Andriy Mykolayovych Shevchenko, or Andrii Mykolaiovych Shevchenko ( uk, Андрій Миколайович Шевченко, ; born 29 September 1976) is a

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * Som ...

football manager ''Football Manager'' (also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008) is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game be ...

, a former professional

football player A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

and a former politician. Shevchenko played as a striker for

Dynamo Kyiv Football Club Dynamo Kyiv (, ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society, the club as a separate business entity was offic ...

AC Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 season ...

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament const ...

and the Ukraine national team. He was head coach of

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Copp ...

club

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of t ...

. Shevchenko became the Vice President of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine on the 17th of November 2022. Shevchenko is considered one of the most lethal strikers to ever play the game. He is ranked as the seventh top goalscorer in all European competitions with 67 goals. With a tally of 175 goals scored for Milan, he is the second most prolific player in the history of the club, and is also the all-time top scorer of the ''

Derby della Madonnina The Derby della Madonnina, also known as the Derby di Milano (Milan Derby, in English), is a derby football match between the two prominent Milanese clubs, Internazionale and A.C. Milan. It is called ''Derby della Madonnina'' in honour of on ...

'' (the

derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gain ...

between Milan and their local rivals

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter i ...

) with 14 goals. Furthermore, he is the all-time top scorer for the Ukrainian national team with 48 goals. Shevchenko's career has been highlighted by many awards, the most prestigious of which was the

Ballon d'Or The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual football award presented by French news magazine '' France Football'' since 1956. Between 2010 and 2015, in an agreement with FIFA, the award was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year (fo ...

in 2004 (becoming the third Ukrainian, after

Oleg Blokhin Oleg Vladimirovich Blokhin, or Oleh Volodymyrovych Blokhin ( uk, Оле́г Володи́мирович Блохі́н, rus, Оле́г Влади́мирович Блохи́н; born 5 November 1952), is a former Ukrainian and Soviet footba ...

and

Igor Belanov Igor Ivanovich Belanov ( rus, И́горь Ива́нович Бела́нов) or Ihor Ivanovych Bielanov ( uk, Ігор Іванович Бєланов; born 25 September 1960) is a Ukrainian former professional footballer who played as a stri ...

, to receive it). He won the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

in 2003 with Milan, and he has also won various league and cup titles in Ukraine, Italy and England. He was also a Champions League runner-up in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

and

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

. He was named in the FIFA World XI for 2005. In 2004, he was named as one of the Top 100 greatest living footballers as part of FIFA's 100th anniversary celebration. In his international career, the striker led Ukraine as captain to the quarter-finals in their first ever

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the ' (FIFA), the ...

appearance in 2006, and also took part at

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

on home soil. On 28 July 2012, Shevchenko announced that he was quitting football for politics. He stood for election to the

Ukrainian Parliament The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...

in the October

2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election The Ukrainian parliamentary election of 2012 took place on 28 October 2012.his party failed to win parliamentary representation. He returned to football in 2016, as assistant coach of the Ukraine national team February to July, at the time led by

Mykhaylo Fomenko Mykhaylo Ivanovych Fomenko ( uk, Михайло Іванович Фоменко; born 19 September 1948) is a Ukrainian former association footballer and former head coach of the Ukraine national team.UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Euro ...

Early life

Shevchenko was born in

Dvirkivshchyna Dvirkivshchyna () is a small Ukrainian village located in Boryspil Raion of Kyiv Oblast, 130 km east of the Ukrainian capital. It lays close to the city of Yahotyn. Dvirkivshchyna belongs to Yahotyn urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Uk ...

, Ukrainian SSR. He was born in the family of ''

Praporshchik ( rus, Пра́порщик, 3=ˈprapərɕːɪk, ) is a rank used by the Russian Armed Forces and a number of former communist states. The rank is a non-commissioned officer's and is equivalent to in navies. It is usually equivalent to Warran ...

