Andriy Shevchenko

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Andriy Shevchenko
Personal information
Full name Andriy Mykolayovych
Shevchenko
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
 England Chelsea
Number 7
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15:44, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

Andriy Mykolayovych Shevchenko ([Андрій Миколайович Шевченко, Andrij Mykolajovyč Ševčenko] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help), born 29 September 1976, Dvirkivschyna, Kiev Oblast) is a Ukrainian football striker who plays for Chelsea F.C. in the FA Premier League. He won the 2004 European Footballer of the Year award, and was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in 2004. He is also the second-highest goal scorer of all-time in European club competitions with 58 goals, behind only Gerd Müller.[1]

Biography

Andriy was nine when the Chernobyl nuclear disaster occurred in April 1986. His village, not far from Chernobyl, was also affected by the disaster, and his family was one amongst the thousands who had to abandon their homes and relocate to the coast to escape the after effects.[2] At an early age, he was a competitive boxer in the LLWI Ukrainian junior league, but due to his size, he was forced to move on to football, where he flourished.

Club career

Dynamo Kyiv

Later that year, Andriy failed a dribbling test for entrance to a specialist sports school in Kyiv. However, he happened to catch the eye of a Dynamo Kyiv scout while playing in a youth tournament, and was thus brought to the club. He was extremely successful in the youth system at the club, honing his skills on the junior teams. In 1990, Andriy, playing for the Dynamo Kyiv under-14 team in the Ian Rush Cup in Wales, was top scorer in the tournament, and was awarded a pair of Rush's boots as a prize by the Liverpool F.C. player himself.[2]

In 1992-93, he was the top scorer for Dynamo-2 with twelve goals, and he made an appearance in the first team list, taking Dynamo to their second successive league victory. He scored his first international goal in May 1996, in a friendly against Turkey, at Samsun. Shevchenko won the league again next season with Dynamo, scoring 6 goals in 20 games. The next two seasons, 1997-98 and 1998-99, were abundantly productive for Shevchenko. The highlight of his 1997-98 season was his first-half hat-trick against FC Barcelona in the 1997-98 Champions League, helping Dynamo produce a shock 4-0 road win. His 19 goals in 23 league matches, 6 goals in 10 Champions League matches, and another league victory with Dynamo in 1997-98 were followed by 28 goals in all competitions in 1998-99, and the league top-scorer award for his 18 goals there. Shevchenko's exploits in the Champions League took Dynamo to the semi-final stage of the tournament, before they lost to Bayern Munich 3-4 on aggregate.

Shevchenko won the domestic league title with Dynamo in each of his five seasons with the club. Under the guidance of Valeri Lobanovsky, the Dynamo manager from January 1997 to May 2002 (his third spell in the post), Shevchenko flourished into one of the team's most prominent and skillful players.

A.C. Milan

In 1999, Shevchenko joined the then five-time European Cup champions A.C. Milan for £26 million, and instantly became one of their top players. He made his Serie A debut on 28 August 1999 in a 2-2 away draw with U.S. Lecce. His impressive haul of 24 league goals in 32 matches earned him the Serie A scoring title, becoming the first non-Italian player to accomplish the feat in his debut season. Over the next two seasons, Shevchenko scored 34 goals in 51 matches then 17 goals in 38 matches in all competitions, but Milan could not win any silverware in either season.

The disappointment of those two seasons was overcome in 2002-03 when Milan won the Coppa Italia, as well as the Champions League, making Shevchenko the first Ukrainian-born player ever to win a Champions League title. Though Shevchenko was not in top offensive form, netting only five times in 24 matches, he scored the winning penalty kick in the shoot out against arch-rivals Juventus in the final, giving the Rossoneri their sixth title. 2003-04 was another successful season for both Milan and Shevchenko. He was the Serie A scoring champion for the second time in his career, duplicating his previous effort of 24 goals in 32 matches en route to Milan winning the Scudetto after a four-year drought. He also scored the winning goal in the UEFA Super Cup victory over F.C. Porto, leading to Milan's second trophy of the season. In August 2004, he scored three goals against S.S. Lazio as Milan won the Italian Super Cup. He capped off the year in dramatic fashion by being named the 2004 European Player of the Year.

In 2004–05, Milan finished runner-up to Juventus in the Serie A standings, helped in part by the seventeen goals of Shevchenko, but Milan's domestic success was promptly deflated in the wake of the 2005 Champions League final, in which they lost a 3-0 lead to Liverpool F.C. during a six-minute span in the second half. The match ended 3–3 after extra time. Shevchenko's decisive penalty was blocked by Liverpool goalie Jerzy Dudek in the shoot-out, which gave the English side the title.

