Three years ago, on October 10, the Ukrainian national team led by Shevchenko visited the Ferraris Stadium in Genoa. It was after he left Milan in 2009 and returned to Apennine football after nine years. At that time, in an interview with the Italian media, Shevchenko promised to come back in the future, and in his capacity as a coach. What no one expected was that the Italian fans had only waited 3 years for Shevchenko to deliver on his promise. At the European Championship in June, he and Ukraine had only unpleasant memories of a 4-0 loss to England in Rome, of course.
This time, he is not returning to Milan, but to Genoa, which he visited 3 years ago. The Ligurian coast team is eager to bring Ukraine to the "nuclear warhead" of the European Championship quarter-finals, allowing the team to escape the nightmare of relegation. As for the Ukrainians themselves, they are one step closer to their dream of coaching Milan. It's even possible to replicate Milan's miracle in Genoa – as long as Genoa's new American boss is supportive enough.
After the end of the European Championship, Shevchenko's contract with the Ukrainian Football Federation expired, and he rejected the Ukrainian Football Association's plan to cut salaries by 60%, saying goodbye. He wasn't ready to return to coaching so soon, but the U.S. investor who had just decided to buy Genoa changed everything. After Genoa's home draw last Friday after the promotion of Mannpoli drew 2-2 and manager Ballardini was dismissed, the club's management's original first choice was Pirlo. Still, the U.S. boss believes the newly acquired team should focus on expanding its international reach, and Shevchenko, who has an American model wife, clearly has an advantage over Pirlo.
Shevchenko and his wife met at Armani's brand reunion in 2002 and married two years later at a golf course in Washington. The Shevchenkos are also close friends of top designer Giogio Armani and have good contacts in the European and American fashion industry. The couple opened two Armani stores in Kiev and ran an online sales platform for fashion products. Genoa's 128-year history has never had any coach, and Shevchenko has the glory and success of the player and coach era.
The 777 Partners consortium will officially take over Genoa within 9 days and offer Shevchenko a 2+1 contract with an annual salary of €1.8 million. Genoa's annual salary is 2.5 times his national team in Urland, and the two sides have reached a full agreement. Shevchenko will arrive in Genoa on Monday and sign on Tuesday to officially begin the road to the redemption of Genoa. For Genoa fans, an additional reason to welcome Sheeva to coach was the birth of his eldest son Jordan in 2002, and the next day Shevchenko scored as his beloved son to the new student, and that match was Milan's 1-0 match against Genoa's rival Sampdoria.
In charge of Genoa this time, Shevchenko will also bring his former teammates in Milan, tassotti and Murdra in Ukraine, as well as his forward partner in the national team as a player. It is worth mentioning that Shevchenko's first game after taking office was actually against Roma coached by Morino. Shevchenko joined Chelsea 15 years ago at the insistence of Abramovich, but has never been able to prove himself, and his relationship with Morinho is also very bad, and he is even considered to be one of the driving forces behind the portuguese madman's dismissal. Now that the time has passed, I wonder if the two can laugh and hate each other?
Of course, Shevchenko's first task in Genoa is to lead the team to relegation, and then strive to go to the next level. But the situation in Genoa is not optimistic, the Griffins are full of injuries, aging, the last six league rounds including facing 5 middle and lower teams, only 4 points. With more than a month to go before winter city, Sheva has not received any new signings. Facing old milan in December, followed by Juventus and the same city derby, and before the winter break against Lazio and Atalanta, the schedule is too tough.
Coaching Genoa was an accident for Shevchenko. After retiring from the army, he briefly entered politics, starting from assistant coaching for the Ukrainian national team in 2016 and officially taking over the Trident After the European Championship. However, Shevchenko has repeatedly said that he hopes to return to Italy as a coach, especially Milan, and it is his dream to become the manager of The San Siro. Although Chelsea had invited him before, the Ukrainian politely declined. At the end of 2019, Sheva returned to Milan and was once mistaken by the media as expected to take over Milan. But the truth is that Sheva did not return to Milan to participate in business activities while reminiscing with old friends.
After bidding farewell to the Ukrainian national team in August, Shevchenko made it clear that it was time to calmly assess the future: "I want to coach the club, preferably in Italy, because that is where I know and love." But Milan are currently doing well under Pioli, winning 10 games in the opening 11 rounds, the best start in the league in the history of the team, of course, it is impossible to change the manager.
Although Shevchenko was successful enough in the Ukrainian national team, in Italy he also needed to prove to Milan that he had the ability to lead the Rossoneri. Genoa is a good springboard and the club has a long history, having won the Italian title nine times in the early serie a serie a series. With the support of U.S. capital, Sheva can make a difference. Originally, in September, Sheva had the opportunity to coach Ukrainian giants Dynamo Kiev, and he was also extended to him by the Turkish Football Association, The Celtics of the Soviet Super League and three clubs of the North American Major League. But Cheva eventually accepted an invitation from Italy, because it was there that he had his ultimate dream. The most recent Ukrainian coach to coach in the top five leagues is Skriponik, who coached Bundesliga powerhouse Bremen from 2014 to 2016.
Sheva is fluent in Italian and has two assistants who know Serie A better than he does – Muldra and Tassotti. The former started as a performance analyst in Milan, assisting Leonardo, Allegri, Seedorf and Grand Inzaghi, and in the Ukrainian national team he was promoted to tactical assistant coach for Shevchenko. Tassotti is Milan's 5th most appearance-making player and has worked for Milan for another 19 years after retiring. Starting from the academy, he served as an assistant to Maldini Sr., Ancelotti and Allegri. He was not without the opportunity to coach independently, both Parma and Chievo had invited him to coach, but he preferred to stay with Milan or Sheva. Obviously, everything around Cheva was for the return to Milan.