Up Close and Personal of Team Ukraine: feat. Oleksandr Shovkovskiy

Position: Goalkeeper
Current Club: Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine)
Date for Birth: 2 January 1975
Height: 191 cm – 6′3
Weight: 86 kg – 190 lbs
Caps: 64
Goals: 0
Number: 1

It is often said that goalkeepers reach their peak after the age of 30, and Oleksandr Shovkovskiy certainly lends weight to this theory. The most thrilling chapter of the Ukrainian keeper’s career has unfolded after the three-decade mark: Qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™.
And what a qualification it was. Ukraine booked their ticket for football’s supreme event back in September 2005, when they became the first country to join hosts Germany in the draw for the finals. Admittedly, the clinical finishing of Andriy Shevchenko played a crucial role in Ukraine claiming their place in Germany, but a series of solid displays in the last line of defence by Shovkovski was also a major factor.

During the course of 12 matches against sides of the calibre of Turkey, Greece and Denmark, Shovkovskiy was nothing short of a revelation, conceding just seven goals in all and keeping six successive clean sheets between October 2004 and September 2005; a run which coincided with six consecutive victories for his country.

While Ukraine’s strikers were causing opponents’ nets to bulge with great regularity, Shovkovski was doing his level best to ensure that his remained unruffled, particularly against Ukraine’s direct rivals for qualification. And so successful was the Kyiv keeper that Oleg Blokhin’s charges took the lead at the top of Group Two in November 2004 and stayed there.

As well as working wonders with his country, Shovkovski is also a big-game veteran on the domestic scene. Since the 1993/94 season, he has kept goal for Dynamo Kiev, the most successful and popular club in Ukraine. As early as his first professional season, he was voted the second-best Ukrainian player of 1994 behind his team-mate Viktor Leonenko.

His performances initially earned him a place in the country’s U-21 side, for whom he played 12 matches before making the step up into the senior team. Both in his national championship and on the domestic front, Shovkovskiy’s commanding form made him the first-choice goalkeeper for successive national coaches. But for the big number one, his personal statistics are only of secondary importance. “I don’t pay any attention to the figures. My job is to go onto the pitch and help my team win,” he declares modestly. “I prefer to concede a goal or two but win, rather than keep a clean sheet and only draw.”

Between 1994 and 2005, Shovkovskiy represented his country 63 times and was beaten on just 43 occasions. Unfortunately, 2006 began on a bad note for the Dynamo shot-stopper, when, during a friendly before the start of the Ukrainian championship, the international broke his collarbone. After initially fearing his FIFA World Cup dream had also been shattered, Shovkovskiy was relieved to return to action after just two months on the sidelines.

Now aged 31, Shovkovskiy is convinced that he is not yet at the peak of his powers. He said: “I still believe that, despite being over 30, I can still get better and achieve more in the game. The important thing is to keep looking forward and reach the objectives that you set for yourself.”