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24-11-2005, 22:58
Shevchenko earns Van Basten comparison
24.11 || webmaster || $source
Source: Football Italia
Carlo Ancelotti and Adriano Galliani claim Andriy Shevchenko has reached Marco van Basten’s level, but he thinks he could've done better tonight.
“We needed the very best Milan performance to play in these circumstances, as between the fiery home crowd and the difficult situation in the table, this was a tricky match,” said the Coach after their 4-0 victory.
Despite this victory, which put them on top of Group E with eight points, passage to the knockout stage is still in the balance and they welcome Schalke 04 in their last match.
“We’d been doing well throughout the last few weeks and only stumbled at Fiorentina, but we’re still not in a position to make calculations for the final game.”
Andriy Shevchenko became only the fifth player in Champions League history to score four in one game. The first was Milan’s Marco Van Basten on November 25 1989 against Goteborg, then Lazio’s Simone Inzaghi, Dado Prso for Monaco and Ruud van Nistelrooy for Manchester United against Sparta Prague.
“Shevchenko did great work, but his teammates also did well to put him in those scoring positions. I was above all impressed with the performances of those who don’t often get to play, like Manuel Rui Costa and Dario Simic.”
Shevchenko made history and became the current Champions League top scorer with seven goals, leapfrogging past Ronaldinho.
“It’s not easy to score four goals in one game, but the most important thing was the three points and that the team put in a great performance,” said the Ballon d’Or winner. “We struggled a little in the first half, but played with intelligence and had another 10 chances to score. I could have broken the record and grabbed five or more, but the goalkeeper did well and kept the result down.”
The Ukrainian analysed his first two goals and how he came to put them past the Fenerbahce shot-stopper.
“There was a lot of mud around the area and I knew it could get stuck, so I was very careful taking it forward and tried to steer it between the ‘keepers’ legs. My favourite was the second, as I dummied the defender and shot with my left foot.”
Rossoneri vice-president Adriano Galliani had a similar view of this crushing victory and of Shevchenko’s position in this club’s history.
“van Basten remains van Basten, but I think tonight’s four goals bring Sheva onto his level. He really is a phenomenon with 53 goals in European competition,” said Galliani.
“If there’s a player I want to thank it is Simic. He rarely plays, but always trains hard and is ready when needed. He is the ideal player I want in my team. I hope now the media can drop this endless harping on about the nightmares of Istanbul. We also won here against Besiktas, so not everything goes wrong in this city.”
Simic was the first to admit that his patience at Milan has not come naturally to him. “It is in all honesty very difficult to find consistency when you haven’t played in three months,” said the Croat. “You need a lot of belief in yourself to hang on in those circumstances and keep going. I must thank my teammates, the club psychologist and the church for helping me through the troubled times.”
24.11 || webmaster || $source
Source: Football Italia
Carlo Ancelotti and Adriano Galliani claim Andriy Shevchenko has reached Marco van Basten’s level, but he thinks he could've done better tonight.
“We needed the very best Milan performance to play in these circumstances, as between the fiery home crowd and the difficult situation in the table, this was a tricky match,” said the Coach after their 4-0 victory.
Despite this victory, which put them on top of Group E with eight points, passage to the knockout stage is still in the balance and they welcome Schalke 04 in their last match.
“We’d been doing well throughout the last few weeks and only stumbled at Fiorentina, but we’re still not in a position to make calculations for the final game.”
Andriy Shevchenko became only the fifth player in Champions League history to score four in one game. The first was Milan’s Marco Van Basten on November 25 1989 against Goteborg, then Lazio’s Simone Inzaghi, Dado Prso for Monaco and Ruud van Nistelrooy for Manchester United against Sparta Prague.
“Shevchenko did great work, but his teammates also did well to put him in those scoring positions. I was above all impressed with the performances of those who don’t often get to play, like Manuel Rui Costa and Dario Simic.”
Shevchenko made history and became the current Champions League top scorer with seven goals, leapfrogging past Ronaldinho.
“It’s not easy to score four goals in one game, but the most important thing was the three points and that the team put in a great performance,” said the Ballon d’Or winner. “We struggled a little in the first half, but played with intelligence and had another 10 chances to score. I could have broken the record and grabbed five or more, but the goalkeeper did well and kept the result down.”
The Ukrainian analysed his first two goals and how he came to put them past the Fenerbahce shot-stopper.
“There was a lot of mud around the area and I knew it could get stuck, so I was very careful taking it forward and tried to steer it between the ‘keepers’ legs. My favourite was the second, as I dummied the defender and shot with my left foot.”
Rossoneri vice-president Adriano Galliani had a similar view of this crushing victory and of Shevchenko’s position in this club’s history.
“van Basten remains van Basten, but I think tonight’s four goals bring Sheva onto his level. He really is a phenomenon with 53 goals in European competition,” said Galliani.
“If there’s a player I want to thank it is Simic. He rarely plays, but always trains hard and is ready when needed. He is the ideal player I want in my team. I hope now the media can drop this endless harping on about the nightmares of Istanbul. We also won here against Besiktas, so not everything goes wrong in this city.”
Simic was the first to admit that his patience at Milan has not come naturally to him. “It is in all honesty very difficult to find consistency when you haven’t played in three months,” said the Croat. “You need a lot of belief in yourself to hang on in those circumstances and keep going. I must thank my teammates, the club psychologist and the church for helping me through the troubled times.”