Andrei Shevchenko - book extract.

He was nine when the Chernobyl nuclear disaster occurred in April 1986. His village, not far from Chernobyl, was also affected by the disaster, and his family was one amongst the thousands who had to abandon their homes and relocate to the coast to escape the aftereffects.
He has come a long way since then.2004 was a good year for him.He was named the European Footballer of the Year .In the same year he was also named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers and was awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine.
In an ad for ESPN in 2006 he told anchor Scott Van Pelt that since Americans call European football soccer Europeans should call American football soccer in return . . !
An interesting extract from a book about him here .