Сергея Довлатова, эмигрировавшего в США, спросили в конце 70-х: «Что самое удивительное в Америке?» — «То, что она существует», — ответил писатель.

Андрей Шевченко, на мой скромный взгляд, — самое удивительное из того, что случилось в украинском, да и вообще в постсоветском футболе. И дело даже не в том, что в 2004-м он получил «Золотой мяч», который до него присуждали только трем русскоязычным легендам — Льву Яшину в 1963-м, Олегу Блохину в 1975-м и Игорю Беланову в 1986-м. Уникальность в том, что Андрей Николаевич, возможно, единственный игрок из бывшего СССР, кто стал настоящей легендой и на родине, и на Западе. Его любят и болельщики киевского «Динамо», и тиффози «Милана», с которым он собрал все главные трофеи на планете Земля. А ведь был еще четвертьфинал чемпионата мира со сборной Украины…

Шевченко умел на поле абсолютно всё. И достигал победных целей мощно и красиво. В конце концов, прозвища Царь и Дьявол с Востока говорят сами за себя. Великий защитник Паоло Мальдини когда-то очень точно сказал о форварде: «Это счастье, что я действовал с ним в одной в команде. Потому что обороняться против него — занятие бесперспективное».

В день юбилея потрясающего мастера «Новая» выбрала 50 фактов о его жизни и карьере. Вероятно, не все они (факты) покажутся положительными. Но тут я опять на всякий случай обращусь к Довлатову, который не обижался, если о нем вспоминали плохо, а обижался, если не вспоминали…

Андрей родился в селе Дворковщина и переехал с родителями в Киев в трехлетнем возрасте. Долгое время он гонял мячик за команду ЖЭКа. Его приметил тренер спортшколы «Динамо» Александр Шпаков на одном из детских турниров, когда школьнику уже исполнилось девять.

Его папа — военный — сначала не одобрял страсти сына к спорту и хотел, чтобы наследник поступил в Суворовское училище. Но будущий чемпион уговорил-таки отца с матерью возить его на тренировки на другой конец города. Однако в интернат «бело-голубых» его взяли только со второй попытки…

В 14 лет на международном соревновании — «Кубке Иана Раша» — Андрей становится лучшим бомбардиром, хотя выступал на позиции опорного полузащитника. А звезда «Ливерпуля» и сборной Уэльса — тот самый Иан Раш, — поздравляя шустрого страйкера, подарил ему бутсы. В 1991 году динамовец Шевченко, переквалифицировавшись в форварда, выигрывает последнее первенство СССР среди юношей. В сезоне-1994 он забивает 12 мячей за вторую команду и получает приглашение в основной состав.

Его дебют на высшем уровне состоялся 8 ноября 1994 года в матче против «Шахтера». А первый мяч за большое «Динамо» он положил 1 декабря в ворота «Днепра». Через неделю 18-летний вундеркинд на Республиканском стадионе пронзит вратаря «Баварии» Шойера в поединке Лиги чемпионов.

У Андрея была вредная привычка: он курил еще со школы… Но поняв, что это отрицательно отражается на его физических кондициях, смог в итоге бросить. „ На плече футболиста присутствует татуировка дракона. Но в честь чего он сделал этот рисунок — не раскрывает.

Andrey Shevchenko always aimed for the goal. Photo: Yevgeny Uspensky. His favorite dish is shashlik. And also the cake “Napoleon”. In terms of music, he always admired Freddie Mercury and Queen, as well as Laima Vaikule. When it comes to cinema, Shevchenko, according to him, adores Julia Roberts and sympathized with Alexander Abdulov.

In the mid-90s, Spartak-Alania coach Valery Gazzaev invited Shevchenko to Vladikavkaz, but the transfer did not take place. On November 5, 1997, in the Champions League, Andrey sent three goals to Barcelona at the Camp Nou. It took him just over half an hour to do so. With Dynamo Kyiv, Shevchenko won five country championships, three national cups, and one Super Cup.

In the Champions League in 1999, the 22-year-old Ukrainian scored against Lens and Arsenal in the group stage; in the quarterfinals, he disappointed Madrid Real three times (at home and away), and in the semifinals, he opened the score against Bayern Munich. Although Dynamo did not reach the final, Shevchenko, with 8 goals, became the top scorer of that tournament. And the best club forward according to UEFA.

In the nomination for the Ballon d’Or 1999, Andrey took third place, surpassing such aces as Luis Figo, Christian Vieri, Raul, and Lothar Matthaus. He was third in the 2000 vote, only losing to Zidane and Figo.

Overall, he played 249 matches for Dynamo and scored 124 goals. Essentially, scoring in every other match. It was Shevchenko who beat Alexander Filimonov with a “butterfly” in the Euro 2000 qualifier. And the Russian team did not qualify for the continental forum. Shevchenko really wanted to buy Juventus, but Dynamo President Surkis personally promised Silvio Berlusconi to sell the forward to AC Milan. The deal with Rossoneri cost $25,000,000.