Shevchenko scored 19 goals in the 22 games that he played in the 2005-06 Serie A campaign to go with nine goals in 12 total matches in the Champions League, making history along the way. On 23 November 2005, Shevchenko scored all four goals in Milan's 4-0 drubbing of Fenerbahçe SK, becoming only the fifth player to do so in a CL match (his company includes Marco van Basten, Simone Inzaghi, Dado Pršo and Ruud van Nistelrooy). However, he scored only once in the last four matches of the quarter-final and semi-final stages as Milan eliminated Olympique Lyonnais thanks to a last-minute comeback, but were then held scoreless in both semi-final legs en route to falling to Barcelona. He ended the season as the CL's fourth-highest scorer with a total of 43 career goals, in addition to ten qualifying-round scores.

On 8 February 2006, he became Milan's second all-time goalscorer, behind legend Gunnar Nordahl, after netting against Treviso.[3]

Chelsea

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 During the summer of 2004, there were persistent reports that Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich offered a record sum of £50 million and striker Hernán Crespo to A.C. Milan in exchange for Shevchenko. Milan refused the monetary offer but took Crespo on loan. Abramovich upped his offer to £85 million to AC Milan, in addition to a record weekly wage of £225,000, to transfer him to Chelsea, but he was again refused. Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon was quoted as saying, "I think Shevchenko is the type of player we would like. At the end of the day to improve what we have got, it has to be a great player and Shevchenko certainly comes into that class."[4] Meanwhile, Shevchenko repeatedly denied that he wanted to leave, claiming that he wanted to become a Milan legend like Franco Baresi and Paolo Maldini. But on 11 May 2006, Shevchenko publicly announced that he would be leaving the club after all, to join the premier league holders, which came as a surprise to Milan fans.

He said: "It is useless hiding things — I was with the president, we talked of many things and also about the possibility that I could leave. There hasn't been a definitive decision. I want to be clear, we are only talking. This has nothing to do with my relationship with Milan, there has always been a great deal of affection, as with my team mates and coaches. The decision that I am considering regards above all my family..."[5]

On May 14, 2006, during the last Serie A encounter between Milan and Roma, Shevchenko watched the first half in the stands with Milan supporters, many of whom cried and begged him to stay, but it was to no avail. Two weeks later, he signed for the London giant.[6] The fee has not been officially disclosed, but most media outlets put it between £30 million ($58 million US, €45m[7]) and £56 million, which would make it the most expensive transfer in English football and one of the top six in the world. Shevchenko joined up with his new team after the 2006 World Cup. He received the number seven shirt, as Chelsea coach José Mourinho said that Shevchenko could continue wearing it.[8]

On August 13, 2006, Shevchenko scored his first goal for Chelsea in the Community Shield match against Liverpool, but Chelsea lost 2-1. On August 23, he scored his first FA Premier League goal — and his 300th in top-flight and international football — in a 2-1 loss to Middlesbrough F.C. He then suffered a scoring drought that lasted through six Premiership matches until he finally netted his second goal of the season in a 2-1 win over Portsmouth on October 21.

Shevchenko scored his first Champions League goal for Chelsea in a group phase game against Levski Sofia on 6 December 2006. This goal brought his tally of goals scored in the UEFA Champions League to 57, making him the second highest goalscorer of all time in European club competitions.

However, after a poor start to his first season at Chelsea, many people questioned whether he was worth such a hefty transfer fee and there was speculation about Shevchenko's return to AC Milan. In January 2007 ex-Chelsea star Tony Cascarino suggested that he might end up being the biggest flop in British football [9]. Despite the constant criticism from the media, Shevchenko continued to work hard at Chelsea and has recently shown signs of beginning to find his feet in England. Shevchenko scored his sixth and seventh goals for Chelsea against Wycombe Wanderers in the Carling Cup semi-final on January 23, 2007 , and on January 28, he scored his ninth Chelsea goal in the 3-0 defeat of League 1 side Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup. He continued his good run of form against Blackburn Rovers by having a total of 7 shots at goal, all on target and was praised by José Mourinho who said that it was his best game for Chelsea so far [10]. Shevchenko came on as a substitute for the FA Cup Quarter Final tie against Norwich City F.C., in which he scored his 10th goal of the season with a header in the dying seconds of the game. His 11th goal came days after, with a crucial equalizer against F.C. Porto in the UEFA Champion's League.

International career

Ukrainian postage stamp, released for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, depicting Shevchenko.

Shevchenko has 71 caps and 33 goals for the Ukraine national team, whom he represented at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

In March 2000, Dynamo manager Valeri Lobanovsky became the Ukraine coach, with the aim to qualify for the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals. Shevchenko scored 10 goals in the qualifiers, but Ukraine failed to qualify after losing a play-off against Germany.

