Before Tuesday he had scored only a handful of goals for Russia, was little known outside the former Soviet Union and Spain where he plays club soccer, and was not even picked for his team's opening match.
No wonder the 24-year-old striker was almost lost for words and could do little more than grin like a schoolboy after writing his name into World Cup history.
"It's the kind of thing that happens once in your life. I don't feel anything special at the moment. I don't know what I will feel later," he said.
Salenko scored three times in the first half and twice in the second, in Russia's 6-1 destruction of Cameroon, beating the previous best of four goals.
The effort surprised manager Pavel Sadyrin. "Before the game I went up to Oleg and I told him, 'If you do what you are capable of, you could score a couple of goals today,'" Sadyrin said. "I didn't think he'd get five."
Salenko was born in St. Petersburg Oct. 25, 1969. He earned his reputation as a marksman in four seasons with Dynamo Kiev, netting three times in a 6-1 victory in the Soviet Cup final in 1990. He joined Valencia of Spain in 1993.
Salenko has been married to his wife Ira for 6 1/2 years but sees nothing special about himself or his family. He could not even recall doing anything special before the match that might have boosted his performance.
Russian manager Pavel Sadyrin, a laconic man who rarely shows emotion, said Salenko had finally proved his talent.
"He is a very talented forward. His tally of 16 goals this season in Spain showed that," he said.
Sadyrin was also caught off guard by Salenko' s feat.
Not only is he reported to have been unhappy with Salenko before the first group match against Brazil, and left him out of the team, but underestimated his capabilities before Tuesday's match.
in a single match at the World Cup finals shared by nine players
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