A fast, penetrative winger with outstanding dribbling skills, Yevhen Konoplyanka has been talked up as the 'Ukrainian Messi'. A member of his country's 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squad, the FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk player has made giant strides with the senior side in the build-up to UEFA EURO 2012.

• Born in Kirovohrad, he started out with the local youth team before talent-spotters took him to Dnipro at 17.

• Handed his Ukrainian Premier League debut a month before his 18th birthday, a 0-0 draw against FC Zakarpattya Uzhhorod on 26 August 2007.

• Represented Ukraine at Under-19 level as he developed his game at Dnipro, eventually becoming a regular during the 2009/10 season, in which he scored four goals, the first of them against FC Zorya Luhansk on 28 February 2010.

• Made his senior international debut in a friendly against Lithuania on 25 May 2010 and scored his first goal four days later during a 3-2 defeat of Romania in Lviv; played in the 2011 European U21 finals in Denmark, starting all three games, and became a fixture in the senior team in the countdown to UEFA EURO 2012, scoring a memorable solo goal in a 3-3 draw with Germany.

• Scored six goals in 25 starts for Dnipro in 2010/11 and made his European club debut in a UEFA Europa League qualifier against FC Spartak Zlatibor voda; hit eight goals to fire Dnipro to fourth in 2011/12 and a UEFA Europa League play-off place.