In October 2005, Ukraine finally managed to qualify for the WC finals when they topped their 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification group with seven wins, four draws and only one loss. Shevchenko was instrumental in this inspired performance by the team, scoring six goals out of the total eighteen by Ukraine. He scored twice as Ukraine went on a surprising run in the finals, which included a lopsided 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia and the defeat of Switzerland (in which Shevchenko's penalty was saved) in a penalty shoot-out, until they were eventually eliminated in the quarter-finals by the eventual champions Italy.

Personal life

The Ukrainian footballer met his future wife at an after party, model Kristen Pazik, whom he married in July 2004 in a private ceremony at Congressional Country Club in Potomac, Maryland. Though Pazik is American, they communicate with each other in Italian, though Shevchenko had previously made public his desire to learn English, which was one reason he cited for his desire to move to Chelsea. However Shevchenko's move to Chelsea is considered to be mostly in his wife's interests. The couple has two sons, the oldest being Jordan (named after NBA legend Michael Jordan), born on 29 November 2004, an event which Andriy commemorated by scoring against Sampdoria the following day (AC Milan won 1-0).

His second son, Christian, was born on 10 November 2006. The next day, after scoring in a 4-0 Chelsea defeat of Watford, he and several of his teammates gathered and performed the popular "rock-the-baby" goal celebration as a tribute.

Name

Shevchenko's name cannot be fully transliterated from its original spelling in the Cyrillic alphabet into the Latin alphabet. His first name is spelled Andrii by World Soccer magazine, and Andrei by Sky Sports, although iy is usually the preferred suffix to Ukrainian names in most English publications. The correct pronunciation is [an.ˈdrij]. His last name is pronounced the same in English as it is in Ukranian or Russian.

Trivia

  • Shevchenko became the third Ukrainian player ever to win the Golden Ball, following Oleg Blokhin in 1975 and Igor Belanov in 1986.
  • He is a close friend of fashion designer Giorgio Armani, and once strolled the catwalk wearing a suit for the Italian stylist, and even opened an Armani store with him in Kyiv.
  • In April 2006, he appeared on a commercial for ESPN, advertising SportsCenter. He spoke with anchor Scott Van Pelt about how Americans call European football soccer and that Europeans should call American football soccer in return.
  • Shevchenko was once offered to the Croatian (then Yugoslavian) club NK Osijek while he was a teenager. NK Osijek had tight relations with the former Soviet Union (now Ukraine and Belarus) teams and the players and managers at start of the 90's. Aleksandar Metlickiy and Alexey Shalimo played for the team, as many of them came to Osijek on trial spells. [citation needed]

Career statistics

Club career

The following table is up to date as of 25 February 2007
Season League Cup League Cup Europe Super Cup European
Super Cup 		Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Dynamo Kyiv 1994/95 17 1 4 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 23 3
1995/96 31 16 5 1 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 38 19
1996/97 20 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 6
1997/98 23 19 8 8 0 0 10 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 41 33
1998/99 26 18 4 5 0 0 14 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 44 33
All 117 60 21 15 0 0 28 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 166 144
Milan 1999/00 32 24 4 4 0 0 6 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 43 29
2000/01 34 24 3 1 0 0 14 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 51 34
2001/02 29 14 3 0 0 0 6 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 38 17
2002/03 24 5 4 1 0 0 11 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 39 10
2003/04 32 24 1 0 0 0 9 4 1 0 1 1 1 0 45 29
2004/05 29 17 0 0 0 0 10 6 1 3 0 0 0 0 40 26
2005/06 28 19 0 0 0 0 12 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 40 28
All 208 127 15 6 0 0 68 36 3 3 1 1 1 0 296 273
Chelsea 2006/07 24 3 3 2 4 3 6 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 38 11
All 24 3 3 2 4 3 6 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 38 11
Career totals 349 190 39 23 4 3 102 57 4 4 1 1 1 0 500 408

