A tribute to one of the best strikers - Andriy Shevchenko

Andriy Shevchenko or Sheva (as he is known fondly by his fans) announced his retirement from professional football immediately after his Ukrainian national team failed to make it out of the group stages of Euro 2012, stating  - “Perhaps, I will shock everyone,my future has nothing to do with soccer, it is related to politics”.

And with that he brought down the curtains on a most illustrious career, winning every major team and individual honor one could, playing football. Here’s a look back at his 18 year long career.

Andriy Mykolayovych Shevchenko was born on the 29th of September,1976 in a small town of the kiev region. He started playing football at the age of 9 and was even a competitive boxer in the Ukranian junior league! But he eventually chose football as his sport and the rest as they say is history.

Sheva was first spotted by one of Dynamo Kiev’s scouts while playing in a youth tournament, he was then enrolled into the club’s youth academy. Being a part of the U-14 kiev squad, he took part in the Ian Rush tournament and finished as the top-scorer where he was awarded Rush’s boots by the Liverpool legend himself. Shevchenko continued his success at the youth level in the coming years and caught the eye of then manager, Yozhef Sabo who handed Sheva a debut against rivals Shakthar Donetsk. Dynamo won the league that season, but it saw Shevchenko only make a few appearances off the substitute bench. It was the next season when he gave a glimpse of what he is capable, netting a total of 19 goals in 38 appearances and winning a 2nd domestic league title in as many years.

It was under legendary manager Valery Lobanovsky that Sheva really grew as a player. He netted 33 goals consecutively in the 97/98 and the 98/99 season, which included a first half hat-trick against Barcelona in the 97-98 champions league and 3 goals over 2 legs against Real Madrid. By the end of the 98/99 season he had established himself as one of the deadliest strikers in the world!

In the summer of 99, Italian giants AC Milan snapped up the striker for a then record fee of $25 million. He became only the sixth foreign player to win the Serie A title in his debut season, netting 29 times in 43 appearances. He continued his scoring run into the next season smashing 31 goals in 51 appearances. Despite his next season being plagued with injuries, he won the Champions League in 2003, scoring the winning penalty against Juventus in the final.

Sheva seemed to have a knack of putting in a performance when it really mattered. He is the joint top scorer in the Milan derby, netting a total of 14 goals. In 2004 he was awarded the Ballon D’or, becoming only the 3rd Ukranian to do so. In november 2005, a unique piece of history was made when Sheva netted all the 4 goals in his side’s 4-0 win over Fenerbahce, making him the only player to do so in an away game. In Milan colours, Shevchenko just couldn’t stop scoring, and he had an excellent European goal scoring record to complement his domestic accolades. On 8 February 2006, he became Milan’s second highest all-time goalscorer, behind Gunnar Nordahl. He ended up with 175 goals in 296 games in 7 brilliant years at Milan.

Shevchenko then moved to Chelsea in May 2006 for a then English transfer fee record of £30.8 million. He scored on his debut against Liverpool in the community shield, but there weren’t many bright spots in his Chelsea career. He scored sporadically, and although he did score some crunch goals for the blues in the Champions League and the cup as well, he was never really a part of Mourinho’s plans and was left on the bench most of the time. After 3 torrid seasons at the bridge, he returned to his beloved Milan on a loan spell in 2008, but chances were hard to come by there as well. He scored only 2 goals and made a meager 9 starts. It wasn’t the return he would have hoped for. So, in the twilight of his career Sheva went back to the club where it all began, signing a 2 year contract with Kiev in 2009. Another individual honor came by when he was named the best player of the Ukranian premier league in October 2009.

He finished off with another 30 goals in his second spell at the club.

Like his club career, Sheva had a very successful international career as well, earning a total of 111 caps and scoring 48 goals. He led his side to the quarter finals of the 2006 World Cup and scored 2 goals in his side’s opening game of Euro 2012 against Sweden.

And with the end of the tournament, came an end to one of football’s most successful careers. Here’s wishing him all the best for his political career. We will surely miss you!