Andriy Shevchenko

Dynamo Kyiv

In 1986, Shevchenko failed a dribbling test for entrance to a specialist sports school in Kyiv, but happened to catch the eye of a Dynamo Kyiv scout while playing in a youth tournament, and was thus brought to the club. Four years later, Shevchenko was in the Dynamo under-14 team for the Ian Rush Cup (now the Welsh Super Cup); he finished as the tournament's top scorer and was awarded a pair of Rush's boots as a reward by the then-Liverpool player. At the age of 15, his reputation was further enhanced as he scored twice in a televised match between the youth teams of Ukraine and Netherlands (2-2). Shevchenko started out his professional career at age 16 when he came on for only 12 minutes as a substitute in a 0–2 home loss to the Odesa second team Chornomorets-2 Odesa on 5 May 1993. He was a substitute for the last six home games of the 1992–93 Ukrainian First League and did not score any goals. The next 1993–94 season in the second tier, Shevchenko was the top goalscorer for Dynamo-2 with 12 goals, and he made his first appearance in the starting XI. Shevchenko scored his first goal against Krystal Chortkiv in a 1–1 home draw on 7 October 1993. During the same season, he recorded his first hat-trick in a home game against Artania Ochakiv on 21 November 1993 which Dynamo-2 won 4–1. Shevchenko stayed with Dynamo-2 until the end of 1994 and was once again called up for one game in late 1996. He made his Vyshcha Liha debut for Dynamo Kiev on 8 November 1994…

Shevchenko earned 111 appearances and scored 48 goals for the Ukraine national team, representing the country at the 2006 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2012. He debuted in 1995 in a friendly match against Croatia and scored his first international goal in May 1996 in another friendly match against Turkey. Shevchenko scored six goals in qualifying for the 2006 World Cup, to take his country to its first ever major tournament. He captained the team at the finals and scored in Ukraine's first ever World Cup win, a 4–0 defeat of Saudi Arabia. He then scored the winning goal from a penalty kick as Ukraine beat Tunisia 1–0 to qualify for the second round where, despite Shevchenko failing with their first kick, Ukraine knocked out Switzerland on penalties. Ukraine were then beaten 3–0 by eventual champions Italy at the quarter-final stage. In a 21 December 2009 interview with UEFA, Shevchenko declared that he was keen to play in his home country at Euro 2012. "After a disappointing 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign, that is my new challenge, or even dream. I will do everything to achieve that." In May 2012, Shevchenko was named in the Ukrainian squad for Euro 2012. In Ukraine's opening game, Shevchenko scored two headers to beat Sweden 2–1 in Group D. After his country was eliminated from the group, Shevchenko announced he would retire from international football, having been Ukraine's youngest and oldest goalscorer and record marksman with 48 goals in 111 appearances.

Ukraine national team

In November 2012, Shevchenko initially refused to accept Football Federation of Ukraine's proposal to become head coach of the Ukraine national team. From 16 February to 15 July 2016, Shevchenko served as the assistant manager of the Ukraine national team. On 15 July 2016, Shevchenko was appointed as manager of the Ukraine national team. The 39-year-old replaced Mykhaylo Fomenko, whose four-year spell ended with elimination at the group stage of Euro 2016. He signed a two-year contract with the possibility of another two-year extension. Former Italy and Milan defender Mauro Tassotti, who was assistant coach when Shevchenko was at Milan, joined his coaching staff, as did former Dynamo coach Raúl Riancho, and former Milan Youth System coach Andrea Maldera. On 14 October 2019, Shevchenko led Ukraine to qualify for Euro 2020 with a 2–1 home win over reigning European champions Portugal. At UEFA Euro 2020, Shevchenko led Ukraine to reach the quarter-finals of the European Championship for the first time in their history. His side finished as one of the four best third-placed teams in the group stage, then beating Sweden in extra time in the round of 16 and suffering an exit to England in the next round. Despite Ukraine's successful tournament, on 1 August 2021, he announced his departure from the post.

Genoa

On 7 November 2021, Shevchenko was announced as the new head coach of Serie A side Genoa, following the club's takeover by US…

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.