In his first Italian season, he scored 24 goals in Serie A and confidently won the scoring race, outperforming Gabriel Batistuta from Fiorentina and Hernan Crespo from Parma. He repeated his scoring success in 2004, overtaking Francesco Totti and Alberto Gilardino.

Shevchenko is the most productive player in the history of the Milan derby. He has 14 goals to his name. Giuseppe Meazza, for whom the stadium of Milan and Inter is named after, has one goal less.

“Shevamania” in the fashion capital lasted seven years. Journalists once calculated: after the match, the forward’s path from the locker room to the club bus took an average of half an hour, during which the Milan idol distributed autographs and took photos with fans.

Shevchenko learned Italian in six months. In August 2003, in Monaco, Milan defeated Jose Mourinho’s Porto and lifted the UEFA Super Cup. The only goal was scored by the legionnaire under the number seven.

Shevchenko is the first Ukrainian to conquer the Champions League. In the 2003 final, he scored the decisive penalty in the match against Juventus, coolly defeating Gianluigi Buffon. However, in the 2005 Champions League final, Andrei did not score the key penalty against Jerzy Dudek from Liverpool.

In 2004, Shevchenko won the Ballon d’Or with a clear advantage. He scored 175 points. Portuguese Deco and Brazilian Ronaldinho fell 36 and 42 votes behind, respectively.

With this honorary trophy, Andrey went to the grave of Valeriy Lobanovsky and then took the shiny round award to Kiev schools, so that children could touch the dream. Along with Blokhin and Belanov, he organized a tour called “The Fourth Can Be Yours.” Andrey always emphasized: “I live and play in Italy, but I never forget where my homeland is.” And do you know how Milan won the 2004 Italian Super Cup? Thanks to Shevchenko, who scored a hat-trick against Angelo Peruzzi.

In August 2008, Shevchenko received the Golden Foot award as the best footballer in the world. In 2005, Andrey lit up his name on the scoreboard four times in a match against Fenerbahce in the Champions League. Such a trick was achieved by few. Among them were Marco van Basten, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Robert Lewandowski, Lionel Messi, and Kylian Mbappe.

In the 2006 season, Shevchenko once again became the top scorer in the main European club tournament with 9 goals. The Ukrainian was inducted into the AC Milan Hall of Fame and the Italian Football Hall of Fame. He is also a Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy. And in the list of the best scorers of the “red and blacks” throughout history, Andrey with 175 precise shots ranks second. Only the Swede Gunnar Nordahl has more with 336 successful strikes.

Once Shevchenko was asked to name the three best partners he had fate with. Andrey named Sergei Rebrov (Dynamo), Paolo Maldini (Milan), and Frank Lampard (Chelsea). And when asked who he considers the most difficult defenders for himself, the forward again noted Paolo Maldini and added Alessandro Nesta and John Terry to the list.

In 2012, the Hero of Ukraine and the recipient of the “For Merit” Order of all three degrees decided to try himself in politics and joined the Social Democratic Party “Ukraine — Forward.” But quite quickly he immersed himself in football again.

In July 2016, Andrey Shevchenko took over as head coach of the Ukrainian national team. And if the “yellow-blue” did not make it to the 2018 World Cup in Russia, then at Euro 2020, the national team reached the quarterfinals, but could not handle the English.

In November 2021, the Italian Serie A football club Genoa offered Shevchenko the position of head coach. However, the three-year contract was suspended two months later because the team from Genoa under Andrey Nikolaevich’s leadership won only one match out of 11.

In 2022, Shevchenko agreed in principle to work with the Polish national team, but the appointment was eventually canceled. In the same year, he was awarded the insignia of the President of Ukraine “National Legend of Ukraine.”

For over 20 years, Shevchenko has been married to American model Kristen Pazik, the daughter of baseball player Mike Pazik. The couple has four sons: Jordan (2004), Christian (2006), Alexander (2012), Ryder-Gabriel (2014).

Andrey Nikolayevich has long been passionate about golf. And even won the silver at the 2011 Ukrainian Championship, and in 2013 became the winner of a club tournament in England.

Shevchenko has always been involved in charity work, quietly helping orphanages and hospitals. In 2024, he was unanimously elected President of the Ukrainian Football Association. And in October 2025, he became the chairman of the FIFA Future of Football Committee.

In a recent interview, the jubilee said: “When we won with Milan, I was certainly happy. But I never laughed at the losers. Between success and defeat, there is a very thin line. I always respected everyone.”

In his small homeland, the honorary citizen of Kiev — in the village of Dvorkovschina — his birthdays are celebrated in grand style with football matches. By the way, the local team has long been called “Andriy Shevchenko.”