A roller coaster ride

Gabriel Marcotti

• Last Updated: November 14. 2009 4:27PM UAE / November 14. 2009 12:27PM GMT

Andriy Shevchenko used pain-killers to play at the World Cup finals in Germany in 2006. Clive Mason / Getty Images

He remembers everything about that day. The morning when the air raid sirens went off, when the army showed up at his house in the village of Dvirkivschnya and ushered everybody on to buses.

They were off to the coast and had five minutes to pack.

“It’s the nuclear station!” someone shouted. The station? But there was nothing to fear. Sure, reactor number four at Chernobyl had suffered some kind of breach, but everything was under control.

That’s what the television said, that’s what the radio said, that’s what his parents told him. That’s all he knew and, besides, a week had passed, if it was dangerous to stay, they would have been evacuated earlier. Wouldn’t they?

Andriy Shevchenko was only nine years old when the world suffered its most serious nuclear tragedy since Nagasaki and yet he recalls every detail with stupefying clarity. In the next few days he sat with his dozens of other refugees in a shelter and watched brave young men set off to quench the fire in the reactor.

Young men who knew – despite what the Soviet authorities said – that they would, at best, not be coming back. And, at worst, would be coming back to a life of disease, pain and mutilation.

With moments like that seared into your brain, you are bound to take the highs and lows in stride. And Shevchenko has had plenty of both.

The early part was an almost vertical rise. Aged 12, he toured with Dynamo Kiev’s youth side and scored five goals in the first 20 minutes of the final of a tournament in Italy.

Two years later, he did the same in Wales, winning a pair of Ian Rush’s boots as the competition’s top scorer.

Valeri Lobanovski, the legendary late Ukrainian coach, poured his heart, soul and mind into the young striker.

The pioneering footballing mind from behind the Iron Curtain and the gifted prodigy who escaped Chernobyl were kindred spirits as Dynamo fought to show that, even as Communism fell, their football would stand tall and proud.

And it did, with Shevchenko leading the line on a Dynamo Kiev side who reached the quarter-finals of the Champions’ League in 1997-98 and the semi-finals a year later.

Those exploits earned him a €22million (Dh120m) move to Milan and, in his first season, he was the top scorer in Serie A.

He was just getting warmed up. Over the next two seasons, he scored 51 goals, establishing himself as one of the most feared strikers in Europe. Then came the arrivals of Alessandro Nesta, Clarence Seedorf and Rivaldo.

The third golden era of Silvio Berlusconi’s Milan took shape under Carlo Ancelotti. Except it appeared as if it was going to do so without Shevchenko.

He did not play his first league match until late October and, in the interim, Milan had put together a tidy partnership of Pippo Inzaghi and Rivaldo up front, with Manuel Rui Costa, Seedorf and Pirlo creating in midfield.

Rumors swirled that, perhaps, there was no place for him in the new-look Rossoneri. Except by the spring it became clear that Milan needed him.

He scored the crucial goal in the Champions’ League semi- final against Inter and, in the final against Juventus, it was he who converted the winning penalty.

The following campaign was, arguably, his best. He was again Serie A’s top goal scorer, Milan won the title and he won the Ballon d’Or.

The following campaign would end in heartbreak. Milan rolled through the Champions’ League, right up to half-time in the final against Liverpool in Istanbul.

Most remember what happened next. The Rossoneri squandered a 3-0 lead and Liverpool eventually won on penalties. Shevchenko missed half-a-dozen chances, as well as the crucial spot-kick.

He redeemed himself the following year, with 28 goals but he realised it was time for a change.

He had already said “no” twice to Roman Abramovich and Chelsea, this time he gave in.

Except, just before leaving, he injured an ankle. While the injury did not seem serious at the time, it has haunted him ever since.

The 2006 World Cup in Germany saw him play with the help of painkillers, and not particularly well.

Chelsea turned into a nightmare. It was clear from day one that the manager, Jose Mourinho, did not want or need him, he had been Abramovich’s vanity purchase.

He struggled through two seasons, the second one particularly humiliating, as Chelsea’s record signing often remained rooted to the bench.

Milan – who else? – gave him a lifeline, taking him on loan in the summer of 2008. But this was a different side to the one he left and the homecoming was far from sweet.

He made 18 Serie A appearances, without scoring a single goal.

At 32, and with a huge wage packet, it looked as if his career was over. Who would take him? And so, he returned home, taking a pay cut to rejoin Dynamo Kiev, 10 years after his departure.

So far, this homecoming has been rather different. Dynamo embraced him and he played his part.

Indeed, in his last outing, he even, if only for an hour so, enjoyed a measure of revenge, giving Dynamo a 1-0 lead in the Champions’ League against his nemeses, Inter and Mourinho.

The finale, once again, was cruel, as Inter stormed back for a 2-1 victory. But then, he’s used to the roller coaster. And he knows that, whatever highs and lows life throws at him, they quickly pass. After witnessing real tragedy 23 years ago, anything football throws his way is bound to pale by comparison.

Gabriele Marcotti is an expert in world football and lives in London.

gmarcotti@thenational.ae

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