If Shevchenko, with whom they were the scourge of such respected European clubs as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Arsenal, and Newcastle, saw his career steadily rise after moving to Milan, then Rebrov clearly misjudged with Tottenham. The London option, though it seemed attractive, in fact became a trap into which the Ukraine national team forward fell. After joining the Spurs (the popular name for Tottenham), Sergei can only chalk up one – the first – season in England to his credit. Then his fortunes began to slide.
The apotheosis of Rebrov's English failures can be considered his current stint at West Ham, a team of non-elite class. Even at this level, Rebrov cannot secure a regular place in the starting lineup of yet another London club. The result was the exclusion of the 30-year-old footballer from the list of players in the Ukraine national team.
Oleg Blokhin, who heads this team, quite rightly believes that those who have playing experience at their clubs should play for the national team. And although he permits some exceptions, Rebrov is not affected by such indulgences. If a footballer of his level cannot establish himself at West Ham, what use will he be to his country's national team? Especially given the presence in the attack line of the Ukrainian team of two other of our 'foreigners' – the two Andriys playing in Italy and Germany – Shevchenko and Voronin.
However, attentive football fans could not have missed one interesting fact that coincided with Rebrov's removal from the national team. The last time Sergei was called up to the national team was in August 2004, on the eve of a match against England in Newcastle. It seemed that nothing foreshadowed danger, but one Ukrainian newspaper published excerpts from the British publication Guardian, with whose correspondent Rebrov had spoken the day before. Some of the quotes were quite candid and cast one of the officials of the Football Federation of Ukraine in an unflattering light. The newspaper came out right before the game; as a result, Sergei spent the entire match on the bench, and then stopped being called up to the national team sessions altogether.
Oleg Blokhin's explanation on this matter sounds, as already mentioned, quite logical: Rebrov lacks match practice. That's all true, but a reasonable remark arises: earlier he also lacked match practice, yet for some reason he was in demand by the national team coaches. So Sergei's removal from the national team right after his candid statements about his past turns out to be very unambiguous. A clear connection can be traced, and clearly not of a football nature.
What was so seditious in that material, excerpts of which flashed through the Ukrainian media and then sank into oblivion?
A correspondent for the Guardian, Jemma Clark, met with Sergei on the eve of the match between the England and Ukraine national teams, after which her article was published under the headline 'Rebrov wants to play in tandem with Shevchenko.' 'Yes, the Ukrainian striker has been sent to the lower division, but he still has the opportunity to perform at a high international level and score goals for the national team,' writes Clark.
Four years have passed since Andriy Shevchenko and Serhiy Rebrov first took to the field in yellow-blue shirts for a match against the England national team. In those days, Sheva had just completed his first season at Milan, while Rebrov had only recently moved to Tottenham for £11 million. Shevchenko remains one of the key players in the Italian club's lineup. Rebrov, however, made his debut a couple of weeks ago in... the First Division of the English championship. At one time, this pair of Kyiv Dynamo forwards inspired terror in opponents and was rightly considered one of the strongest in Europe.
"I think those years were the best in my life," Rebrov shares with the Guardian correspondent. "We had a very talented team and a great coach. Dynamo were even capable of winning the Champions League. All of Europe was afraid of us. I remember Alex Ferguson admitted in one interview in those years that he most of all did not want to play against Dynamo Kyiv because we displayed incredible football."
In those days, the difference in class between Rebrov and Shevchenko was imperceptible. Andriy had 33 goals in Champions League matches, Sergei 28. Both are among the top ten scorers in the history of the most prestigious European tournament. Judging by how many goals Rebrov scored on the international stage, he could be counted among the cohort of the best strikers on the planet. Interestingly, five years ago in Ukraine there were uncompromising debates over who was better – Sheva or Rebrov? But Andriy was invited by Milan, and only Sergei remained at Dynamo. He continued scoring in the championship and was again among the league's best marksmen.
Then rumors appeared about Sergei's impending move to Tottenham. At the time, many said that the Spurs were not his team and that it would be better to wait for another offer. Oleh Luzhnyi (Sergei's former teammate at Dynamo and the Ukraine national team) advised Rebrov to move to Arsenal, but the forward still ended up at Tottenham.
"It was not my decision," says Sergei. "In Ukraine, the situation with transfers is completely different. It is very different from the English one. In our country, the footballer does not choose – the club president chooses. I know that Arsenal showed interest in me and held negotiations with Dynamo. But Tottenham offered far more money, and the president chose the option with this club. That is why I ended up at Spurs. When I played in Kyiv, I did not have a contract. I mean a contract in the English sense of the word..."
To be continued.