Our contemporaries
Andriy Shevchenko
September 29, 1976
- Footballer
- UAF president
A Dynamo Kyiv academy graduate, 2004 Ballon d’Or winner and Champions League winner with AC Milan. He grew up in Kyiv’s Obolon district and has led Ukraine’s football association since 2024.
Biography
Andriy Shevchenko was born on 29 September 1976 in the village of Dvirkivshchyna near Yahotyn, and when he was about three his family moved to Kyiv’s Obolon district. At nine he joined a football section; coach Oleksandr Shpakov spotted his talent, and from 1986 to 1993 he came up through the Dynamo Kyiv academy.
With Dynamo (1994–1999) he won five Ukrainian titles in a row and three Ukrainian Cups, and in 1998/99, under Valeriy Lobanovskyi, reached the Champions League semi-final as the tournament’s top scorer. Then came AC Milan, with whom he won the 2003 Champions League, scoring the decisive penalty in the final; the 2004 Ballon d’Or and the title Hero of Ukraine; Chelsea; and a return to Dynamo (2009–2012). He played 111 games for Ukraine and scored 48 goals, including two against Sweden at Euro 2012 in Kyiv.
In 2016–2021 Shevchenko coached Ukraine’s national team, taking it to the Euro 2020 quarter-finals. Since 25 January 2024 he has been president of the Ukrainian Association of Football.
Kyiv in their life
- Obolon — the district where Shevchenko grew up and started playing football.
- Dynamo academy and the Valeriy Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium (3 Hrushevskoho St) — his youth years in 1986–1993 and first seasons as a pro.
- NSC Olimpiyskiy (55 Velyka Vasylkivska St) — where he scored twice against Sweden at Euro 2012.