MOSCOW, November 12 (R-Sport) - Legendary striker Andriy Shevchenko has been offered the job of Ukraine coach, the country’s football federation said Monday.
Despite a complete lack of coaching experience, Shevchenko could mimic former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola, who won 14 trophies in four years despite only having a season's prior experience as a coach, officials said.
“Remember how Josep Guardiola, unknown as a coach, reached unbelievable results in a few years,” federation president Anatoly Konkov said on the FA's website.
“I’m sure that Shevchenko will be able to conquer significant football summits as the coach of senior national team, as he has enough experience and character.”
The post became vacant in late September, when Oleg Blokhin signed for Dynamo Kiev.
Blokhin was a renowned striker for the Soviet national side and coached Ukraine at its first home tournament at Euro 2012, where he showed a strong bond with his star striker Shevchenko, who retired after the tournament.
With a Champions League and a Serie A title to his name, as well as five Ukrainian titles with Dynamo, 36-year-old Shevchenko was one of the world's best players at his peak and is the all-time top scorer for Ukraine with 48 goals in 111 appearances.
Ukraine have not won any of their first three World Cup 2014 qualifiers and are fifth in their group.
