Goal-hungry Sheva answers London calling

ANDRIY Shevchenko knows how to make an entrance. Ukraine’s most famous export marked his AC Milan debut with a goal seven years ago and he did the same on his Chelsea bow in last Sunday’s Charity Shield defeat to Liverpool.

Yesterday, he travelled to his latest corporate jamboree on a speedboat, whizzing up the River Thames before stepping serenely onto a specially-constructed jetty. All that was missing was an exquisitely-tailored tuxedo and a dry Martini.

It was an arrival in keeping with a footballer worth an eye-watering €45 million and who has been charged with the task of helping Jose Mourinho’s blue galacticos extend their domestic dominance into a third season and, more importantly, turning the club into European champions.

The 29-year-old has already made his mark on Liverpool and he will be unleashed on Manchester City when Chelsea’s Premiership defence begins on Sunday.

Shevchenko may justify his tag as one of the game’s most potent forwards, but it makes a refreshing change to hear any footballer list one of his defining traits as “simple”. Then again, his background is hardly typical. He was born in the tiny Ukrainian village of Dvirkivschyna, around 130km from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant which exploded in April 1986 when Andriy was just nine.

Shevchenko does not pretend to have suffered grievously as a result of the disaster but he was evacuated to the coast for three months that summer in an effort to avoid the worst of the after-effects.

“It was a disaster not just for the region or even for Ukraine, but for the whole world,” he said. “I was very young when it happened so I didn’t fully appreciate how serious it was. But as I got older, I understood and of course the problems are still affecting the area now. It is terrible to see how badly people are suffering, especially children. It puts things in perspective.”

For a country which has spent much of the last 20 years locked in struggle — either against the toxic radiation still leaking from Chernobyl, or for political independence from Russia — it is no exaggeration to state that Shevchenko has become a beacon of hope, proof of what can be achieved against apparently insurmountable odds.

Not that Shevchenko’s career path has run entirely smoothly. After leaving school at 16, he attempted to enrol for a higher-educational sports course only to be rejected after his football skills failed to impress the examiners.

A glittering career has been the ultimate vindication of Shevchenko’s talent, but the snub still rankles. “I didn’t enjoy it,” he said.

“I am a winner and cannot accept losing so it was difficult for me. But I was lucky: three months after they turned me down from the course, I had been chosen to play in the Dynamo Kiev reserve side and then three months after that I had made my first-team debut.”

Shevchenko helped Kiev dominate their domestic league — he won five consecutive championship medals between 1994 and 1999 — before the promise of European honours convinced him to join AC Milan. The move tore Shevchenko away from his beloved Ukraine and his family, who had stood by him in his darkest hours.

“They are my true heroes because of all the love and support they gave me,” he said. “They always let me make my own decisions: even during the days when I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it as a player; they stood by me and gave me incredible support.

“My father is particularly special. There were times when he was offered better jobs for more money which would have helped our family, but he never took them because he knew his children were happy in Kiev and that I was enjoying my football. He made amazing sacrifices.”

Now there is another new start, at another European giant. It is a sign of Chelsea’s new-found credibility — as well as their financial muscle — that Shevchenko was persuaded to uproot to an entirely alien country at an age when most players begin contemplating retirement.

Wages of €180,000-a-week might have swayed Shevchenko’s decision, but the notion that he has come to England for a final pay-day are misguided. He has already commenced English lessons — “I am learning but I’m still embarrassed that I cannot talk fluently,” he said, in perfect Italian — and his whole-hearted performance in the Charity Shield suggested his appetite for success remains unsated.

“I cannot wait for the Premiership to start,” he said. “I have never experienced this great championship for myself and I want to understand it. I always have a target before every season and my motivation is to fulfil those targets.

“But motivation will not be a problem at Chelsea: the players and the manager there always aim very high and that’s important for me. I share their ambition.”