Andriy is also known as Szewa, he is no longer a professional football player - he tries his hand at football coaching. Since July’16 he has been a head-coach of Ukrainian national team. But his football achievements places him among outstanding footballers. He is the 2nd highest all-time goal-scorer of AC Milan, located on a list of top ten scorers of UEFA CHL (at 8th place).
When he was a boy he was noticed by Dynamo Kiev talent scout. In 1994, when he was only 16 he started to play in a first squad of “Pride of Ukraine”. He quickly won recognition of football fans in his country. After scoring a hat-trick in UEFA CHL eliminations 97/98 against FC Barcelona on Camp Nou, he has become “wanted” by the elite of Europeans football clubs. The offers started to flow to Kiev. The highest proposal was made by AC Milan (35m USD), if it were realized it would made Szewa the world's most expensive player then (till 97/98). Dynamo kept this football diamond, but not for long. Starting from 1999 Szewa finally joined “Il Diavolo”. In his first season in Italy he become a Top Scorer of Serie A (with 24 goals), but for success in the international arena he had to wait a bit longer. Milan won the UEFA Champions League Cup in 2002/2003 Season. In the final meeting against Juventus he scored the winning penalty.
In May 2006 Szewczenko left Milan for Chelsea. In UK he played until 2009. On 28 August 2009 Szewa signed a contract with his hometown club and returned to Ukraine.
He scored 48 goals in 111 appearances in the Ukrainian national team. He was named in the Ukrainian squad for two international tournaments: 2006 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2012. After the tournament in 2012, Szewa announced he would retire from football. But he gave a first-class performance during his last European Championship – although Ukraine didn’t advanced to the knockout phase, his two headers against the Swedes delights fans till today.
Now he is trying to build a great Ukrainian national team as a manager. The first battle was lost – Ukraine didn’t qualify to the 2018 WC in Russia, but hardworking and ambitious Szewa and his team are ready for the next challenges.