'' Mykola Hryhorovych Shevchenko. In 1979, his family moved to the newly built neighbourhood in Kyiv – Obolon (Minsk District was created in 1975). In Kyiv, Shevchenko went to the 216th City School and in 1986 (aged 9) enrolled into the football section coached by Oleksandr Shpakov. Because of the

accident An accident is an unintended, normally unwanted event that was not directly caused by humans. The term ''accident'' implies that nobody should be blamed, but the event may have been caused by unrecognized or unaddressed risks. Most researche ...

at the

Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (ChNPP; ; ), is a nuclear power plant undergoing decommissioning. ChNPP is located near the abandoned city of Pripyat in northern Ukraine northwest of the city of Chernobyl, from the Belarus–Ukraine bor ...

, together with his sport group he was evacuated temporarily from the city. At an early age, he also was a competitive

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom *Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe eel, ...

in the LLWI Ukrainian junior league, but eventually he elected to move on to football.

Club career

Dynamo Kyiv

In 1986, Shevchenko failed a dribbling test for entrance to a specialist sports school in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

, but happened to catch the eye of a

scout while playing in a youth tournament, and was thus brought to the club. Four years later, Shevchenko was on the Dynamo under-14 team for the

Ian Rush Ian James Rush (born 20 October 1961) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a forward. At club level Rush played for Liverpool from 1980–1987 and 1988–1996. He is the club's all-time leading goalscorer, having scored a ...

Cup (now the Welsh Super Cup); he finished as the tournament's top scorer and was awarded a pair of Rush's boots as a prize by the then-

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

player. Shevchenko started out his professional career at age 16 when he came on for only 12 minutes as a substitute in a 0–2 home loss to the Odessa second team Chornomorets-2 Odesa on 5 May 1993. He was a substitute for the last six home games of the 1992–93 Ukrainian First League and did not score any goals. The next 1993–94 season at the second tier, Shevchenko was the top goal scorer for Dynamo-2 with 12 goals, and he made his first appearance in the starting XI. Shevchenko scored his first goal against Krystal Chortkiv at the home 1–1 draw on 7 October 1993. During the same season, he recorded his first hat-trick in a home game against Artania Ochakiv on 21 November 1993 which Dynamo-2 won 4–1. Shevchenko stayed with Dynamo-2 until the end of 1994 and once again he was called up for one game in late 1996. He made his Vyshcha Liha debut for Dynamo squad on 8 November 1994 in an away game against

Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk ( uk, Футбольний клуб «Шахтар» Донецьк , short nickname "miners") is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Donetsk. In 2014, due to the War in Donbass, the club was ...

when he was 18. It was actually his second game for the senior squad overall after he played a home game of National Cup competition on 5 November 1994 against Skala Stryi. That year Shevchenko became a national champion and became a cup holder with Dynamo. He won his second league title the next season, scoring 6 goals in 20 matches. He scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wi ...

in the first half of a

1997–98 UEFA Champions League The 1997–98 UEFA Champions League was the 43rd season of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA's premier club football tournament, and the sixth since its re-branding from the "European Champion Clubs' Cup" or "European Cup". The tournament was won b ...

away match against

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...

, which Dynamo won 4–0; no other visitor to the

Camp Nou Camp Nou (, meaning ''new field'', often referred to in English as the Nou Camp), officially branded as Spotify Camp Nou for sponsorship and financial reasons, is a football stadium in Barcelona, Spain. It has been the home stadium of FC Barc ...

scored a Champions League treble until 2021. His 19 goals in 23 league matches and six goals in ten Champions League matches (including a hat-trick over two legs against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

) were followed by 28 total goals in all competitions in 1998–99. He won the domestic league title with Dynamo in each of his five seasons with the club.

AC Milan

In 1999, Shevchenko joined Italian club

for a then-record transfer fee of $25 million. He made his league debut on 28 August 1999 in a 2–2 draw with

Lecce Lecce ( ); el, label=Griko, Luppìu, script=Latn; la, Lupiae; grc, Λουπίαι, translit=Loupíai), group=pron is a historic city of 95,766 inhabitants (2015) in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Lecce, the provinc ...

