First, as could have been predicted, was the striker of the Italian "Milan" Andriy Shevchenko. But the journalists named 24-year-old Andriy Voronin second, who outperformed his contemporary Anatoliy Tymoshchuk from Donetsk "Shakhtar".
The news that Voronin is being praised to the skies in Ukraine was received without enthusiasm at Cologne - the Bundesliga team that signed a two-year contract with our compatriot. The management of the football club from the city famous for its cathedral is quite serious.
Several unsuccessful seasons experienced by the "Goats" (as this team is called in Germany) force representatives of Cologne, once a very formidable football team of the FRG, to carefully weigh and evaluate all events that relate to them. And regarding Voronin, club representatives expressed a number of complaints to Kicker journalists. Club manager Andreas Rettig said the following: "On the one hand, I am happy for him - Voronin, receiving praise and recognition, sees that he did not work in Mainz in vain. On the other hand, gradually there is too much of everything. Of course, having scored 20 goals in the past season for Mainz, he performed excellently and deserved to be praised. However, he has not yet established himself at the highest level."
"Now Voronin, first of all, needs a calm atmosphere. He must work. There have been enough headlines in the newspapers already," echoes Rettig, the head coach of Cologne, Friedhelm Funkel. At the same time, the club's management does not shirk responsibility for what happened. The same Rettig says: "We sang along to these odes, thereby increasing the burden on Voronin's shoulders. Now it will be very difficult for him, almost impossible, to justify the hopes placed on him. No one is capable of that. But we are not going to keep Andrei under lock and key. Nevertheless, the coach will very carefully ensure that he can work without any problems. We will give him every support."
The concern of the people of Cologne is understandable. By and large, there are practically no stars in their lineup. Only during the current off-season did players known outside Germany appear in the team's ranks: Andriy Voronin, Jörg Heinrich, Mustafa Doğan. And the management treasures each of them, hoping that the funds invested in their recruitment will pay off.
As for our compatriot, who at the end of the 90s already played in the first Bundesliga for Borussia Mönchengladbach (7 matches, 1 goal), he spent his vacation in his native Odessa. It should be assumed that Andrei tried to get rid of the fatigue accumulated over the season and approach the training work on the eve of the new championship, which has already begun, in optimal condition.
It remains only to add that the management of Cologne provided Andrei and his wife Katya with a two-story apartment of 120 square meters and a car. In addition, Cologne offered a fairly high salary. Together with the Germans' desire for Voronin to start playing, all that remains is to do very little - justify their hopes.