Andriy Shevchenko is inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame

Former footballer and coach Andriy Shevchenko, now president of the Ukrainian Football Association, has been inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame in the Foreign Footballers category.

This was reported by the Italian Football Federation, UNN reports.

Details

As reported by the Italian Football Federation, Andriy Shevchenko was nominated in the Foreign Footballers category and received his award at a ceremony in Coverciano.

The Hall of Fame also includes Italian footballer and former Roma coach Daniele De Rossi, Italian national team coach Luciano Spalletti, Ariedo Bride, Roberto Boninsegna, Valentina Giacinti, Agostino Di Bartolomei, Vincenzo D'Amico, and Manlio Scopinho. At the ceremony, Shevchenko read out his letter, which he addressed to Italy and AC Milan. “This is a letter from a Ukrainian child who dreamed of coming to you.

Our first meeting was on TV, and I immediately fell in love with you. I saw Maldini, Baresi, Maradona, Platini, Van Basten, Baggio, Vialli and froze, as one does in front of the greatest works of art. I saw the passion of people, almost a religion. I saw stadiums full of history. My first trip abroad as a child was to Italy, first to Rome and then to Agropoli for a tournament. I was immediately struck by everything about the people, especially their generosity. I felt good here and thought:

I have to come back here no matter what.” And so it happened. Dear AC Milan, thank you for believing in me. You made me feel like a member of your family right from day one. We won a lot together, and I met extraordinary people, especially the Berlusconi family, Adriano Galliani, Ariedo Braida, and the Maldini family. You become a Milanese from the first day and forever

Shevchenko noted that “entering the Italian Football Hall of Fame is a huge privilege, and for this I thank all my Milan teammates, the club's management and its fans.

Coversciano, where I am today, is not only the birthplace of Italy, it is known everywhere. All the greatest coaches have come from here, and I would like to tell you, the guys from the Italian national team, one thing: Italian football is loved all over the world. Protect it and honor it. Finally, I would like to thank the whole of Italy for supporting Ukraine in the most difficult moment of our history. What is normal for others is hope for us. Hope that we are still here, every day and forever. Italy, I love you

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Andriy Shevchenko began his football career with Dynamo Kyiv, for whom he made his debut on November 8, 1994, as a substitute in a match against Shakhtar Donetsk. With Dynamo, Shevchenko became the champion of Ukraine 5 times and won the Ukrainian Cup three times.

In the summer of 1999, AC Milan paid $25 million for Andriy. On August 29, 1999, he made his Serie A debut in a match against Lecce, and in his first season became the top scorer in Serie A, scoring 24 goals in 32 league games. In total, Shevchenko played for AC Milan from 1999 to 2006, where he won medals in the Italian championship, the Italian Cup, and also won the Champions League. In 2004, Shevchenko received the Ballon d'Or.

In 2006, Shevchenko moved to the English club Chelsea for 30.8 million pounds. This transfer was called one of the most disastrous by English fans. Unable to gain a foothold in the senior team, Shevchenko returned to Milan on loan for a year. The 32-year-old failed to win a place in the starting lineup and spent most of his playing time in UEFA Cup and Italian Cup matches or as a substitute in Serie A matches.

In total, Shevchenko scored 175 goals and provided 45 assists in 322 matches for AC Milan. In August 2009, it became known that Shevchenko was returning to Dynamo Kyiv, where he spent three years, and in 2012, after the home Euro 2012, he retired from football.

 From 2016 to 2021, Shevchenko led the Ukrainian national team, with which he made it to the last 16 of Euro 2020. After his career in the national team, Shevchenko took over the Italian club Genoa, where he worked for only a year and was fired due to poor results. In January 2024, Andriy Shevchenko was elected the new president of the Ukrainian Football Association. Delegates at the UAF extraordinary Congress voted for the decision.