Former Ukraine striker Andriy Shevchenko has turned down an offer to manage the national team, he said on Monday.
“I believe that today leading the national team of Ukraine
is a somewhat premature step for me,” Shevchenko, the record marksman
for his country with 48 goals in 111 appearances, said in a statement
published on the Ukrainian Football Federation’s web site www.ffu.org.ua.
“I hope the leadership of the Football Federation will understand my decision,” he added.
Shevchenko, 36, who played for AC Milan and Chelsea as well as Dynamo Kiev in a goal-studded career, retired after his country’s exit from the Euro 2012 tournament which they co-hosted in June.
An attempt to enter politics flopped when the party he
was enlisted onto as a candidate for parliament failed to muster enough
votes in an Oct. 28 election to earn any representation in parliament.
He was offered the national coaching job a week ago. The post became vacant when Oleg Blokhin, the previous coach, accepted an offer from Dynamo Kiev.
Ukraine sit in fifth place in their 2014 World Cup qualifying group, with two
points from three games. (Reporting by Pavel Polityuk and Igor Nitsak;
Writing by Richard Balmforth, editing by Justin Palmer)
