Andrey Shevchenko Football player Date of Birth: 29.09.1976 Country: Ukraine

1. Andriy Shevchenko: The Rise of a Football Star
2. A Childhood Filled with Football Passion
3. The Journey to Becoming a Football Star
4. A Private Life Focused on Football

Andriy Shevchenko: The Rise of a Football Star

Andriy Shevchenko, a Ukrainian football player, has taken Italy by storm. Dubbed "Shevchenkomania," his brilliant game has shaken Rome to its core. He is the only player from the former Soviet Union territory who has managed to become a true star in the Western football sky. Yet, just yesterday, few could have predicted such a fairy-tale career for a simple boy from Obolon. Sheva, as he is called by Italian tifosi, was born in a village near Kyiv. Not many remember that day - September 29, 1976, when a big table was set with lard, vodka, and other local delicacies to celebrate his birthday. Back then, no one would have believed that one of the world's best footballers was born, not even after ten shots of vodka. His older sister Lena was especially thrilled about his birth, as she helped their mother Luba take care of the baby. Even their wildest imagination couldn't have foreseen that years later, their younger brother Andriy would take the whole family to Italy. By the way, their father, Mykola Hryhorovych, used to enjoy playing football after work. Before retiring, he served as a warrant officer and was considered one of the best snipers in his military unit.

A Childhood Filled with Football Passion

"I didn't like going to school," Shevchenko admits. "It was boring for me to sit in a stuffy classroom and solve problems about catheti and hypotenuses. I didn't enjoy solving tasks where one person walked from one point and another walked towards them. The best thing for me during classes was to play football and score a few goals. That's what I would gather the boys for. The school principal even called my parents, asking them to transfer me to another school." Later, Shevchenko's parents moved to Kyiv and were given an apartment in Obolon, a residential area. But the boy would disappear again with his friends to an empty lot, where he could play his beloved football from morning till night. He would often come home with scratches, proudly announcing that he had scored three goals that day. He was scolded, as they said his father had a small salary and couldn't buy him new sneakers every month, but this didn't deter Sheva. He couldn't give up football because of a pair of shoes. Sometimes, he played barefoot and was amazed that goals could be scored that way. Sheva also loved reading books about football and could talk for hours about different incidents during matches. The football world started talking about him when he was 17 years old and was fearlessly put on the field for Champions League matches. His first goal against Bayern Munich became his ticket to the big leagues. Today, it's unlikely anyone can say how the young boy's sports career would have turned out if fate hadn't brought him together with San Sanych Shyshkov, who was the first to notice the boy's talent for outwitting defenders and scoring goals. He invited Sheva to the Dynamo football school.

The Journey to Becoming a Football Star

At the age of twelve, Shevchenko first went abroad with a youth team. Later, during a children's tournament, he stepped onto the field of San Siro stadium, where the famous Dutch trio - Van Basten, Gullit, and Rijkaard - shone. It didn't take even ten years for Shevchenko to feel like a rightful owner of that same turf. Some might think that Shevchenko's triumph came smoothly, but that's far from the truth. In his youth, few saw in him the successor to Oleg Blokhin. He wasn't even accepted into the Kyiv Institute of Physical Education as he failed the entrance exam for specialising in football! However, coaches Volodymyr Onyshchenko and Valeriy Zuyev turned out to be instrumental in his development, taking him to Dynamo-2.

A Private Life Focused on Football

While Sheva is a football star, his personal life remains calm. He does not give foreign journalists a chance to profit from scandals or sensations. He doesn't drink or smoke, although he might have a sip of beer or a glass of good red wine to celebrate victory. He doesn't socialize with girls, even though he is surrounded by beauties much more stunning than those on Kyiv's Khreshchatyk or Moscow's Tverskaya. He has no plans to marry or have a girlfriend for now. Football still remains his top priority. However, he does have hobbies - he is a big fan of hockey and a friend of the famous Russian hockey player Alexei Yashin. Nowadays, no one in Milan would say that Italian politician and financier Silvio Berlusconi wasted $25 million on acquiring Shevchenko. Berlusconi even stated that Sheva is the second Marco van Basten. However, the Ukrainian lad disagrees and wants to remain true to himself - Shevchenko. By the way, Sheva, unfortunately, has no relation to Taras Hryhorovych, whose name is carried by the Kyiv University. It is said that someone from the "new Ukrainians" wants to erect a monument to the footballer Shevchenko in Kyiv, not far from his literary namesake. They believe that the five-time champion of Ukraine, national team player, and the best forward of the late 90s Champions League deserves it. Perhaps they are right - monuments should be erected while people are still alive, not afterward as is customary here.