. Alongside five other players –

Michel Platini Michel François Platini (born 21 June 1955) is a French association football, football Administrator (business), administrator and former player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Platini won the Ballon d'Or ...

John Charles William John Charles (27 December 1931 – 21 February 2004) was a Welsh footballer who played as a centre-forward or as a centre-back. Best known for his first stint at Leeds United and Juventus, he was rated by many as the greatest all-roun ...

Gunnar Nordahl Nils Gunnar Nordahl (; 19 October 1921 – 15 September 1995) was a Swedish professional footballer. A highly prolific, powerful, and physically strong striker, with an eye for goal, he is best known for his spell at AC Milan from 1949 to 1956, ...

, István Nyers, and

Ferenc Hirzer Ferenc Hirzer (21 November 1902 – 28 April 1957) known in Hungarian as Ferenc Híres was a Hungarian football player and manager, who played as a forward during the 1910s and 1920s; he is perhaps best known for his time with Italian side Juve ...

– he managed, as a foreign player, to win the

scoring title in his debut season, finishing with 24 goals in 32 matches. Shevchenko maintained his excellent form into the 2000–01 season, scoring 24 goals in 34 matches, including nine goals in 14 Champions League games. During the same season, he also reunited with

Kakha Kaladze Kakhaber "Kakha" Kaladze ( ka, კახაბერ (კახა) კალაძე, ; born 27 February 1978) is a Georgian politician and former footballer who serves as the Mayor of Tbilisi since November 2017. A versatile player, he was ...

as teammates when Milan signed the Georgian defender from Dynamo Kyiv in January 2001. Andriy Shevchenko - 2004 - AC Milan (2)

Despite netting only five times in 24 matches, mainly due to injuries, Shevchenko became the first Ukrainian-born player to win the Champions League after Milan lifted their sixth trophy in 2002–03. He scored the crucial away goal against rivals

in the semi-final, and then scored the winning penalty in the

shoot out A shootout, also called a firefight or gunfight, is a fight between armed combatants using firearms. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used to describe those that do not involve military forces or only inv ...

against

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

, which had ended goalless after extra time. Following Milan winning the Champions League, Shevchenko flew to Kyiv to put his medal by the grave of

Valeriy Lobanovskyi Valeriy Vasylyovych Lobanovskyi ( uk, Вале́рій Васи́льович Лобано́вський ; russian: Вале́рий Васи́льевич Лобано́вский; 6 January 1939 – 13 May 2002) was а Ukrainian football playe ...

(who he was managed by when he was at Dynamo), who died in 2002. He finished top goalscorer in Serie A in 2003–04 for the second time in his career, scoring 24 goals in 32 matches as Milan won the ''

Scudetto The ''scudetto'' ( Italian for: "little shield") is a decoration having the colors of the flag of Italy which is sewn onto the jersey of the Italian sports clubs that won the highest level championship of their respective sport in the previous se ...

'' for the first time in five years. He also scored the winning goal in the

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was original ...

victory over

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropo ...

, leading to Milan's second trophy of the season. In August 2004, he scored three goals against

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

as Milan won the

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in the previous seas ...

. Shevchenko capped off the year by being awarded the

2004 Ballon d'Or The 2004 Ballon d'Or, given to the best football player in Europe as judged by a panel of sports journalists from UEFA member countries, was delivered to the Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko on 13 December 2004. On 9 November 2004, was announc ...

, becoming the third Ukrainian player ever to win the award after

and

. In the same year, Shevchenko was also inducted into the

FIFA 100 The FIFA 100 is a list of Brazilian footballer Pelé's choice of the "greatest living footballers". Unveiled on 4 March 2004 at a gala ceremony in London, England, the FIFA 100 marked part of the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the fo ...

