Andriy Shevchenko

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Andriy Shevchenko
Personal information
Full name	Andriy Mykolayovych Shevchenko
Date of birth	September 29, 1976 (1976-09-29) (age 31)
Place of birth	Dvirkivschyna, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Chelsea
Number	7
Youth clubs
1986–1994	Dynamo Kyiv
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1994–1999 1999–2006 2006–	Dynamo Kyiv A.C. Milan Chelsea	117 0(60) 208 (127) 047 00(9)
National team2
1994–1995 1994–1995 1995–	Ukraine U18 Ukraine U21 Ukraine	008 00(5) 007 00(6) 080 0(37)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20:11, 11 May 2008 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 27 March 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Andriy Mykolayovych Shevchenko (Ukrainian: Андрій Миколайович Шевченко, Andrij Mykolajovyč Ševčenko, born 29 September 1976, Dvirkivschyna, Kiev Oblast) is a Ukrainian football striker who plays for Chelsea in the Premier League. In 2004, he won the Ballon D'or and was included in Pelé's FIFA 100. He is the third-highest goalscorer in the history of European club competition with 60, behind Gerd Müller and Filippo Inzaghi.^[1]

[edit] Biography

Shevchenko was nine when the Chernobyl nuclear disaster occurred in April 1986. His village was affected by the disaster, and his family was forced to abandon their home and relocate to the coast to escape the aftereffects.^[2] At an early age, he was a competitive boxer in the LLWI Ukrainian junior league, but due to his lack of size, he elected to move on to football.

[edit] Club career

[edit] Dynamo Kyiv

In 1986, Shevchenko failed a dribbling test for entrance to a specialist sports school in Kiev, but happened to catch the eye of a Dynamo Kyiv scout while playing in a youth tournament, and was thus brought to the club. Four years later, Shevchenko was on the Dynamo Kyiv under-14 team for the Ian Rush Cup (now the Welsh Super Cup) in Wales; he finished as the tournament's top scorer and was awarded a pair of Rush's boots as a prize by the then-Liverpool F.C. player.^[2]

In 1992-93, Shevchenko was the top scorer for Dynamo-2 with twelve goals, and he made his first appearance in the starting eleven. He won his second league title next season, scoring 6 goals in 20 matches, and scored a hat trick in the first half of a 1997-98 Champions League road match against FC Barcelona, which Dynamo won 4-0. His nineteen goals in 23 league matches and six goals in ten CL matches 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.

[edit] A.C. Milan

In 1999, Shevchenko joined A.C. Milan for a then-record transfer fee of $25 million. He made his Serie A debut on 28 August 1999 in a 2-2 draw with U.S. Lecce. He became the first foreign player to win the Serie A scoring title in his debut season, finishing with 24 goals in 32 matches.

Despite netting only five times in 24 matches, Shevchenko became the first Ukrainian-born player to win the Champions League after Milan lifted their sixth trophy in 2002-03. He scored the winning penalty in the shoot out against arch-rivals Juventus F.C. in the final, which had ended goalless after extra time. He was the Serie A scoring champion for the second time in his career the next season, again scoring 24 goals in 32 matches as Milan won the Scudetto for the first time in four years. Shevchenko capped off the year by being named the 2004 European Player of the Year, becoming the third Ukrainian player ever to win the award after Oleg Blokhin and Igor Belanov.

He scored seventeen 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 SK, becoming only the fifth player to accomplish this feat (his company includes Marco van Basten, Simone Inzaghi, Dado Pršo and Ruud van Nistelrooy). He scored his last Milan goal in the second leg of the quarterfinals as they eliminated Olympique Lyonnais after a last-minute comeback, but then fell to eventual winners Barcelona in the semifinals.

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

[edit] Chelsea

During the summer of 2005, there were persistent reports that Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich offered a record sum of €85 million (£56.7 million) and striker Hernán Crespo to A.C. Milan in exchange for Shevchenko.^[5] Milan refused the monetary offer but took Crespo on loan. 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."^[6] Shevchenko cited that the persistence of Abramovich was a key factor in his move.^[7]

On May 28, 2006, Shevchenko left Milan for Chelsea for a record fee of £30 million, topping Michael Essien's transfer fee from the previous year. ^[8] He received the number seven shirt, as Chelsea coach José Mourinho said that Shevchenko could continue wearing it.^[9]

Shevchenko with Chelsea

Shevchenko made his debut for Chelsea on August 13, 2006 in the FA Community Shield, scoring his side's goal in a 2–1 loss to Liverpool. 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. He scored goals sporadically throughout the season, including equalisers against FC Porto and Valencia CF in the UEFA Champions League and another against Tottenham Hotspur to help take his side into the FA Cup semifinals. He finished with a total of 14 from 51 games.

