997	Estadio Nuevo Los Cármenes, Granada, Spain	Albania	1–0	1–0	1998 FIFA World Cup Qualification
4	20 August 1997	Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex, Kyiv, Ukraine	Albania	1–0	1–0	1998 FIFA World Cup Qualification
5	19 August 1998	Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex, Kyiv, Ukraine	Georgia	1–0	4–0	Friendly
6				2–0
7	5 September 1998	Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex, Kyiv, Ukraine	Russia	3–1	3–2	UEFA Euro 2000 Qualification
8	10 October 1998	Camp d’Esports d’Aixovall, Aixovall, Andorra	Andorra	2–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 2000 Qualification
9	5 June 1999	Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex, Kyiv, Ukraine	Andorra	2–0	4–0	UEFA Euro 2000 Qualification
10	18 August 1999	Valeriy Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium, Kyiv, Ukraine	Bulgaria	1–0	1–1	Friendly
11	8 September 1999	Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland	Iceland	1–0	1–0	UEFA Euro 2000 Qualification
12	17 November 1999	Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex, Kyiv, Ukraine	Slovenia	1–0	1–1	UEFA Euro 2000 Qualification
13	17 April 2002	Valeriy Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium, Kyiv, Ukraine	Georgia	1–0	2–1	Friendly
14	17 August 2005	Valeriy Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium, Kyiv, Ukraine	Serbia and Montenegro	1–0	2–1	Friendly
15	19 June 2006	AOL Arena, Hamburg, Germany	Saudi Arabia	2–0	4–0	2006 FIFA World Cup

Managerial statistics

Team	From	To	Record
			G	W	D	L	Win %
Dynamo Kyiv	17 April 2014	Present	7002131000000000000♠131	7001910000000000000♠91	7001200000000000000♠20	7001200000000000000♠20	7001694700000000000♠69.47
Total			7002131000000000000♠131	7001910000000000000♠91	7001200000000000000♠20	7001200000000000000♠20	7001694700000000000♠69.47

Player

• Ukrainian Premier League (9): 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2006–07
• Ukrainian Cup (7): 1993, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2006, 2007
• Ukrainian Super Cup (1): 2006

• Turkish Süper Lig (1): 2003-04

• Russian Premier League (2): 2008, 2009
• Channel One Cup (1): 2008

Manager

• Ukrainian Premier League (2): 2014–15, 2015–16
• Ukrainian Cup (2): 2013–14, 2014–15
• Ukrainian Super Cup : 2016

Individual

• Ukrainian Footballer of the Year (2): 1996, 1998
• Ukrainian Premier League Player of the Season (3): 1996, 1998, 1999
• Ukrainian Premier League Top Scorer (1): 1997-98
• Ukrainian Premier League Top All-Time Scorer: 123 goals in 261 matches
• Channel One Cup - Player of tournament 2008
• FourFourTwo's 50 Best Football Managers in the World:
  • 2015 — 33rd
  • 2016 — 35th

Rebrov is a licensed amateur radio-operator and an active contester and has been active with the following callsigns: UT5UDX (Ukraine), M0SDX (England), TA2ZF (Turkey) and UT0U (Ukrainian contest-callsign).