Ac Milan lose their first derby since Shevchenko’s departure as city rivals Inter took the honours by 4-3 at Stadio Meazza on Saturday night to consolidate their position on top of Serie A alongside Palermo.

To make matters worse for the Rossoneri, the man Sheva replaced, Hernan Crespo, scored the first goal on his return to the Milanese Derby. Dejan Stankovic and Zlatan Ibrahimovic put Inter 3-0 ahead inside 47 minutes.

Clarence Seedorf pulled one back for Milan before Inter’s Marco Materazzi made it 4-1 in the 68th minute.

Materazzi’s celebrations saw him red-carded and Alberto Gilardino and Kaka scored late for a tense finish. Many were left wondering if Shevchenko had been playing, the outcome would have been different.

The result leaves Milan, who began the season with an eight-point penalty imposed by a sports tribunal, 14 points behind their city rivals as they start questioning the sale of Shevchenko and the relative ineffectiveness of his replacement, Oliveira.

Adapted from BBC Sport

Andriy Shevchenko scores first goal in 2-1 Chelsea win against Portsmouth.
Chelsea moved back to the top of the Premiership as two of their under-fire summer signings, Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack, scored a goal apiece.

Shevchenko gave the Blues the breakthrough their dominance deserved on 55 minutes when he slotted in Frank Lampard’s cut back.

And two minutes later Ballack, who had been off key, nodded Didier Drogba’s headed pass into the top corner.

Benjani pulled one back for Portsmouth.

In the first half James was excellent when he dived full length to turn away a curling shot from Shevchenko.

In the 55th minute Robben turned provider and it was his centre into the box which Shevchenko latched onto and finally beat James.

Relief was evident, both for Shevchenko - who was booked for his celebrations - and for Chelsea.

And that soon turned into a more comfortable feeling for the hosts as Ballack timed his run into the box to connect with Drogba’s clever header across goal and put Chelsea two up.

A nervous finale did not materialise though as Chelsea’s superiority told.
From: BBC Sport

Andriy Shevchenko still without goal in Reading-Chelsea (0-1) with an own goal by Ivar Ingimarsson who had already headed against his own bar.

Referee Riley booked Ingimarsson for a challenge from behind on Shevchenko in an hard match with many injuries.

After Sonko was sent off form the referee (second yellow card) Joe Cole was immediately sent on for Shevchenko and Chelsea became 4-3-2.

From: SportingLife.com

http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=soccer/06/10/14/SOCCER_Shevchenko.html

The names of the nominees for FIFA World Player of the Year 2006 are now known and the winner will be announced at the 16th FIFA World Player Gala at the Zurich Opera House on 18 December.

The lists of candidates for the prestigious awards were drawn up by football experts from different FIFA committees.

As in the previous two years, the head coaches and captains of men’s and women’s national teams will now vote for the best players from the men’s and women’s games from the lists of candidates.

At the beginning of December, FIFA will reveal in alphabetical order the names of the three men and women who have received the most votes.

In additional to the traditional FIFA Presidential Award and FIFA Fair Play Award, the 16th FIFA World Player Gala will also
include prizes for outstanding performances at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germanyâ„¢.

The tournament’s three best players (Zinedine Zidane, Fabio Cannavaro and Andrea Pirlo) and top scorers
(Miroslav Klose, Hernan Crespo and Ronaldo) will be presented with awards in Zurich, as will the two fairest teams
(Brazil and Spain) and the outstanding goalkeeper (Gianluigi Buffon).

The following men (in alphabetical order) are in contention for the title of FIFA World Player of the Year 2006: Adriano (Brazil), Michael Ballack (Germany), Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Fabio Cannavaro (Italy), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Petr Cech (Czech Republic), Deco (Portugal), Didier Drogba (Côte d’Ivoire), Michael Essien (Ghana), Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon), Luis Figo (Portugal), Gennaro Gattuso (Italy), Steven Gerrard (England), Thierry Henry (France), Kaká (Brazil), Miroslav Klose (Germany), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Frank Lampard (England), Jens Lehmann (Germany), Alessandro Nesta (Italy), Andrea Pirlo (Italy), Franck Ribéry (France), Juan Román Riquelme (Argentina), Ronaldinho (Brazil), Wayne Rooney (England), Tomas Rosicky (Czech Republic), Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine), Lilian Thuram (France), Patrick Viera (France), Zinedine Zidane (France).

From: SportingLife.com

AC Milan psychologist Bruno de Michelis has spoken with Andriy Shevchenko as he tries to make an impact in the Barclays Premiership with Chelsea.

De Michelis,”scientific co-ordinator” of the Milan Lab, insists he is happy to help Shevchenko and told The Sun: “I saw him less than two weeks ago. I said I could provide a programme to help him if it’s possible.”

“He told me ‘that would be great’. A champion like Andriy can only be destroyed, not created as he was already a great player before he came to England.”

De Michelis believes the change of environment is a key reason behind Shevchenko’s slow start (he has scored just once for the Blues since the Community Shield).

