West Ham’s Andriy Yarmolenko has admitted he has added motivation for the quarter-final against England after being written off at West Ham. The 31-year-old has scored two and assisted another two in four matches and is out to prove his doubters wrong.
Andriy Yarmolenko said: “I have repeatedly said: the more journalists write that I am old and cannot play football, the more it motivates me to work and prove to my critics that this is not the case. It helps me get better.”
Yarmolenko’s club career has taken him from Dynamo Kyiv to West Ham by way of the Bundesliga and a mixed season with Borussia Dortmund, however, his international pedigree is unquestioned. On Saturday Yarmolenko will make his 99th appearance for his country moving into third place on the list of all-time most capped Ukrainian players. The attacking-midfielder is his nation’s second all-time top-scorer with an astonishing 42 goals.
Andriy Yarmolenko said: “I missed football, I sat in reserve at the club for almost a year, recovering from injuries. I had already started to be written off. This motivated me, and I purposefully prepared myself for the national team. I did a great job, came to the location of the team even earlier than needed, and did a lot of work with all the guys. I want to play, I want to show quality football. This requires a lot of work.”
Speculation about Yarmolenko’s future has been rife with a return to Dynamo Kyiv rumoured to be on the cards, however the Ukrainian is not letting any club matters get in the way of his national team duty.
Andriy Yarmolenko said: “All my thoughts are only with the national team. When I go to the club, then I will deal with other issues.”
