UKRAINE: FOOTBALL/SOCCER: Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko leads out a team of Ukrainian sports stars for a charity match against Italian celebrity team

A soccer team of Italian pop celebrities took on Andriy Shevchenko's team of Ukrainian sporting heroes for a charity football match in Kiev's Dynamo Stadium on Tuesday (September 4). The match was organised by the Chelsea striker's foundation to raise funds for a new children's hospital specialising in heart disorders. Banners for the charity 'Give Children Your Heart' hung around the stadium and the evening began with a 50,000 euro donation handed over by Italian captain, singer Gianni Morandi. Ukraine president Viktor Yushchenko and his wife Kateryna, who is a patron of the charity, were at the match and got a warm reception from the crowd before kickoff. The teams included sports and showbiz stars from both countries. Shevchenko captained the home team which boasted Ukrainian sports stars such as boxers Vitali and Vladimir Klitschko, former European soccer player of the year Oleg Blokhin and former world and Olympic pole vault champion Sergei Bubka. The match, which was the return leg after a similar event in Milan earlier in the year, ended with Ukraine winning 5-4 and Shevchenko and Kateryna Yushchenko held the trophy aloft.

ITN Source | September 7, 2007

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