. He scored 17 goals in the 2004–05 season after missing several games with a fractured cheekbone. Shevchenko made Champions League history the following season; on 23 November 2005, he scored all four goals in Milan's 4–0 group stage drubbing of Fenerbahçe, becoming only the fifth player to accomplish this feat; his company includes

Marco van Basten Marcel "Marco" van Basten (; born 31 October 1964) is a Dutch football manager and retired professional player, who played for Ajax and AC Milan, as well as the Netherlands national team, as a striker. Widely regarded as one of the greatest ...

Simone Inzaghi Simone Inzaghi (; born 5 April 1976) is an Italian professional football manager and former player. He is the head coach of Serie A club Inter Milan. The younger brother of Filippo Inzaghi, Simone played as a striker for a host of clubs during ...

Dado Pršo Miladin "Dado" Pršo (born 5 November 1974) is a Croatian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Pršo played for seven different teams and made over 300 league appearances as a professional. He was included in the Monaco team ...

and

Ruud van Nistelrooy Rutgerus Johannes Martinus van Nistelrooij ( anglicised to Van Nistelrooy; born 1 July 1976) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player. He is currently the coach of PSV Eindhoven. A former footballer, Van Nistelrooy is often co ...

(while

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...

joined that group in the 2009–10 season and Robert Lewandowski in

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

and 2019–20), and Shevchenko was the only player to have done it in an away game until Olivier Giroud did so for Chelsea, away to Sevilla, in the 2020-21 season. Milan eventually lost the tournament when Shevchenko missed the crucial penalty in the

against Liverpool. In the 2005–06 Champions League, he scored his last Milan goal in the second leg of the quarter-final as they eliminated

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

after a last-minute comeback in a 3–1 victory. In the semi-final, Milan lost to eventual winners Barcelona 1–0, a match where Shevchenko controversially had a last minute equaliser denied by the referee. Despite this, he still ended up being the top scorer of the whole competition with 9 goals in 12 games. On 8 February 2006, Shevchenko became Milan's second highest all-time goalscorer, behind Gunnar Nordahl, after netting against

Treviso Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Veneti ...

. He finished the season as joint fourth-top scorer with 19 goals in 28 games. Shevchenko ended his seven-year stint with Milan with 175 goals in 296 games.

Chelsea

During the summer of 2005, there were persistent reports that

owner

Roman Abramovich Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich (, ; he, רומן ארקדיביץ' אברמוביץ'; born 24 October 1966) is a Russian oligarch and politician. He is the former owner of Chelsea, a Premier League football club in London, England, and is the ...

offered a record sum €73 million and striker

Hernán Crespo Hernán Jorge Crespo (; born 5 July 1975) is an Argentine professional football coach and former player. He is the current manager of Qatari club Al-Duhail. A prolific striker, Crespo scored over 300 goals in a career spanning 19 years. At in ...

to Milan in exchange for Shevchenko. Milan refused the monetary offer but took Crespo on loan. Chelsea chief executive

Peter Kenyon Peter Kenyon (born 1954 in Stalybridge, Cheshire) is a British businessman who has served as the chief executive of English Premier League football clubs Manchester United and Chelsea, where he has been involved in contentious transfer dealings. ...

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." Shevchenko cited that the persistence of Abramovich was a key factor in his move. Milan, desperate to keep the striker, offered Shevchenko a six-year contract extension. Shevchenko2

On 28 May 2006, Shevchenko left Milan for Chelsea for £30.8 million (€43.875million), topping

Michael Essien Michael Kojo Essien (born 3 December 1982) is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and is currently a member of Danish Superliga club Nordsjælland's coaching staff. He was also capped for the Ghana national tea ...

's transfer fee from the previous year and also breaking the record for a player signed by an English club. He received the number seven shirt, as Chelsea manager José Mourinho said that Shevchenko could continue wearing it. Shevchenko made his debut for Chelsea on 13 August 2006 in the

FA Community Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier L ...