International goals

The following table is up to date as of 11 October 2006
Andriy Shevchenko: International Goals
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 1 May 1996 Samsun, Turkey Template:TURf 3–2 Lost Friendly
2. 2 April 1997 Kyiv, Ukraine Template:NIRf 2–1 Won WC 1998 Qual
3. 7 May 1997 Kyiv, Ukraine Template:ARMf 1–1 Draw WC 1998 Qual
4. 11 October 1997 Yerevan, Armenia Template:ARMf 0–2 Won WC 1998 Qual
5. 15 November 1997 Kyiv, Ukraine Template:CROf 1–1 Draw WC 1998 Qual Playoff
6. 15 July 1998 Kyiv, Ukraine Template:POLf 1–2 Lost Friendly
7. 9 October 1999 Moscow, Russia Template:RUSf 1–1 Draw EC 2000 Qual
8. 13 November 1999 Ljubljana, Slovenia Template:SVNf 2–1 Lost EC 2000 Qual Playoff
9. 26 April 2000 Sofia, Bulgaria Template:BULf 0–1 Won Friendly
10. 2 September 2000 Kyiv, Ukraine Template:POLf 1–3 Lost WC 2002 Qual
11. 7 October 2000 Yerevan, Armenia Template:ARMf 2–3 Won WC 2002 Qual
12. 7 October 2000 Yerevan, Armenia Template:ARMf 2–3 Won WC 2002 Qual
13. 11 October 2000 Oslo, Norway Template:NORf 0–1 Won WC 2002 Qual
14. 28 March 2001 Cardiff, Wales Template:WALf 1–1 Draw WC 2002 Qual
15. 1 September 2001 Minsk, Belarus Template:BLRf 0–2 Won WC 2002 Qual
16. 1 September 2001 Minsk, Belarus Template:BLRf 0–2 Won WC 2002 Qual
17. 5 September 2001 Lviv, Ukraine Template:ARMf 3–0 Won WC 2002 Qual
18. 6 October 2001 Chorzow, Poland Template:POLf 1–1 Draw WC 2002 Qual
19. 14 November 2001 Dortmund, Germany Template:GERf 4–1 Lost WC 2002 Qual Playoff
20. 7 June 2003 Lviv, Ukraine Template:ARMf 4–3 Won EC 2004 Qual
21. 7 June 2003 Lviv, Ukraine Template:ARMf 4–3 Won EC 2004 Qual
22. 10 September 2003 Elche, Spain Template:ESPf 2–1 Lost EC 2004 Qual
23. 9 October 2003 Kyiv, Ukraine Template:GREf 1–1 Draw WC 2006 Qual
24. 13 October 2004 Lviv, Ukraine Template:GEOf 2–0 Won WC 2006 Qual
25. 17 November 2004 Istanbul, Turkey Template:TURf 0–3 Won WC 2006 Qual
26. 17 November 2004 Istanbul, Turkey Template:TURf 0–3 Won WC 2006 Qual
27. 4 June 2005 Kyiv, Ukraine Template:KAZf 2–0 Won WC 2006 Qual
28. 8 October 2005 Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine Template:ALBf 2–2 Draw WC 2006 Qual
29. 8 June 2006 Luxembourg, Luxembourg Template:LUXf 0–3 Won Friendly
30. 19 June 2006 Hamburg, Germany Template:KSAf 0–4 Won WC 2006 Group H
31. 23 June 2006 Berlin, Germany Template:TUNf 0–1 Won WC 2006 Group H
32. 6 September 2006 Kyiv, Ukraine Template:GEOf 3–2 Won EC 2008 Qual
33. 11 October 2006 Kyiv, Ukraine Template:SCOf 2–0 Won EC 2008 Qual

Awards and honours

Trophies
Personal honours
  • Ukrainian League Top Scorer: 1998-1999
  • Serie A Top Scorer: 1999-2000, 2003-2004
  • UEFA Champions League Top Scorer: 1998-1999, 2000-2001, 2005-2006
  • Ukrainian Player of the Year: 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003
  • UEFA Best Forward 1999, 2006
  • Ballon d'Or: 2004
  • Joint second all-time scorer in the history of European club competitions[11]
  • Second all-time scorer in the history of A.C. Milan[12]

Notes and references

  1. ^ Chelsea 2-0 Levski Sofia
  2. ^ a b Andriy Shevchenko, the lethal weapon, FIFA, 29 November 2004
  3. ^ SHEVA 56 GOALS OFF NORDAHL, ACMilan.com, February 9, 2006
  4. ^ Mourinho set for Shevchenko fight, BBC Sport, 16 May 2006
  5. ^ Peter ORourke, Sheva considers Milan exit, Sky Sports, 12 May 2006
  6. ^ Shevchenko transfer completed, ChelseaFC.com, [[]]May 31, 2006
  7. ^ Shevchenko seals Chelsea switch, UEFA, 31 May 2006
  8. ^ It's No. 7 for Sheva, ChelseaFC.com, June 2, 2006
  9. ^ Chick, Alex (13-12.2006). "Cascarino: Sheva doomed to failure". Eurosport. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ Lester, Gill (02-02-2007). "Reaction: Concern for Cole but praise for others". ChelseaFC. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ European football records#topscorers
  12. ^ A.C. Milan#All-Time Goalscorers

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Andriy Shevchenko.
Preceded by European Footballer of the Year
2004 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Serie A top scorer
2003-04 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Serie A Foreign Footballer of the Year
2000 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Serie A top scorer
1999-00 		Succeeded by
Preceded by UEFA Champions League Best Forward
1998-99 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Ukrainian Premier League top scorer
1998-99 		Succeeded by
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