The Ukrainian treated top-tier European football like a TV talent show
The tourist-trap street market is the easiest way for a visiting fan to delve beyond the tribalism of a country’s domestic football scene and identify the real stars of the game.
Taking a trip to Italy in the early Noughties, you would have found Fiorentina’s iconic violet kit adorned with ‘Batistuta’ or ‘Rui Costa’ in Florence, while a trip to Rome would offer you a ‘Totti’ or ‘Crespo’ shirt, depending on where your allegiances lay.
You might find the shirts of clubs from rival cities, but more often than not they would only take pride of place if the name on the back was that of an Italian player – a Del Piero or Vieri, perhaps.
One man that bucked that trend was Andriy Shevchenko – and it says a lot about his ability and influence that he was able to do so as a Ukrainian playing his football in Milan.
