ANDRIY SHEVCHENKO

BORN IN: UKRAINE
Date of birth: 29 September 1976
Height: 183 cm
Weight: 73 kg
Position: Forward
Current Club: AC Milan (ITA)
ProfileGeorge Best, Alfredo Di Stefano, Abedi Pele, George Weah… the list of world-class performers never to grace the FIFA World CupTM is a long one. For no matter how good you are, destiny sometimes dictates that you are born in the wrong place or at the wrong time.
Scarcely two years ago, it seemed that Andriy Shevchenko would be added to this prestigious, yet unfortunate band. As figurehead of a Ukraine side with a limited sporting tradition and no other big name stars, the AC Milan striker was faced by the seemingly impossible task of hauling his country along the path to Germany practically single-handed. But the Ukrainian captain is not one to be fazed by a tough challenge. And while it would be simplistic to attribute Ukraine’s successful campaign solely to the performances of their famous striker, the man known as Sheva has definitely had a lot to do with it.
To qualify from a group containing not only reigning European champions Greece, but also a Turkish side that finished third at the last FIFA World Cup and a stalwart of top international tournaments, Denmark, the Ukrainians were banking on their principal attacking weapon to see them through. And the AC Milan striker did not let them down.
Top scorer for his team and one of the most prolific in the European zone with six goals, the Ukrainian ace justified the faith of a nation every time he turned out. After getting off the mark with the winning goal against Greece and then bagging a brace to stun Turkey in Istanbul, Sheva soon had his country firmly on the path to Germany.
Silverware and accolades aplenty came to the Rossonero. Although it is only now, at 30, that the Ukrainian is about to get his first taste of the FIFA World Cup, Shevchenko’s class has long been shining like a beacon on pitches all over Europe. In the early days of his career, he fired his first club Dynamo Kiev to five consecutive league titles, though it was not these fabulous domestic exploits that would change his life. Instead, his talent was revealed during a 1997/98 UEFA Champions League match against Barcelona at the Camp Nou. The Spanish side were widely expected to win comfortably, but the Ukrainian outfit inflicted an historic 4-0 defeat on the Blaugranas, with the hitherto-unheralded Shevchenko grabbing a hat-trick and all the headlines.
Milan pounceThe directors of AC Milan had seen enough and snapped up the Ukrainian prodigy the following year. Sheva promptly finished top scorer in Serie A in his very first season with 24 goals. From then on, the scenario became a familiar one as, with each season, he defied statisticians and defenders alike by allying speed and technique with a rare composure and uncanny eye for goal. In 2003, he got the winning penalty against Juventus in the UEFA Champions League final shoot-out and, in his six seasons with the Rossoneri, has already found the net more than 100 times with an expansive array of clinical shots with either foot as well as unerring headers.
The year 2004 remains Sheva’s vintage campaign. The scorer of 24 Serie A goals, he was the major factor behind the Scudetto title claimed by AC Milan. Moreover, his performances at club level were by now being reproduced for his national team, so much so that he pipped the Portuguese star Deco and the Brazilian Ronaldinho to the title of 2004 European Player of the Year. In doing so, he became only the second Ukrainian to earn this honour after the current coach Oleg Blokhin won it in 1975.
After accumulating an array of individual awards and silverware with his clubs, Shevchenko would dearly love to write the first line in his country’s list of honours this summer. And to listen to his coach, it could very well happen. "I know some people will scream with derision, but I believe we’re capable of winning it," Blokhin said recently. Sheva though, is adopting a more modest tack. “You have to understand that the coach was joking when he said this…” he insisted. Humble he may be, but Shevchenko is no less ambitious and if the chance to fulfil his coach’s prediction arises, you can be sure the big striker will take it.