Andriy Shevchenko, the head coach of Ukraine’s national football team, announced his departure from the role in an Instagram post on August 1.
“Today, my contract with the Ukrainian Football Association came to (an) end,” Shevchenko wrote.
“Together, we managed to show that our football can be competitive, productive and exciting.”
There was initial confusion over the announcement, as the Ukrainian Association of Football (UAF) had stated in June 2020 that Shevchenko’s contract ran until the end of 2022.
The UAF clarified this point in a statement, explaining that the contract signed in 2020 was in fact valid for one year with the option to extend for another 18 months.
Shevchenko leaves the post after five years at the helm, taking over in July 2016 having already spent five months as a coach under previous Ukraine manager Mykhaylo Fomenko.
Under Shevchenko’s tutelage, Ukraine narrowly failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia but bounced back from the disappointment with a barnstorming qualifying campaign for Euro 2020 that they ended undefeated.
At the Euro 2020 tournament, the Ukraine team impressed their fans by reaching the quarter-final, their furthest ever progression in the competition.
Shevchenko and his players were applauded by fans at Kyiv’s Boryspil airport on their return, after they were knocked out by eventual finalists England.
Shevchenko is widely regarded as the best footballer ever to play for independent Ukraine.
He made 111 appearances for the national team, scoring 48 goals—more than any other player in Ukraine’s history.
