The first experience of working as a club coach with the famous Ukrainian football player Andriy Shevchenko was extremely unsuccessful. As a coach of the Italian “Genoa” Shevchenko lasted only two months, having won one victory during this time, and that one – in the Cup of the country. The dismissal of Andrey Shevchenko may have a direct bearing on the Russian team. Sources say that he is a contender for the vacant position of head coach of the Polish national team – the rival of the Russian team in the March play-off for a ticket to the World Cup in Qatar.
Last weekend, the Italian club Genoa announced the resignation of head coach Andriy Shevchenko. Genoese CEO Johannes Spors, in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, attributed it to “the lack of improvement in the game and results.”
The appointment in early November last year of Andriy Shevchenko to the coaching post at Genoa turned into a very noticeable event for Italy. The Ukrainian striker was one of the brightest football stars in the world at the turn of the past and present centuries, and the best part of his professional career took place in the Italian championship. Andriy Shevchenko played in Milan from 1999 until moving to Chelsea in 2006, later returning briefly to the Milan club. With him, he won the most significant awards for the reputation. In 2003, Milan won the Champions League with Shevchenko, and a year later the striker received the Golden Ball.
Genoa was the first club in Andriy Shevchenko’s coaching career. The appearance in it was preceded by a rather long, since 2016, Shevchenko’s work as a mentor of the Ukrainian team, which eventually resulted in something like a breakthrough. At the European Championship last summer, the low-ranking Ukrainians managed to reach the quarterfinals, knocking out very strong Swedes in the starting round of the play-off. In Shevchenko, the Genoa management saw hope for a way out of the crisis in which the team found itself in the fall. By the time of the resignation of his predecessor, Davide Ballardini, it was located next to the “relegation zone”.
Meanwhile, under the new coach, no progress has occurred. On the contrary, rather, the situation became even worse. The indicators of Genoa in the short period of Andriy Shevchenko’s leadership look simply depressing. With Shevchenko, the Genoese managed to play 11 official matches and won one victory in them, and that one at the early stage of the Italian Cup over Salernitana. In the championship in nine rounds, Genoa suffered six defeats and three draws and dropped even lower than it was before the arrival of Shevchenko – to the 19th, penultimate position in the table.
Oddly enough, the dismissal of Andrey Shevchenko from Genoa may have a direct bearing on the Russian team. Several sources at once claim that the Ukrainian is being considered by the Polish Football Federation (PZPN) as a candidate for the post of head coach of the national team of this country. Namely, against the Poles, the Russian team will have to play, perhaps, the most important meeting of the first half of 2022.
At the end of March, the final part of the European qualifying campaign for the 2022 World Cup will take place. It features 12 teams that have qualified for the play-offs, either finished second in groups during the main qualifying stage, or ranked in the Nations League. The Poles, who finished second in their group after the British, were among them.
The format of the March stage is three mini-tournaments. Each will feature four teams. To get a ticket to the Qatari championship, which will take place at the end of the year, you need to win two matches in a row – the semi-final and the final. So, the draw determined the Polish national team as rivals for the Russian team in its home semi-final of the mini-tournament on March 24th. Its winner will then meet with a representative of a pair in which the Czechs and Swedes are brought together.
The post of coach of the Polish national team was vacant due to the state of emergency. In December, the Portuguese leader Paulo Souza unexpectedly terminated his contract with PZPN, fleeing to the Brazilian club Flamengo. Media resources named, talking about the contenders for the vacant post, various names, in January, the Italian Fabio Cannavaro was most often mentioned. However, some of them, such as Italy24news, argue that Genoa’s decision to resign Andriy Shevchenko immediately served as a signal for negotiations between him and PZPN.
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