Oleksandr Shovkovsky

Oleksandr Shovkovskiy

Shovkovskiy playing for Dynamo Kyiv in 2015
Personal information
Full name	Oleksandr Volodymyrovych Shovkovskiy
Date of birth	(1975-01-02) 2 January 1975 (age 42)
Place of birth	Kyiv, Ukraine
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Youth career
1986–1993	Dynamo Kyiv
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1993–2016	Dynamo Kyiv	426	(0)
1993	→ CSK ZSU Kyiv (loan)	2	(0)
1993–2006	→ Dynamo-2 Kyiv	31	(0)
Total		459	(0)
National team
1993–1997	Ukraine U21	12	(0)
1994–2012	Ukraine	92	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Oleksandr Volodymyrovych Shovkovskiy (Ukrainian: Олександр Володимирович Шовковський) (born 2 January 1975) is a retiredUkrainian footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played for Dynamo Kyiv in the Vyscha Liha, the top level of Ukrainian football, from 1993 to 2016.

Born in Kyiv, Ukraine, Shovkovskiy is a graduate of the Dynamo Kyiv football academy. Since his teenage years and up until now Oleksandr Shovkovskiy has played for only one club. In fact he has more caps for the club than anybody else in the history of Dynamo. After advancing from one age group youth team to another, this talented young goalkeeper made his way to the first squad of the Ukrainian giants Dynamo where he made his debut in a league fixture in 1993. By next year he was already called up to the Ukraine national football team. Throughout the majority of his career he was the first choice goalkeeper for Dynamo, except for a few brief periods caused by injuries. The goalkeeper's fame came to him as he became notorious for saving penalties, which made him popular in the media and among fans. By the end of 2009 his goals against average in the League was .632 with over 300 games played.

In summer 2011, Shovkovskiy played his 100th match in the Champions League (against Rubin Kazan in Kazan). Shovkovskiy has played 121 matches in European cups, with 33 clean-sheet matches.

On December 13, 2016 Shovkovskiy announced his retirement at the age of 41.

Shovkovsky got a lot of media attention when giving an interview about the Euromaidan situation. When commenting on the number of people killed, he mentioned how his grandfather started every toast saying "For not having any wars", after which he couldn't hold his tears. Before a Europa League game against Valencia Shovkovsky sent a request to UEFA to start the games of the Ukrainian clubs from a moment of silence, a request that was granted.