Chapter 853 Shevchenko's Success and Failure
On the evening of March 6, in the 29th round of the Premier League, Manchester City faced Wigan Athletic at home.
After the team created threats through several consecutive attacks but failed to score a goal, Su Dong received a pass from his teammate at the top of the penalty area in the 32nd minute, turned around and made a wonderful pass with his left foot.
David Silva passed by Su Dong, dribbled into the penalty area, and shot low with his left foot. The ball passed between goalkeeper Habusi's legs, scoring the only goal of the game for Manchester City.
In the end, Manchester City beat Wigan Athletic by one goal.
…………
…………
March 10th evening, Kiev, Ukraine.
Shevchenko was sitting on the team bus heading to the Novaya Gazebo Stadium, looking out the window at the rainy Kiev. He couldn't help but think that the situation in Britain should be similar at this time.
It rains all year round in that country.
Kiev is different. Shevchenko has lived here since he was a child. He knows that this place is about to move from cold winter to hot summer.
It rarely rains in Kiev in March, but I don’t know if it’s because the Premier League team is about to visit, but it actually drizzled today, which made the city, where the temperature is always hovering around zero degrees, even colder.
However, this should be difficult for the team from the UK to adapt to.
The weather in the UK has warmed up, but it's still cold in Kyiv.
Just like the past two years, Shevchenko's mood is still as cold as winter.
He went to Chelsea from Milan with great ambitions, but suffered the first setback in his career. He returned to Milan for a while, but there was no improvement either. Finally, he chose to return to Dynamo Kyiv.
It's already the second season, and he still hasn't gotten over that nightmare.
He returned with the full anticipation of Dynamo Kyiv fans. Everyone hoped that he could play a role and lead the team to defeat Shakhtar Donetsk. But in the end, they lost to their opponents last season and handed over the championship. Only 20 rounds have been played this season, and they are already ten points behind their opponents. The possibility of a reversal is almost zero.
Fortunately, Dynamo Kyiv reached the round of 16 in the Europa League, which can be considered a consolation.
In the two seasons since joining Dynamo Kyiv, Shevchenko has achieved nothing so far.
He also felt the hostility among the fan base, especially between Kiev and Donetsk.
It's not just a derby confrontation between sworn enemies on the football level, it's much deeper.
Shevchenko could do nothing about it.
He is no longer the Ronaldo who dominated European football.
Now he is just a veteran who is about to retire and is full of injuries!
…
The Novalowski Stadium was packed tonight.
Although everyone thinks that it is unlikely that Dynamo Kyiv will beat Manchester City and advance to the quarterfinals of the Europa League, Dynamo Kyiv has enough confidence in this stadium. For example, in 2003, they defeated the powerful and arrogant Arsenal at home in the Champions League.
This also makes Dynamo Kyiv fans look forward to tonight's game.
At the same time, many people are looking forward to the showdown between Shevchenko and Su Dong, the two new and old top scorers in Europe.
Everyone can see that Sudong is in its heyday and Shevchenko is already old, but Nuclear Warhead is the hero of this city and this country, and the fans here still believe that he is stronger than Sudong.
…
When Dynamo Kyiv's bus arrived at the Novaya Gazeta Stadium, Manchester City followed closely.
They arrived in Kiev yesterday on a chartered flight from Manchester.
Only a wealthy Manchester City would be willing to invest so much for a Europa League match.
After the players of both teams entered the locker room and packed up, they were about to walk onto the field for pre-match training when they met at the exit of the player tunnel.
"Hey, Su." Shevchenko saw Su Dong first, smiled and raised his hand to greet him.
"Hello, Andre." Su Dong walked forward, first shook hands with Shevchenko, and then the two hugged each other.
When Shevchenko played for AC Milan, he actually had a lot of contact with Su Dong. The two had two or three common sponsors and often met at some events. However, because of Chelsea and the media hype, there was some awkwardness between the two.
There is no conflict between them, and they both know it is media hype and Chelsea's operation, but they just feel embarrassed.
From then on, even when we met in public, we basically remained polite and courteous, which made us feel a little unfamiliar.
But the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe have not seen Shevchenko for two years, and there is even little news about him in the newspapers. It seems that the nuclear warhead has disappeared from the world of mainstream European media, which is really embarrassing.
This is also the sadness of football stars as they grow old!
In professional football, we only hear the laughter of newcomers, and no one cares about the crying of the old players.
How many fans of Shevchenko were there back then? They would care about every game he played, every goal he scored, and even every move he made off the field. But now? Who cares? On the contrary, at this time, when the two met, they seemed to be getting closer.
