15 minute read
YEREVAN, JULY 7, ARMENPRESS. Borussia Dortmund won Kawasaki in Japan. The players of Dortmund hit 6 goals. Henrikh Mkhitaryan made a mighty pass which led to a goal. As Armenpress reports Borussia Dortmund will also pay a visit to Singapore and Malaysia during the Asian tour.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan is an Armenian footballer who plays as a midfielder for German Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund and the Armenia national football team. Mkhitaryan is Armenia's all-time top goalscorer, scoring 16 goals in 52 international matches since his debut in January 2007. His previous clubs include Pyunik Yerevan, where he came through the youth system, Metalurh Donetsk, andShakhtar Donetsk. Mkhitaryan has been chosen Armenian Footballer of the Year five times (every year since 2009, except 2010). In 2012 he was voted as the best Shakhtar player of 2011–12 season by the fans, and Ukraine Premier League MVP. In 2012, Mkhitaryan was named in UEFA's Top 100 players by UEFA European Football Yearbook 2012–13. Mkhitaryan was voted the CIS Footballer of the Year for 2012, making him the first Armenian footballer to be named the best player from post-Soviet countries. He received the award again for 2013 Mkhitaryan received the nickname Heno from his fans in Armenia and has been nicknamed Micki by his Borussia Dortmund fans.
Mkhitaryan was born on 22 January 1989 in the Armenian capital Yerevan to Marina Taschyan and Hamlet Mkhitaryan, a prominent striker of FC Ararat Yerevan during the 1980s, who died of a brain tumor at age 33 when Mkhitaryan was seven years old. His mother is the head of the national teams department in the Armenian Football Federation and his elder sister, Monica, works at UEFA's headquarters. At the beginning of the 1990s, the Mkhitaryan family moved to France, where Hamlet Mkhitaryan played for the now defunct ASOA Valence and helped them to be promoted to the second division Ligue 2. Mkhitaryan spent his early childhood in Valence. He always wanted to become a football player and began to follow in his father's footsteps. As a child, he would watch his father play and always wanted to follow him to training. The Mkhitaryans returned to Yerevan in 1995. Mkhitaryan graduated from the Institute of Physical Culture in Armenia. He studied economics at the Yerevan branch of the St. Petersburg Institute. Upon graduation, he plans to study there as a lawyer. Growing up, Mkhitaryan considered Zinedine Zidane his football idol.
Mkhitaryan joined the Pyunik FC youth system in 1995 and received his first salary at the age of 15. He was later promoted to the first team of Pyunik FC, making his professional debut in 2006 at the age of 17. He last played for the club in the 2009 season. During that season he scored 11 league goals in 10 league games. In his four seasons in the Pyunik first team, they won the Armenian Premier League on four occasions (2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009). They also won the Armenian Supercup twice (2007 and 2009) and the Armenian Cup once (2009). In total, he managed 70 league appearances for the club with 30 goals and 89 total appearances with 35 goals. Armenian national team and Pyunik head coach Vardan Minasyan admitted that he would love to see his star player "playing in a stronger league." Minasyan stated young Henrikh was well on his way to becoming a legend in his own right. He said of Mkhitaryan, "He can win games on his own. He seizes control at the crucial moment and scores for fun." Due to his success in the 2009 Armenian Premier League at Pyunik Yerevan, he joined Ukrainian Premier League club Metalurh Donetsk. Mkhitaryan joined Metalurh Donetsk. He scored a goal on his debut in a 3–0 victory against Belarusian Premier League side FC Partizan Minsk, in the Europa League on 16 July 2009. On 19 July, he made his league debut in a 0–0 draw with Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. His first league goal came in a 2–2 draw with Karpaty Lviv on 26 July. On 6 August, he scored the first goal in a 3–0 second leg Europa League win against SlovenianInterblock Ljubljana, winning 5–0 on aggregate. He finished the season with 14 goals in 38 appearances, including 29 league matches and 9 goals. The following season he was named captain of the club on 14 July, at the age 21, making him the youngest captain in Metalurh Donetsk history. He scored his first goal, an 89th minute penalty, in a 3–0 victory over Obolon Kyiv on 16 July. He played his final match for the club in a 2–1 win against Dnipro on 30 August. In his second season he played eight matches and scored three goals, all of which were in the league. He made 37 league appearances during his time at Metalurh, scoring 12 goals. In total he played 46 matches for the club, scoring 17 times. On 30 August, he sealed a $7.5 million switch to reigning Premier League champions Shakhtar Donetsk. During the 2010–11 season Mkhitaryan was bought for $7.5 million by the champions Shakhtar Donetsk. His debut came on 10 September in a 1–0 away league defeat to Obolon Kyiv, being replaced after 62 minutes by Eduardo. His home debut was more successful, with Shakhtar coming back from a goal behind to win 4–1 against Tavriya Simferopol on 19 September. He scored his first goal for the club in this match. Three days later he made his first appearance in the Ukrainian Cup, netting the second goal in a 6–0 win overKryvbas. On 25 September, he scored a late injury time winner in a 2–1 away victory over Metalist Kharkiv. He made his European debut for the club in the Champions League on 28 September against Sporting Braga winning 3–0. He made an appearance in the 2–0Ukrainian Cup Final victory against Dynamo Kyiv, coming on in the 81st minute in place of Jádson. His first season with the club was extremely successful for Shakhtar as they won the treble (Premier League, Ukrainian Cup and the Super Cup).
