Shevchenko announces international retirement

Kiev: Andriy Shevchenko has announced he will retire from international football following Ukraine`s group stage elimination from Euro 2012.

Andriy Shevchenko Ukraine captain, ‘We deserved more today. We played well, created chances and of course scored a goal’

The 35-year-old striker won his 111th cap for his country on Tuesday, coming on as a substitute in his side`s 1-0 defeat by England.

Shevchenko captained his country to the World Cup quarter-finals in 2006 and won the Ballon d`Or in 2004.

He plans a specially arranged friendly before exiting the international stage.

Shevchenko has been his country`s talisman for over a decade, with a national record 48 goals. He scored his first international strike in a friendly against Turkey in 1996, and his last two came in Ukraine`s 2-1 victory over Sweden in the co-hosts` first game of this tournament.

At club level he won the Champions League with AC Milan in 2003 - scoring the winning penalty in the shoot-out - and has collected silverware in Italy and England as well as his native country.

As a 29-year-old Shevchenko signed for Jose Mourinho`s Chelsea for £30m in May 2006, but spent a largely unproductive two-season spell in the Premier League before returning to Milan.

Shevchenko`s contract with current side Dynamo Kiev expires next month and a move to Major League Soccer in the United States in rumoured. The striker confirmed that he hopes to arrange a final, 112th appearance for his country in the coming weeks.
Shevchenko`s silverware

‘I just want to play one more game to say goodbye, just for my family and friends and all the fans who have supported me for many, many years.

‘For everyone the time (to retire from football) comes.

Shevchenko said Ukraine deserved better than their elimination at England`s hands, especially after Marko Devic`s effort was hooked out of the goal by England defender John Terry after the ball appeared to have crossed the line.

‘We deserved more today,’ he told BBC Sport. ‘We played well, created chances and of course scored a goal.

‘It`s difficult for us. We`re out of the competition. That`s the reality.

‘(Scoring a goal) would have made a big difference. If we score we`re buzzing and we`ll maybe win a game. The referee was there, very close."

Shevchenko predicted that England could now go on to enjoy a successful Euro 2012 campaign.

‘I congratulate England,’ he said. ‘Now England play against Italy after passing through a difficult group.

‘I think England can reach the final, why not?’

BDST: 1130 HRS, June 20, 2012
Edited by: Manoz Halder, Newsroom Editor