Andriy Shevchenko will lead Ukraine at Euro 2020, hoping to guide them out of their group for the first time.
While Ukraine reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup in 2006, with Shevchenko scoring twice, they’ve never made it to the knockout stage of a European Championship.
The former striker, who scored 48 goals in 111 appearances for his country, is looking to change that by breaking new ground this summer.
After serving as assistant to Mykhalo Fomenko at Euro 2016, where they lost all three games and went out early, he took over at the end of the tournament.
Shevchenko’s side impressed throughout qualification for the Euros, beating reigning champions Portugal to secure top spot in their group.
Ukraine ended the campaign unbeaten, winning six and drawing two of their eight games, while conceding just four goals.
This impressive start to life as a manager bolstered Shevchenko’s reputation in his homeland, where he already enjoys legendary status for his success as a player.
The 44-year-old came through the ranks at Dynamo Kiev, developing a prolific partnership with Sergei Rebrov as the club impressed at home and abroad.
His enviable record in the Champions League culminated in a move to AC Milan in 1999, where he won plenty of silverware and dominated the scoring charts.
Shevchenko joined Chelsea for £30.8million seven years later but struggled to adapt to the pace and intensity of English football.
He retired from playing in 2012, after an enjoyable swansong back at his first club, where he added the Ukrainian Super Cup to his medal collection.
Ukraine have been drawn in Group C alongside the Netherlands, Austria and North Macedonia, and will be targeting a place in the knockout rounds.