In the 2011–12 season Shakhtar won the Premier League and the Ukrainian Cup. Mkhitaryan scored the third goal in a 4–0 win againstObolon Kyiv in his first league match of the season. On 4 March, he scored the equalising goal in a 1–1 draw with Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. He scored the only goal in a cup victory over Metalurh Zaporizhya on 11 April. On 6 May, he played a part in Shakhtar's 2–1 extra time victory over his former team Metalurh Donetsk in the Ukrainian Cup Final, coming off after 62 minutes for Douglas Costa. In an online poll on Shakhtar Donetsk's official website, Mkhitaryan was voted as the best player of Shakhtar in 2011–12 Premier League season with about 38% of total votes. He scored 11 goals in 36 matches, including 10 goals in 28 matches. Shakhtar retained thePremier League and the Ukrainian Cup in the 2011–12 season. Mkhitaryan played in 2–0 2012 Super Cup victory over Metalurh Donetsk. In his first match of the 2012–2013 Premier League season, he netted twice and provided two assists in a 6–0 season opening victory against Arsenal Kyiv. He managed a hat-trick against Chornomorets Odesa in a 5–1 win to reach 10 goals for the season after just six games, equalling his tally for the previous season. On 19 September, in Shakhtar's first Champions League match of the season, Mkhitaryan scored twice in a 2–0 victory over Danish champions Nordsjælland. This was the first time he had scored a goal in the Champions League and he was named Man of the Match. He was also named in the Team of the Week for matchday 1 of the Champions League after his brace against Nordsjælland. On 16 March 2013, Mkhitaryan played his 100th game in the Ukrainian Premier League in a match against Chornomorets Odesa. On 11 May 2013, Mkhitaryan scored his 23rd and 24th goals of the Premier League season in a 5–0 victory over Tavria. These goals set aUkrainian Premier League record for most goals in a season. Mkhitaryan finished the season with 25 league goals, and the attacking midfielder was praised for his technique and dedication.
On 25 June, Borussia Dortmund made a €25 million ($30 million) bid, but in confirming the offer Shakhtar Donetsk CEO Sergei Palkin insisted that it fell short of the clubs valuation, which was a single payment of €30 million (£25 million). In the same press conference, Palkin confirmed the acquisition of BrazilianFred from Sport Club Internacional for €15 million (£12.5 million), a likely replacement. On 5 July, it was reported that Borussia Dortmund has succeeded in talks with Shakhtar and Mkhitaryan was on his way to Germany for a medical test. On 8 July, Borussia Dortmund announced that it was set to sign a four-year deal with Mkhitaryan for €25 million (£21.5 million) Shakhtar and Borussia officially "resolved all the necessary formalities" and agreed on €27.5 million (£23.6 million), making him the most expensive purchase in the club's history. On his debut in a pre-season friendly against FC Basel on 10 July 2013, Mkhitaryan set up a goal for Marco Reus in the 11th minute and scored his first goal for the club 16 minutes later, helping his side to a 3–1 victory away at St. Jakob-Park. Mkhitaryan couldn't take part and wasn't listed in the squad at the 2013 DFL-Supercup which his club won due to an injury he received on a friendly game before that. Mkhitaryan debuted for BVB following his return from a three weeks sustained injury in the second round of 2013–14 Bundesliga on 18 August 2013 in a BVB victory over Eintracht Braunschweig at BVB's Signal Iduna Park. Mkhitaryan's first two Bundesliga goals were decisive in a 2–1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt to keep Dortmund in first place in the Bundesliga. His first Champions League goal for Dortmund came in a 1–2 away win against Arsenal. Mkhitaryan finished his season with nine goals and ten assists and was included in the WhoScored Bundesliga Team of the Season. His team finished runner-up at the2013–14 Bundesliga, and runner-up for the 2013–14 DFB-Pokal. The first trophy Mkhitaryan won with Dortmund was the 2014 DFL-Supercup, scoring the first goal in the 2–0 victory over Bayern Munich. In September, Mkhitaryan suffered an injury that sidelined him for a month and on 13 December he was injured again. He scored the second goal of a 3–0 win against rivals Schalke 04 in February.
Mkhitaryan is currently the most important member of the Armenia national team. He debuted in an away friendly match against Panama on 14 January 2007. He scored six goals for Armenia in UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying Group B, thus becoming top goalscorer in that group. Although Armenia did not advance past the qualifying stage for UEFA Euro 2012, Mkhitaryan's performances landed him in the UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifying Dream Team with six goals. On 10 September 2013, in the absence of regular skipper goalkeeper Roman Berezovsky, Mkhitaryan captained his country for the first time, as they lost 0–1 at home toDenmark in World Cup qualification. He became the top scorer in the history of the Armenian national team, after scoring his 12th goal for the national team in a 1–3 defeat toItaly in another qualifier on 15 October. This surpassed the 11 scored for the nation by Artur Petrosyan. On 27 May 2014, he scored twice in a 4–3 friendly win against the United Arab Emirates at the Stade de la Fontenette in Carouge, Switzerland.
Mkhitaryan is an attacking midfielder capable of playing second striker as well. He thrives playing just behind the strikers, where he always looks to link up with his teammates in and around the box. Tearing apart opposition defences time and time again, he makes space for the striker/wingers to exploit and create goal scoring opportunities. Mkhitaryan has been praised for his technique, movement, accurate passing, dribbling, creativity, ball control and work rate.