“How many changes has he faced with the move to London? He needs time and support, otherwise a player becomes introverted, even scared. If they start to work with fear inside, it becomes a disaster.”

From: SportingLife.com

Gianfranco Zola said that Andriy Shevchenko will match his own hero status at Chelsea if he is allowed time to adapt.

“It has been surprising that he has not settled quicker. But only because he is such a talented and brilliant player. They have not seen the best of him yet.”

Gianfranco Zola was a great striker, winning with Chelsea the FA Cup twice, the League Cup and the European Cup Winner’s Cup.

He is currently an Italian football pundit, though he also comments on European competitions. He has also been named joint coach of the Italian Under-21 side with ex Chelsea player Pierluigi Casiraghi.

“It is an honour for me to be regarded as one of the great players of Chelsea,” Zola admitted.

“Andriy can be like that given time. It would have been a dream for me to play with him for Chelsea because he can score great goals and has such pace.”

From: Eurosport

If Andriy Shevchenko scores the last goal against Reading, Paddy Power will refund on all losing first/last goalscorer, correct score and scorecast bets on ALL PREMIERSHIP matches this Saturday.Never before have the Sun Online’s official bookmaker offered a Money-Back Special as generous as this.
It doesn’t matter which Premiership game you bet on this Saturday, if your losing first goalscorer bet is a loser you could still get your money back if Chelsea’s Ukrainian striker bags the last goal against the Royals.

Everybody will be keeping a close eye on the Madejski Stadium this Saturday.

And here are just some of the First goalscorer prices available across the Premiership this weekend:

7/2        Rooney first goal against Wigan
2/1        Henry first goal against Watford
14/1      King first goal against Arsenal
6/1        Baros first goal against Spurs
7/2        Bellamy first goal against Blackburn
9/1        Barton first goal against Sheff Utd

From: The Sun Online

Andriy Shevchenko scored a penalty to help Ukraine beat Scotland 2-0 in a European Championship qualifying match after Kucher’s first goal (60th minute: Shevchenko’s free-kick into the box ran loose off Vyacheslav Sviderskiy and Kucher turned on the ball and beat Gordon with a low shot).
Shevchenko was pulled down by Scotland defender Robbie Neilson in the 89th minute.

Scotland has now nine points in the group, which also includes World Cup finalists Italy and France.

During the match, Shevchenko set up Oleh Gusev for the first notable opportunity after just four minutes but the No9’s shot deflected wide off Pressley.

That was a rare foray forward for the visitors who suffered several scares as the first period progressed.
Maxym Kalynychenko headed just over, Andriy Voronin failed to make firm contact with Shevchenko’s mishit shot, then Shevchenko himself poked the ball weakly at Craig Gordon following a scramble.

Shevchenko nearly set up another goal in the seventh minute, beating two defenders and passing to Oleh Gusev, but his shot deflected off a defender and missed.

Shevchenko sent a free kick into the wall in the 21st after Scotland midfielder Darren Fletcher was given a yellow card.
Early in the second half, Shevchenko hit the left post.

Any hopes of a comeback were snuffed when Pressley saw red for a foul on Shevchenko as he bore down on goal and the Ukraine talisman sealed the win in the 90th minute when he beat Gordon from the spot after being fouled by debutant Robbie Neilson.

Watch the highlights > Ukraine-Scotland Video

From: KyivPost.com / Uefa.com

The Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko has returned to training with Ukraine for Wednesday’s Euro 2008 Group B qualifier against Scotland in Kiev.

Shevchenko missed on Saturday defeat to Italy (2-0) with a virus but he took part in a practice session with the rest of the squad on Monday evening and should play against Scotland on Wednesday.

Another bad new for Ukraine: Oleksiy Byelik, Shevchenko’s fellow forward, has been withdrawn after injuring his leg during the match in Rome.

From: Sportinglife.com

Andriy Shevchenko has a virus and is in doubt for Ukraine’s European Championship qualifier against Italy on Saturday.

Ukraine coach Oleh Blokhin said Shevchenko started to feel ill early Wednesday and was feverish with a temperature of 38.5 Celsius: “I don’t know whether he will recover or not (to play Italy),” Blokhin said.

Ukraine has three points in Group B, two ahead of Italy, but three behind leaders Scotland and France.

“We should beat Italy,” said Blokhin, adding that Ukraine is likely to “outplay Scotland, even if beaten by Italy.”

Meanwhile, the italian strikers Alessandro Del Piero and Luca Toni were recalled to world champion Italy’s squad on Sunday for European Championship qualifiers against Ukraine and Georgia: they haven’t appeared for the Azzurri since their triumph in Berlin.
Also recalled by coach Roberto Donadoni were World Cup winners Vincenzo Iaquinta, Mauro Camoranesi, Alessandro Nesta and Marco Materazzi (who will play after serving a two-game ban for verbally provoking Zinedine Zidane in July’s World Cup final).
Italy hosts Andriy Shevchenko’s Ukraine at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico next Saturday, then visits Georgia the following Wednesday.

From: Fox Sports