Background and career
Andriy Mykolayovych Shevchenko (Ukrainian: Андрій Миколайович Шевченко, pronounced [ɐnˈd⁽ʲ⁾r⁽ʲ⁾ij mekoˈlɑjowetʃ ʃeu̯ˈtʃɛnko]; born 29 September 1976) is a Ukrainian former football manager and player. Shevchenko is considered one of the greatest strikers of all time and Ukraine's greatest ever player. He is the all-time top scorer for the Ukraine national team with 48 goals.
Shevchenko began his career at Dynamo Kyiv and won five league titles in a row, as well as three domestic cups, before signing for AC Milan. In Milan, he established himself as one of the top strikers in Europe, and won Serie A in 2004. He later played for Chelsea (where he won both domestic cups in his first season), and returned to play for Milan on loan, and for Dynamo, where he finished his career. While playing for Milan and Chelsea, Shevchenko made the Champions League final on three occasions: winning in 2003 and as a runner-up in 2005 and 2008. He was named in the FIFA World XI for 2005. In 2004, he was named as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers as part of FIFA's 100th anniversary celebration, and in the same year, he also received the Ballon d'Or. In his international career, he led Ukraine as captain to the quarter-finals in their first ever FIFA World Cup appearance in 2006, and also took part at UEFA Euro 2012 on home soil.
Shevchenko is ranked as the ninth top goalscorer in all UEFA club competitions with 67 goals. With a tally of 175 goals scored for Milan, he is the second most prolific player in the history of the club, and is also the all-time top scorer of the Derby della Madonnina (the derby between Milan and their local rivals Inter Milan) with 14 goals.
Quitting football for politics in 2012, he stood for election to the Ukrainian Parliament in the October 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, but his party failed to win parliamentary representation. He returned to football in 2016, as assistant coach of the Ukraine national team February to July, at the time led by Mykhaylo Fomenko. In July 2016, Shevchenko was appointed Ukraine's head coach, and led the nation to the quarter-finals at UEFA Euro 2020. Following a short stint at Genoa, Shevchenko became the Vice President of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine on 17 November 2022. He left the National Olympic Committee in January 2023 due to disagreement with the results of the election of its new President Vadym Gutzeit. In January 2024, Shevchenko was elected President of the Ukrainian Football Association.
Shevchenko was born in Dvirkivshchyna, Ukrainian SSR, in 1976, into the family of Praporshchik Mykola Hryhorovych Shevchenko. In 1979, his family moved to the newly built neighbourhood in Kyiv – Obolon (Minsk District was created in 1975). In Kyiv, Shevchenko went to the 216th City School and in 1986 (aged 9) enrolled into the football section coached by Oleksandr Shpakov. Because of the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, together with his sport group he was evacuated temporarily from the city. At an early age, he also was a competitive boxer in the LLWI Ukrainian junior league, but eventually he elected to move on to football.