During the campaign he netted his 57th career goal in European competitions, leaving him 2nd in the all-time European goalscorers list, behind Gerd Muller.^[10] Shevchenko's 2006–07 season was cut short due to injury and a hernia operation. He missed the Champions League semi-finals against Liverpool and the FA Cup Final against Manchester United at the new Wembley Stadium on May 19, 2007.^[11]

Shevchenko was handed his first start of the 2007-08 season against Blackburn Rovers at home to cover for the injured Didier Drogba. However, the game finished goalless. His first goal of the season came three days later in a match against Rosenborg BK, on September 18, 2007. Shevchenko was in and out of the starting line-up following the appointment of Avram Grant, scoring four Premier League goals against Manchester City, Sunderland and a double against Aston Villa. He also scored two League Cup goals against Leicester City and Liverpool.

[edit] International career

Shevchenko has 79 caps and 36 goals for the Ukraine national team, whom he represented at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He scored his first international goal in May 1996, in a friendly against Turkey.

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. He scored a total of five goals in Ukraine's Euro 2008 qualifiers.

[edit] Personal life

Shevchenko

Shevchenko is married to American model Kristen Pazik. The couple met at a Giorgio Armani afterparty in 2002, and married on July 14, 2004 in a private ceremony on a golf course in Washington, DC.^[12][13] They communicate with each other in Italian,^[14] though Shevchenko has made public his desire to learn English.^[15] Media commentators have speculated that Pazik was a major influence on Shevchenko's decision to sign with Chelsea, citing her friendship with Abramovich's wife and her desire to raise their children in an English-speaking culture. Shevchenko has stated that his move to Chelsea was "a family decision" about what was best for their children.^[12]

The couple has two sons, Jordan (named after NBA legend Michael Jordan),^[14] born on 29 October 2004, and Christian, born on 10 November 2006. Andriy commemorated Jordan's birth by scoring against Sampdoria the following day (AC Milan won 1–0).^[16] AC Milan supremo Silvio Berlusconi is the Godfather of Andriy's first son, Jordan.^[17] The day after Christian's birth, Shevchenko scored in a 4–0 Chelsea victory over Watford, and he and several of his teammates gathered and performed the popular "rock-the-baby" goal celebration as a tribute.^[18]

Shevchenko is a close friend of fashion designer Giorgio Armani, and has modelled for Armani and opened two boutiques with him in Kyiv.^[12]

In June 2005, Shevchenko became an ambassador for the SOS Children's Villages charity.^[19]

[edit] Name

Shevchenko's first name (Андрій in Ukrainian) does not have a single way of being transliterated from its original spelling in the Cyrillic alphabet into the Latin alphabet. Andriy is the spelling used throughout the player's official web site ([1]). It has also been adopted by UEFA and FIFA and is the preferred spelling in most English publications (although Andrii is used by World Soccer magazine and Andrei by Sky Sports). The correct pronunciation is [an.ˈdrij]. Dynamo Kyiv fans gave him the nickname Sheva,^{[citation needed]} a contraction of Shevchenko.

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] Club career

(As of 11 May, 2008)

[edit] International career

(As of March 27, 2008)

[edit] International goals

(As of March 27, 2008)

