World Cup South Africa 2010
History - Groups - Players - Venues
Favorite Players by Country (Germany 2006)
Group H - Ukrania:
Andriy Shevchenko
Place of Birth: Kiev Oblast, Ukrania
Date of Birth: September 29th, 1976
Position: Centre forward
Clubs: Dynamo Kyiv, A.C. Milan
At an early age Shevchenko was a competitive boxer in the LLWI Ukrainian junior league. Due to his size restrictions he was forced to move on to soccer where he flourished. Born to middle class worker Ivgani Shevchenko and Swista Buregatz, Shevchenko started off his career with Ukrainian side Dynamo Kyiv, with whom he won five league titles and two national cups in five seasons between 1994 and 1999. He has won one Serie A title, one UEFA Champions League, one European Super Cup, one Italian Cup and one Italian League Super Cup with AC Milan thus far.
Shevchenko has represented Ukraine in 63 matches and scored 28 international goals.
Sheva's current place in world football sees him ranked amongst the best, alongside the likes of Ronaldinho and Thierry Henry.
In 1999, Shevchenko joined the then 5-time European Cup champions A.C. Milan for $26 million and has been one of their key players since.
Shevchenko made his Serie A debut on August 28, 1999 in a 2-2 draw with Lecce. Shevchenko scored 10 goals in the qualifiers, but Ukraine failed to qualify after losing the playoff against Germany, and Lobanovsky was sacked. Over the next two seasons, Shevchenko scored 34 goals in 51 matches, and 17 goals 38 matches, respectively, in all competitions, but Milan could not win any silverware either season.
In 2002-03 as Milan won the Champions League as well as the Italian Cup. Shevchenko is the first Ukrainian-born player ever to win the Champions League. 2003-04 was another successful season for both Milan and Shevchenko. He top scored in the league for the second time in his career, scoring 24 goals in 32 matches and taking Milan to the league title after a gap of four years. He also scored the winning goal in the UEFA Super Cup victory over FC Porto, leading to Milan's second trophy of the season.
In December of 2004 Shevchenko was named the European Footballer of the Year. He was also named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004. Also in 2004, Shevchenko was awarded the title Hero of Ukraine by former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma.
In the 2005-06 season, Shevchenko has scored 19 goals in the 22 games that he has played in the Serie A till now. He scored nine goals in 12 total matches for AC Milan in the Champions League, making history along the way. On November 23, 2005, in the second leg of the CL group stage match against Fenerbahçe.
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