Back in the early 0’s, one of my favorite teams: AC Milan, was amongst the most dominating clubs in Europe. They had an awesome squad, which included great players such as Maldini, Pirlo, Inzaghi, Stam, Gattuso and not to forget their acrobatic goalkeeper Dida. In the attacking position they were blessed with an amazing striker: Andriy Shevchenko.
Starting off his professional playing career at Dynamo Kyiv, Shevchenko signed a contract at AC Milan in 1999. During his time in Milan he scored 127 goals in 208 matches and won every price you could possibly win: The Serie A, the Coppa Italia, the Supercoppa Italiana, the Champions League, and the UEAFA Super Cup.
Shevchenko left Milan in 2006 for a new adventure at Chelsea in the Premier League. His stay in England however was plagued by injuries and also his effectiveness in terms of scoring goals went down. After a few years in London, he was loaned back to his former club AC Milan, but he was incapable of reaching the same level of playing like he demonstrated in his previous period.
In 2009, Shevchenko returned to his first love: Dynamo Kyiv, and in 2012, Shevchenko decided that is was time to hang up his boot and quite football.
I remember Shevchenko as a very energetic player that worked hard for the team. Blessed with an amazing feeling for the ball, he always knew to position himself in a goal scoring position, with excellent finishing capabilities.
Check out some of his amazing goals at AC Milan here:
I was surprised to find out that after quitting football, Shevchenko tried to pursue a career in politics. in 2012 he joined a political party that campaigned for the Ukrainian Parliament, but unfortunately during the election they failed to collect enough votes.
As with many players who step away from football at first, in 2016 Shevchenko returned back to his roots as he became the manager for the Ukrainian national team.
Although Shevchenko was not able to guide his team through the qualification for either Euro 2016 and the WC 2018, his contract was recently extended for another two years.
I sincerely hope they will qualify for Euro 2020.
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