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	1 May 1996	Samsun, Turkey	Turkey	3–2	Lost	Friendly
2.	2 April 1997	Kiev, Ukraine	Northern Ireland	2–1	Won	WC 1998 Qual
3.	7 May 1997	Kiev, Ukraine	Armenia	1–1	Draw	WC 1998 Qual
4.	11 October 1997	Yerevan, Armenia	Armenia	0–2	Won	WC 1998 Qual
5.	15 November 1997	Kiev, Ukraine	Croatia	1–1	Draw	WC 1998 Qual Playoff
6.	15 July 1998	Kiev, Ukraine	Poland	1–2	Lost	Friendly
7.	9 October 1999	Moscow, Russia	Russia	1–1	Draw	EC 2000 Qual
8.	13 November 1999	Ljubljana, Slovenia	Slovenia	2–1	Lost	EC 2000 Qual Playoff
9.	26 April 2000	Sofia, Bulgaria	Bulgaria	0–1	Won	Friendly
10.	2 September 2000	Kiev, Ukraine	Poland	1–3	Lost	WC 2002 Qual
11.	7 October 2000	Yerevan, Armenia	Armenia	2–3	Won	WC 2002 Qual
12.
13.	11 October 2000	Oslo, Norway	Norway	0–1	Won	WC 2002 Qual
14.	28 March 2001	Cardiff, Wales	Wales	1–1	Draw	WC 2002 Qual
15.	1 September 2001	Minsk, Belarus	Belarus	0–2	Won	WC 2002 Qual
16.
17.	5 September 2001	Lviv, Ukraine	Armenia	3–0	Won	WC 2002 Qual
18.	6 October 2001	Chorzow, Poland	Poland	1–1	Draw	WC 2002 Qual
19.	14 November 2001	Dortmund, Germany	Germany	4–1	Lost	WC 2002 Qual Playoff
20.	7 June 2003	Lviv, Ukraine	Armenia	4–3	Won	EC 2004 Qual
21.
22.	10 September 2003	Elche, Spain	Spain	2–1	Lost	EC 2004 Qual
23.	9 October 2004	Kiev, Ukraine	Greece	1–1	Draw	WC 2006 Qual
24.	13 October 2004	Lviv, Ukraine	Georgia	2–0	Won	WC 2006 Qual
25.	17 November 2004	Istanbul, Turkey	Turkey	0–3	Won	WC 2006 Qual
26.
27.	4 June 2005	Kiev, Ukraine	Kazakhstan	2–0	Won	WC 2006 Qual
28.	8 October 2005	Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine	Albania	2–2	Draw	WC 2006 Qual
29.	8 June 2006	Luxembourg, Luxembourg	Luxembourg	0–3	Won	Friendly
30.	19 June 2006	Hamburg, Germany	Saudi Arabia	0–4	Won	WC 2006 Group H
31.	23 June 2006	Berlin, Germany	Tunisia	1-0	Won	WC 2006 Group H
32.	6 September 2006	Kiev, Ukraine	Georgia	3–2	Won	EC 2008 Qual
33.	11 October 2006	Kiev, Ukraine	Scotland	2–0	Won	EC 2008 Qual
34.	12 September 2007	Kiev, Ukraine	Italy	1–2	Lost	EC 2008 Qual
35.	13 October 2007	Glasgow, Scotland	Scotland	3–1	Lost	EC 2008 Qual
36.	21 November 2007	Kiev, Ukraine	France	2–2	Draw	EC 2008 Qual
37.	26 March 2008	Kiev, Ukraine	Serbia	2–0	Won	Friendly

[edit] Honours

[edit] Club

Andriy Shevchenko

• Dynamo Kyiv
  • Ukrainian Premier League: 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99
  • Ukrainian Cup: 1996, 1998, 1999
  • Commonwealth of Independent States Cup: 1996, 1997, 1998
• AC Milan
  • Serie A: 2003–04
  • Coppa Italia: 2002–03
  • Supercoppa Italiana: 2004
  • UEFA Champions League: 2003
  • UEFA Super Cup: 2003
• Chelsea
  • FA Cup: 2007
  • Football League Cup: 2007

[edit] Individual

• Ukrainian Premier League Top Scorer: 1998–99
• Commonwealth of Independent States Cup Top Scorer: 1997
• Serie A Top Scorer: 1999–2000, 2003–04
• European Footballer of the Year: Winner in 2004, 3rd in 1999 and 2000, 4th in 2003, 5th in 2005, 8th in 2001, Nominated in 1998 and 2006
• FIFA World Player of the Year: 3rd in 2004, 5th in 2000, 6th in 2005, 7th in 1999, 9th in 2001, 10th in 2003, 21st in 2006
• UEFA Champions League Top Scorer: 1998–99, 2000–01, 2005–06
• Ukrainian Footballer of the Year: 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005
• UEFA Champions League Best Forward: 1998–99
• Serie A Foreign Footballer of the Year: 2000
• Member of the FIFA 100
• World Soccer Magazine's Greatest Players Of The 20th Century
• Ukraine National Team Top all-time scorer
• Fourth all-time scorer in the history of European club competitions
• Second all-time scorer in the history of A.C. Milan

[edit] Notes and references

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Andriy Shevchenko

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Andriy Shevchenko

• Andriy Shevchenko: all goals in Milan and Chelsea
• S7.com official web site
• Official Chelsea FC profile
• UEFA profile
• Andriy Shevchenko career stats at Soccerbase
• Andriy Shevchenko at the Internet Movie Database

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