, scoring his side's goal in a 2–1 loss to Liverpool. On 23 August, he scored his first

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

goal – and his 300th in top-flight and international football – in a 2–1 loss to

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

. He scored goals sporadically throughout the season, including equalisers against Porto and

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

in the 2006–07 Champions League and another against London rival club

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

to help take his side into the

semi-final A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final mat ...

. He finished with a total of 14 from 51 games. During the campaign, he netted his 57th career goal in European competitions, leaving him second behind

Gerd Müller Gerhard "Gerd" Müller (; 3 November 1945 – 15 August 2021) was a German professional footballer. A striker renowned for his clinical finishing, especially in and around the six-yard box, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalscor ...

on the all-time European goalscorers list, before

Filippo Inzaghi Filippo "Pippo" Inzaghi (; born 9 August 1973) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who played as a striker. He was nicknamed "Superpippo" or "Alta tensione" by fans and commentators during his playing career. He is ...

made the record his own in the 2007–08 Champions League. Shevchenko's 2006–07 season was cut short due to injury and a hernia operation. He missed the Champions League semi-final against Liverpool and the

FA Cup final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official atten ...

against

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

at the new

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

on 19 May 2007. He did, however, start for Chelsea in the 2007 Football League Cup Final, 2007 League Cup final victory over Arsenal F.C., Arsenal in which he hit the bar which would have given Chelsea a 3–1 lead. Shevchenko was handed his first start of the 2007–08 Premier League, 2007–08 season against Blackburn Rovers F.C., Blackburn Rovers at home to cover for the injured Didier Drogba, but the game finished goalless. His first goal of the season came three days later, equalising for Chelsea in a match against Rosenborg BK, Rosenborg, which turned out to be José Mourinho's last game as manager of Chelsea. Throughout the season, Shevchenko was in and out of the starting line-up because of injuries and the appointment of Avram Grant following the departure of Mourinho. During the Christmas period, however, Shevchenko enjoyed a good run of form. He scored the first goal in Chelsea's 2–0 win over Sunderland A.F.C., Sunderland, and he was named man of the match in Chelsea's 4–4 draw against Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge (stadium), Stamford Bridge, scoring twice (including a stunning 25-yard shot into the top left hand corner) and assisting Alex (footballer, born June 1982), Alex to make the score 3–2 in Chelsea's favour. Shevchenko scored his last goal in the 2007–08 season in a 1–1 draw with Bolton Wanderers F.C., Bolton Wanderers. He finished the season with five league goals in 17 games. Shevchenko also played a part in a pre-season match which was against his former team, Milan.

Loan to AC Milan

Shevchenko was not used very often in the starting line-up at Chelsea, and with the appointment of Luiz Felipe Scolari, he was deemed surplus to requirements. Due to this, Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani offered to take Shevchenko back to the San Siro and Shevchenko was loan (sports), loaned back to his old club for the 2008–09 Serie A, 2008–09 season. Shevchenko's failed to score any league goals and only scored 2 goals in 26 appearances, starting only nine of those games. He returned to Chelsea for the final year of his four-year contract, where he was joined by his former Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti.

Departure

Shevchenko was not even on the bench for Chelsea's penalty shoot-out victory over Manchester United at Wembley at the weekend in the season-opening Community Shield. After making a late appearance for Chelsea in their second game of the 2009–10 Premier League, 2009–10 season, Ancelotti announced that Shevchenko would be likely to leave Chelsea before the summer transfer window closed. Despite this, Ancelotti said it had nothing to do with his decision to leave Shevchenko out of Chelsea's 2009–10 UEFA Champions League, 2009–10 Champions League squad, but just to continue playing first-team football.

