Shevchenko’s playing politics, not football

Former Chelsea and Ukraine striker hopes to help his country off the pitch as he plans to stand for election next month
p78 Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko signs autographs during his visit to the Volodarskaya boarding-school in Kiev region on July 28, 2012. Shevchenko said he was joining "Ukraine Forward" social democratic party after announcing that he was quitting football for politics.
Getty
Shaun Walker10 September 2012

Andriy Shevchenko says Ukraine could give England a shock at Wembley tomorrow night when the two sides meet in a World Cup qualifier.

The game will be a rematch of June’s controversial Euro 2012 fixture, after which Ukraine were knocked out of the tournament and Shevchenko announced his retirement.

The former Chelsea striker, who since quitting football has gone into politics, says the experience of this summer’s tournament will stand a Ukraine team with some young talent in good stead.

“We are a good side,” said Shevchenko, 35, in an interview with the Standard in Kiev. “We have good players and the experience of the summer was really important. We have a chance against England.”

Ukraine, in the tournament that they co-hosted this summer, beat Sweden thanks to two Shevchenko headers but needed a win against England in their final match, which Roy Hodgson’s men won 1-0. The game is remembered in Ukraine for the clearance by Shev-chenko’s former Chelsea team-mate John Terry, who hooked a Marko Devic shot out from inside the goalmouth, with the officials not awarding a goal despite the ball crossing the line.

In the aftermath, coach Oleg Blokhin was so furious he offered to have a “man conversation” with a Ukrainian journalist who asked too many questions but Shevchenko says the incident is now “history” and he does not have any regrets about the way his international career ended.

He says: “I have won the Champions League with Milan and played in the World Cup but playing in the Euros at home and scoring in front of my home fans in a major tournament, of course that will always be one of the most memorable moments of my career.”

Since that game, the country’s most famous footballer has not kicked a ball once, focusing instead on a surprise move into the political arena.

Shevchenko has joined Forward Ukraine, a new party led by a businesswoman and is standing in October for election to the country’s parliament.

“I was always interested in politics,” he says. “With what has happened in Ukraine in the last 10 years, it’s impossible to stay apathetic.”

Although the political programme of Forward Ukraine is somewhat vague, he says that his priority if he makes it into parliament will be an improvement in physical education provision in schools, in a drive to get the country’s youth fit.

More broadly, Shevchenko wants to see an end to the corruption and political infighting that have plagued Ukraine after the initial optimism that followed the Orange Revolution in 2004.

The current government, led by President Viktor Yanukovych, has faced frequent allegations of corruption and the former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, is in jail after a trial that most observers thought was politicised. “The country is young and it needs a push forward,” says Shevchenko, during an interview in Kiev Golf Club after a day on the campaign trail and awarding the trophy at a youth football tournament.

“The more time that goes by the more we’re falling behind, so I decided I need to help my country.”

Shevchenko, who started his playing career at Dynamo Kiev, had his best years at AC Milan, where he won the Champions League in 2003, hitting the winning penalty in the shootout of the final and winning the 2004 European Footballer of the Year award.

His time at Chelsea, after being bought for over £30million in 2006, was less than prolific, with the forward in and out of the first team. Despite his mixed success at Stamford Bridge, he still watches out for Chelsea results and maintains contacts with a number of the players.

“They’ve started the season really well and I think [Eden] Hazard is a good addition,” he says. “They have a real chance of winning the title this year, I really believe that.”

Shevchenko says he is also heartened by the form of Fernando Torres, who like Shevchenko, lost his scoring touch at times at Chelsea.

“He has rediscovered his form and with wins in the Champions League and the European Championships last season, he’s going to be in a good psychological state.

“I think he’ll have a really good season and I wish him all the best.”

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