Roman Eremenko

Eremenko started to play football in a youth sector of FF Jaro in Pietarsaari, Finland, in 1994. He would also play in the youth sectors of Tromsø IL in Norway and HJK Helsinki, while his father Alexei Eremenko Sr. was playing professionally for the first teams, before they returned to Pietarsaari and Jaro in 2003.

Jaro

Eremenko's career on senior level started when he made his Veikkausliiga debut for Jaro in 2004 at the age of 17, when head coach Hannu Touru used him as a substitute in a match against MYPA on 29 June 2004. In that match Eremenko appeared on the pitch at the same time with his father, who played for the whole match as a midfielder. Eremenko scored his first goal on senior level on 18 September 2004 in a match against FC Lahti. He made six appearances for Jaro in his first season. During season 2004 he was also loaned to Kakkonen club Jakobstads BK and to Finnish First Division club GBK Kokkola. He made his break through in Jaro during season 2005 when he became a regular in the starting eleven. He gained 13 caps and was in the starting line-up 10 times. In those 13 matches he scored two goals.

Udinese

In the summer of 2005, Eremenko signed a five-year deal with Udinese for a transfer fee of €180,000. He made his Serie A debut on the first day of the 2006–07 season against Messina. He became the fourth Finnish footballer after Mika Aaltonen, Mika Lehkosuo and his brother Alexei Eremenko Jr to make an appearance in a Serie A match. He was loaned to A.C. Siena on 31 January 2007, where he played 11 games. During the summer of 2007, he returned to Udinese. In October 2007, Eremenko, Andrea Dossena, Cristián Zapata, and Simone Pepe were awarded new contracts until June 2012.

Dynamo Kyiv

In August 2008, he was loaned to FC Dynamo Kyiv, until 31…

Eremenko made his international debut in the Finland national team at Helsinki Olympic Stadium on 6 June 2007 in a UEFA Euro 2008 qualification match against Belgium when Roy Hodgson chose him to the starting line up. The game was interrupted for six minutes after a Eurasian eagle-owl intruded the playing pitch. This incident earned the Finland team their current nickname, The Eagle Owls. Eremenko remained as a regular member for Finland until his doping ban in 2016 and he was a key player in Finland's qualification campaigns for 2010 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2012, 2014 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2016. He scored his first goal for Finland from penalty spot on 3 March 2010 in a friendly match against Malta. On 30 May 2025, Eremenko was called-up to the Finland national team, after a nine-year absence, for the World Cup qualifying matches against Netherlands and Poland.

Roman Eremenko is married to Marika Eremenko and has three children. Eremenko moved to Finland with his family at the age of three when his father, former FC Dynamo Moscow and FC Spartak Moscow player Alexei Eremenko Sr., came to play in Finland with FF Jaro. He was granted Finnish citizenship in 2003, but still holds a Russian passport as well, Eremenko is the younger brother of Alexei Eremenko Jr and the older brother of Sergei Eremenko. His father took over as manager in Jaro in August 2009. In 2016, he was suspended for two years because of doping after failing a doping test. He tested positive for cocaine based on a sample done by UEFA. In late 2023, Eremenko admitted in Finnish media that he was addicted to cocaine at the time when he got caught in 2016.