…
"How is it? I saw in the information that you haven't been doing well this season." Su Dong asked with concern.
Shevchenko is already 34 years old. Unless he is an exception like Maldini and Costacurta, Shevchenko is basically at the twilight of his career at this age.
After returning to Ukraine, Shevchenko's attendance rate was actually not very high, and he spent a lot of time resting during the season.
In fact, it is no wonder. After suffering such a heavy blow from Chelsea, and at that awkward age, it is basically impossible to recover.
"I injured my knee at the beginning of last season." When he said this, Shevchenko looked at Su Dong and smiled awkwardly, "You know, it's an old problem that has never healed. At the end of the year, I accidentally strained my back. This time I rested for more than a month."
Su Dong heard him speak simply, but he could also understand his feelings at the moment.
At his age, how could things be so simple?
"Don't play the victim. After your comeback, you scored in two consecutive rounds of the Europa League. You played an indispensable role in Dynamo Kyiv's advancement. I think you were planning something bad and were preparing to score our goal tonight." Su Dong laughed.
Shevchenko smiled, he was in good shape after returning from injury.
The most important thing is that he let go of a lot of things and relaxed his mindset. Coupled with the team tactics and the support of his teammates, his goals came out.
"You are on strong momentum this year. I have been following you. Winning the Premier League is a high probability event. If you make up for it during the winter break, I guess you may even want the Europa League in the second half, right?" Shevchenko asked with a smile.
Su Dong didn't deny it.
Manchester City brought in several high-level players during the winter break. How could they say they didn't want to get involved in the Europa League and win more championships? No one would believe it.
After laughing, Shevchenko smiled bitterly and said: "You plan your career better than me!"
Su Dong suddenly didn't know how to answer.
Although they have never worked together and Shevchenko cannot be considered his idol, he really respects this predecessor.
All the players who have made a name for themselves in European football have not had it easy, let alone a tough guy like Shevchenko who was once close to the Ballon d'Or.
Su Dong once studied Shevchenko's career planning with Nuno Cruz and others. From a purely competitive perspective, his transfer from AC Milan to Chelsea was a failure.
This is not because he did not make it at Chelsea. In fact, it was difficult for him to make it at Chelsea.
During his time at Milan, Shevchenko began to transform into a scorer or a second striker due to injuries and other reasons, focusing on positioning and scoring.
But this has a prerequisite, that is, AC Milan had an excellent midfield at the time, especially Pirlo and Kaka.
The presence of these two players gave Shevchenko very strong support, allowing him to complete such a role transformation.
But at Chelsea, everyone knows that the Blues' midfield cannot even find a passer like Pirlo, let alone Kaka. This has caused Chelsea's forwards to have to take more active work.
That is to say, for a center forward like Drogba, it is difficult for Shevchenko to play the role.
If Shevchenko was in his prime, his speed and skills would still have room to be utilized, but the problem is that he has suffered a serious injury.
It can be said that this transfer was doomed to tragedy from the very beginning.
It's not just Shevchenko. In fact, Manchester City's technical department, Su Dong, Nuno Cruz and others are basically pessimistic about Torres now, thinking that he is still copying Shevchenko's trajectory.
Of course, the world of professional football is never just about football.
From a football perspective, Shevchenko and Torres' transfers to Chelsea may be failures, but if analyzed from the perspective of interests, it may be the opposite.
Just like Shevchenko, at his age and condition at the time, how long could he last even if he continued to stay in Milan? Transferring to Chelsea would just be a good opportunity to make a lot of money and earn a pension for himself, wouldn't that also be a success? It is precisely because of this understanding that Su Dong's praise for Shevchenko was mixed with various feelings.
Many times, the players are actually helpless.
Especially professional players.
Everyone can only make the best solution at the moment, but has no way to control their own future.
It’s like no one can guarantee that in the next game, you will suddenly encounter a young man who will kick you and force you to retire.
Of course, this kind of low-probability event rarely happens, but what if it's so unlucky? Su Dong didn't know what to say for a moment, so he put his arm around Shevchenko's shoulders, smiled and sighed.
"You have to be gentle with your feet tonight."
Shevchenko was also amused, "It is you who should be more lenient with your feet."
"It's too cold in Kiev. Some of us forgot to bring long sleeves." Su Dong laughed bitterly.
The unlucky guy who forgot to bring long sleeves is David Luiz.
This guy probably didn't read the coaching staff's notice carefully. The temperature here in Kiev is zero degrees, and it may even drop below zero at night.
When he thought of this, Su Dong felt cold all over.
Shevchenko also noticed that David Luiz was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and burst into laughter.
This kid is so funny!
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
