Andriy Shevchenko celebrates his 50th birthday: the journey from "Dynamo" to the UAF
Kyiv • UNN
Andriy Shevchenko is celebrating his 50th birthday. The Ballon d’Or winner has gone from "Dynamo" and "Milan" to becoming president of the UAF.
Today, September 29, Andriy Shevchenko, president of the Ukrainian Association of Football, former player for "Dynamo," "Milan," and "Chelsea," former forward of the Ukraine national team, Ballon d'Or winner, and former head coach of the national team, celebrates his 50th birthday, reports UNN.
Details
Andriy Shevchenko's football career began in 1992 in Kyiv, where he moved with his family from the village of Dvirkivshchyna in the Kyiv region. Interestingly, Andriy's parents were skeptical of their son's passion, while his father, who was a warrant officer, wanted his son to become a military man as well. However, Andriy's first coach, Oleksandr Shpakov, managed to convince his parents.
Andriy Shevchenko made his first appearance in senior football in the 1992/93 season. With 12 goals, he became the top scorer for first-league team "Dynamo-2." He was then invited to Ukraine's youth national team and made his debut in the top division—he first came on as a substitute on November 8, 1994 (in a match against "Shakhtar"). At that time, "Dynamo" was coached by Jozsef Szabo.
Shevchenko truly made a name for himself in the 1997/1998 and 1998/1999 seasons.
In the 1997/1998 season, "Dynamo" defeated Catalan club "Barcelona" twice in the Champions League group stage, with an aggregate score of 7:0; in the second match, Shevchenko scored a hat trick.
The following season, Kyiv's "Dynamo" reached the Champions League semifinals after defeating formidable Madrid side "Real" in the quarterfinals. The first match took place in Madrid, and it was Shevchenko who opened the scoring—after a pass from Rebrov, he burst toward the Spaniards' goal at fantastic speed and scored past Bodo Illgner. The match ended in a 1:1 draw. In the match in Kyiv, Andriy Shevchenko opened the scoring by following up on his own missed penalty, then finished off "Real" with a second goal—2:0.
In the summer of 1999, Italy's "Milan" paid $25 million for Andriy, and "Sheva" spent what were probably the best years of his career there. An interesting fact is that the money received for Shevchenko made it possible to build "Dynamo's" modern training base in Koncha-Zaspa. New buildings were constructed, a medical and rehabilitation center was established, and indoor arenas and high-quality pitches were added, creating European-level infrastructure.
August 29, 1999—his Serie A debut in the match "Lecce" - Milan" (2:2). In his very first season, he became Serie A's top scorer, scoring 24 goals in 32 league matches and finishing ahead of such goal scorers as Batistuta (23 goals) and Crespo (22).
Overall, Shevchenko ranks second on "Milan's" all-time top scorers' list, with 174 goals to his name.
At "Milan," the Ukrainian became Serie A's top scorer twice, won the Italian championship and the Champions League, and in 2004 received the "Ballon d'Or."
Interestingly, his transfer to "Milan" could have fallen through because of a possible kidnapping.
In 1999, while the player was arranging his transfer to "Milan," the Security Service of Ukraine intercepted phone conversations among criminal kingpins. They discussed a plan to kidnap Shevchenko for ransom. Ultimately, the footballer was provided with additional security, thwarting the criminals' plan.
At "Milan," Shevchenko also became the first Ukrainian in history to win the Champions League, doing so in the 2002/2003 season by converting the decisive penalty in the match against "Juventus."
Incidentally, Shevchenko's teammates at "Milan" were surprised by his culinary preferences.
In one interview, Andriy Shevchenko said that when he first brought a piece of Ukrainian salo to "Milan's" training ground, some of the guys were frightened.
"Honestly. Someone even thought it was a drug. At the time, I simply did not understand that Italians had never seen pork fat in their lives. Just as there is never any snow in Africa on the equator, they had never seen it either. I remember cutting off the first very thin slice and offering it to Maldini. He refused. So I put the pork fat on bread and started chewing. You should have seen Paolo’s eyes—and those of the entire group—at that moment. And how do you think it ended? Every time I later returned to Italy, I had to bring half a bag of pork fat for the "Milan" players, they loved it so much. There were so many orders that I regretted having so recklessly arrived at the "Milan" training base with Ukrainian drugs," Shevchenko recalled.
In the mid-2000s, Italy’s "Serie A" began to be rocked by turmoil. The reason was corruption scandals, in which Shevchenko’s "Milan" was also involved. While the trials and investigations were ongoing, Shevchenko moved to London’s "Chelsea," for which 30.8 million British pounds (about 45 million euros) was paid. Thus, the Ukrainian became the most expensive transfer in the history of British football and entered the top ten most expensive transfers of all time.
There is also another version of the reason for "Sheva’s" move to "Chelsea." Andriy’s wife, Kristen Pazik, wanted to live in London, where she would have had more opportunities for a career in the fashion business.
Shevchenko’s career in London frankly did not work out, in particular because of constant injuries, and after a loan spell at "Milan," Shevchenko returned to his home club, "Dynamo," in 2009.
In the first match after his return, at the packed Valeriy Lobanovskyi Stadium, in the match between "Dynamo" and "Metalurh Donetsk," Shevchenko came on as a substitute for Denys Harmash, and in the second minute of added time, Shevchenko converted a penalty.
After Euro 2012, hosted at home, in which the Ukrainian national team participated for the first time, Shevchenko ended his career. It should be noted that in the first match against Sweden, it was Shevchenko’s brace that secured the national team’s first-ever victory at the European Championships, scoring his 47th and 48th goals, which made him the national team’s top scorer. However, Andriy Yarmolenko is close behind "Sheva," with 47 goals to his name.
After ending his career, Shevchenko became the coach of the Ukrainian national team, with which he reached the quarterfinals of Euro 2020, defeating Sweden in the round of 16, this time as a coach. The legendary phrase, "Malinovskyi, Zinchenko, cross, shot, goal," has been forever etched in the memories of fans.
On January 25, 2024, Andriy Shevchenko was unanimously elected president of the Ukrainian Association of Football, replacing Andriy Pavelko, who is implicated in a case involving a scheme to withdraw nearly UAH 295 million in Federation funds through controlled commercial entities.
Congratulations to Andriy Mykolayovych on his anniversary. We wish him strong health, family warmth, strength, inspiration, and new achievements for the benefit of Ukrainian football.