Viktor Onopko

Viktor Onopko

Onopko in 2011
Personal information
Full name	Viktor Savelyevich Onopko
Date of birth	(1969-10-14) 14 October 1969 (age 55)
Place of birth	Voroshylovhrad, Ukrainian SSR (now Luhansk, Ukraine)
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	Rostov, Russia (assistant coach)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1986	Stakhanovets Stakhanov	4	(0)
1986–1988	Shakhtar Donetsk	3	(0)
1989	Dynamo Kyiv	0	(0)
1990–1991	Shakhtar Donetsk	45	(4)
1992–1995	Spartak Moscow	108	(23)
1995–2002	Real Oviedo	216	(7)
2002–2003	Rayo Vallecano	28	(1)
2003–2004	Alania Vladikavkaz	7	(0)
2004–2005	Saturn	51	(1)
Total		462	(33)
International career
1992	CIS	4	(0)
1992–2004	Russia	109	(7)
Managerial career
2009–2020	CSKA Moscow (assistant)
2021–	Russia (assistant)
2022–	Rostov (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Viktor Savelyevich Onopko (Russian: Виктор Савельевич Онопко; born 14 October 1969) is a former Russian football defender. He is the assistant manager of both FC Rostov in the Russian Premier League and the Russia national team.

As a player, Onopko held the record for most international appearances for the Russia national team until 2015.^[1]

Onopko's career as a player started in 1986. During that time, he played for Shakhtar Donetsk, Spartak Moscow, Real Oviedo, Rayo Vallecano, Alania Vladikavkaz and Saturn Ramenskoye. He retired as a player in 2005.

Eligible to play for both the Ukrainian and Russian national teams, Onopko chose the latter (unlike his brother Sergey, who opted to play for Ukraine). He amassed 109 caps (plus 4 for the CIS, including in the 1992 Euros). He played in the 1994 and 2002 world cups, as well as 1996 Euros. Onopko was in the preliminary squad for Euro 2004 but was dropped due to injury. With the national team, in 2003 he won the Cyprus friendly tournament^[2]

After retiring, in 2009, he was part of the Russia squad that won the 2009 Legends Cup.

Onopko worked for 11 years as an assistant coach for CSKA Moscow.

On 26 July 2021, he was hired as an assistant to Valeri Karpin in the Russia national team.^[3]

In February 2022, after FIFA and UEFA suspended Russian clubs and the national teams from international competitions amidst the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Karpin returned as manager to FC Rostov and hired Onopko as his assistant there as well.^[4][5]

Onopoko was born in Voroshilovgrad (now called Lugansk) in the Soviet Union. Following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, he acquired both Ukrainian and Russian citizenships.

Viktor has a younger brother, Serhiy, who also played as a professional footballer.

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	18 February 1993	Los Angeles, United States	El Salvador	1–0	2–1	Friendly
2.	11 October 1995	Moscow, Russia	Greece	2–1	2–1	UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
3.	5 September 1998	Kyiv, Ukraine	Ukraine	2–3	2–3	UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
4.	31 March 1999	Moscow, Russia	Andorra	3–0	6–1
5.	8 September 1999	Andorra la Vella, Andorra	Andorra	1–0	2–1
6.				2–1
7.	16 October 2002	Volvograd, Russia	Albania	3–1	4–1	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying

Spartak Moscow

• Russian Premier League: 1992, 1993, 1994
• Soviet Cup: 1992
• Russian Cup: 1994

Individual

• Footballer of the Year in Russia (Futbol magazine): 1992, 1993
• Footballer of the Year in Russia (Sport-Express newspaper): 1993

• Victor Onopko on RSSSF website
• Onopko on Legioner website (career, statistic, goals)

• List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps