As a player, he was capped 24 times for the Soviet Union,[1] and, as a head coach, became the second ever manager – after Oleh Blokhin – to take the Ukraine national team to an international finals tournament, reaching UEFA Euro 2016.

Barcelona, under Johan Cruyff and with such star players as Ronald Koeman and Pep Guardiola, ended up to be finalist of that UEFA Champions League season.

[1] Fomenko coached Ukraine to six 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification wins, coming against Poland (twice), Moldova, Montenegro, San Marino and France, as well as one draw against England.

Despite winning the first leg 2–0 at home, Ukraine fell 3–0 away to lose 3–2 on aggregate, thus failing to make the 2014 World Cup finals.

[3] Fomenko ultimately led Ukraine to successful qualification in the Euro 2016 finals in France after finishing in third place in its qualifying group, setting up a playoff matchup against Slovenia.