Ukraine Kicks It Into Gear

He is one of the most lethal strikers in the history of European soccer, which puts him on a level with the all-time greats of the game worldwide.

But Ukraine’s Andriy Shevchenko is virtually unknown in the United States.

And unlike David Beckham, who is marketed ad infinitum in the U.S. but has yet to win much of anything, Shevchenko has a long string of honors and awards to his credit.

Beckham can bend it, but “Sheva” can put it in the net.

With 25 goals in 69 games for Ukraine, he came into the World Cup as his team’s great hope, the player who would carry it into the second round. On Monday night, he set about fulfilling that promise, scoring one goal and assisting on another as Ukraine bounced back from a 4-0 loss to Spain by routing Saudi Arabia, 4-0.

Shevchenko, still trying to regain full match fitness after a knee injury, had been a bust against Spain, managing not a single shot on goal while being closely marked by his defender.

That led to some sharp criticism of Ukraine’s top player, but he answered his critics Monday.

Despite his obscurity in the U.S., Shevchenko has some American connections. He married his American wife, model Kristen Pazik, on a golf course in Washington, D.C., two years ago. They named their son Jordan, after you-know-who of basketball fame, whom Shevchenko greatly admires.

Shevchenko had won five national championships with Dynamo Kiev in Ukraine before he was acquired by AC Milan of Italy for $25 million in 1999. For seven years, the goals flowed in Serie A just as they had in Ukraine.

By the time he was bought by Chelsea of the English Premier League for a club-record $56 million three weeks ago, Shevchenko, 29, had helped Milan win the Champions League, a Serie A title and an Italian Cup, among other honors.

He had also surpassed Germany’s Gerd “Der Bomber” Muller of Bayern Munich fame as the all-time leading goal scorer in the 50-year history of the European Cup/European Champions League with 63 goals.

He was voted Europe’s player of the year in 2004.

Playing in the World Cup had always been Shevchenko’s ambition. “No matter how many trophies you have won at a club level, nothing can be compared with playing for your country,” he said last month.

Between the disappointing Spain game and Monday evening’s rain-soaked match, Shevchenko made a pilgrimage. He and his father, a former Soviet army officer, visited the town of Wunsdorf, in what was once East Germany, where his father had been stationed in the 1960s and 1970s.

The family later returned to what was then the Soviet Union, and Shevchenko was born in a town so close to Chernobyl that his family had to evacuate after the 1986 nuclear disaster there.

Spotted by Dynamo Kiev as a youth player, he rapidly rose through the ranks to become one of Europe’s most feared strikers.

On Monday, while not at his peak because of the injury, Shevchenko was impressive, heading a free kick sharply into the net for Ukraine’s third goal, then spurning a shot himself and providing the pass that allowed Maksym Kalinichenko to score Ukraine’s fourth.

It was not a commanding performance, but there will be more to come. Ukraine, which also got first-half goals from Andriy Rusol and Serhiy Rebrov, plays Tunisia next, and unless the North Africans offer greater resistance than Saudi Arabia did, there will be more goals to come.