Return to Dynamo Kyiv

On 28 August 2009, Shevchenko signed a two-year deal at his former club Dynamo Kyiv and scored a penalty-goal in his first game upon returning to his former club against FC Metalurh Donetsk, Metalurh Donetsk in Dynamo's 3–1 victory on 31 August. He was mostly used as a left winger and central mid-fielder, and was named left winger in the 2009 team of the season. On 16 September, Shevchenko played his first Champions League match after returning to Dynamo, against FC Rubin Kazan, Rubin Kazan, in Dynamo's first game of the 2009–10 season. In October, he was named the best player of the Ukrainian Premier League. On 4 November, he scored a goal in the game against Inter, Milan derby, cross-city rivals of his former club Milan, in the fourth game of the Champions League season. It was the 15th goal he had scored against Inter in his career. On 28 July 2012, Shevchenko announced that he was quitting football #Political career, for politics.

International career

Shevchenko achieved 111 cap (sport), caps and scored 48 goals for the Ukraine national football team, Ukrainian national team, whom he represented at the 2006 FIFA World Cup and

. He earned his first cap in 1995 and scored his first international goal in May 1996 in a friendly against Turkey national football team, Turkey. Andriy Shevchenko100

During 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA), qualification for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, 1998 World Cup, Shevchenko scored three times as Ukraine finished second in 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)#Group G, Group G to earn a place in the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)#Play-offs, play-offs. Ukraine were knocked out 3–1 on aggregate by Croatia national football team, Croatia, the team who would go on to finish third in the finals, with Shevchenko scoring Ukraine's goal in the home leg. Ukraine performed similarly impressively in UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying, again making the play-offs after finishing one point behind World Champions France national football team, France in UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying Group 4, Group 4. However, the team again failed at the UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying play-offs, play-off stage, losing to underdogs Slovenia national football team, Slovenia. Overall, Shevchenko scored four times for Ukraine during their Euro 2000 qualifying campaign. In March 2000, Dynamo manager Valeri Lobanovsky became Ukraine's coach, with the aim to qualify for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, 2002 World Cup finals. Shevchenko scored ten goals in 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 5, the qualifiers, but Ukraine again failed to qualify after losing a 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)#Play-offs, play-off, this time against Germany national football team, Germany. He then scored a total of three goals in Ukraine's UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying, Euro 2004 qualifying round, but the team failed to qualify for the UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying play-offs, play-offs, finishing below Greece national football team, Greece and Spain national football team, Spain in third place in UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying Group 6, Group 6. Shevchenko scored six goals in 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 2, qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, 2006 World Cup, to take his country to its first ever major tournament. He Captain (association football), captained the team at the Ukraine at the FIFA World Cup, finals and scored in Ukraine's first ever FIFA World Cup, World Cup win, a 2006 FIFA World Cup Group H#Saudi Arabia vs Ukraine, 4–0 defeat of Saudi Arabia national football team, Saudi Arabia. He then scored the winning goal from a Penalty kick (association football), penalty kick as Ukraine beat Tunisia national football team, Tunisia 2006 FIFA World Cup Group H#Ukraine vs Tunisia, 1–0 to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup knockout stage#Switzerland vs Ukraine, second round where, despite Shevchenko failing with their first kick, Ukraine knocked out Switzerland national football team, Switzerland on Penalty shootout, penalties. Ukraine were then beaten 2006 FIFA World Cup knockout stage#Italy vs Ukraine, 3–0 by eventual champions Italy national football team, Italy at the quarter-final stage. After only playing two games for Milan in the 2008–09 season, Shevcehnko was still the first choice for Ukraine, and he scored an equaliser in an 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 6, 2010 World Cup qualifying match against England national football team, England at Wembley Stadium. Ukraine, however, went on to lose the game 2–1 after his former Chelsea teammate John Terry scored from a free kick delivered by David Beckham. Andriy Shevchenko goal celebration Euro 2012 vs Sweden

Andriy Shevchenko goal celebration Euro 2012 vs Sweden

In a 21 December 2009 interview with UEFA, Shevchenko declared that he was keen to play in his home country at UEFA Euro 2012, Euro 2012. "After a disappointing 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA), 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign, that is my new challenge, or even dream. I will do everything to achieve that." In May 2012, Shevchenko was named in the Ukrainian squad for Euro 2012. In UEFA Euro 2012 Group D#Ukraine vs Sweden, Ukraine's opening game, Shevchenko scored two headers to beat Sweden national football team, Sweden 2–1 in UEFA Euro 2012 Group D, Group D. After his country was eliminated from the group, Shevchenko announced he would retire from international football, having been Ukraine's youngest and oldest goalscorer and record marksman with 48 goals in 111 appearances.

Style of play

A fast, hardworking, energetic, and well-rounded striker, Shevchenko was a prolific and highly opportunistic goalscorer, who was usually deployed as an out-and-out striker in a centre-forward role, although he was capable of operating anywhere along the front line, and often played in a free role, in which he could attack from the Winger (association football), left wing, and get past opposing defenders with his runs into the penalty area, courtesy of his pace and movement off the ball. He also occupied a wider position as an outright winger on the left flank at times, in particular at the beginning of his career, and also during his second stint with Dynamo Kyiv during his later years; he was also capable of playing on the right. Shevchenko was also effective from set-pieces, and was an accurate penalty taker. A strong and physical striker with an eye for goal, he was primarily known for his excellent positional sense, movement off the ball, and finishing ability inside the box, as well as his composure in front of goal; moreover, he possessed a powerful and accurate shot with either foot, from both inside and outside the area. Although he was not known to take part in aerial duels frequently, he was also good in the air, due to his heading ability. Often compared by pundits to fellow former Milan striker Marco van Basten, although he was not as elegant as the Dutch forward, he also possessed good technique; furthermore, despite mainly being a goalscorer, he was capable of playing off of his teammates, in addition to scoring goals himself, due to his link-up play.

Coaching and managerial career

Ukraine national team

In November 2012, Shevchenko initially refused to accept Football Federation of Ukraine's proposal to become head coach of the Ukraine national team. From 16 February to 15 July 2016, Shevchenko served as the assistant manager of the Ukraine national team. On 15 July 2016, Shevchenko was appointed as manager of the Ukraine national team. The 39-year-old replaced

, Shevchenko led Ukraine to reach the quarter-finals of the European Championship for the first time in their history. His side finished as one of the four best third-placed teams in the group stage, then beating Sweden national football team, Sweden in extra time in the round of 16 and suffering an exit to England national football team, England in the next round. Despite Ukraine’s successful tournament, on 1 August 2021, he announced his departure from the post.

Genoa

On 7 November 2021, Shevchenko was announced as the new head coach of

side

, following the club's takeover by US investment firm 777 Partners, replacing Davide Ballardini. He signed a contract until 2024 for the 18th-placed team who had won once in 12 games. Two weeks later, he lost 2–0 on his debut at home to A.S. Roma, Roma, managed by his former Chelsea boss José Mourinho. On 15 January 2022, Shevchenko was sacked after two months having won just one match and lost seven during the time.

Political career

In the late 1990s, Shevchenko and other teammates of Dynamo Kyiv publicly backed the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united), whose members were the club's then-owner and president Hryhoriy Surkis and then-vice president Viktor Medvedchuk. After his retirement in June 2012, Shevchenko immediately joined Ukraine – Forward! (formerly known as Ukrainian Social Democratic Party) and took second place on the party list for the October

2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election The Ukrainian parliamentary election of 2012 took place on 28 October 2012. In the election his party won 1.58% of the national votes and no constituencies and thus failed to win parliamentary representation.

Personal life

Shevchenko's first name ( in Ukrainian) has multiple ways of being Romanization of Ukrainian, transliterated from its original spelling in the Ukrainian alphabet, Ukrainian Cyrillic alphabets, Cyrillic alphabet into the Latin alphabet; ''Andriy'' is the spelling used througho