Former-AC Milan striker Andrei Shevchenko has officially retired from the game at 35 years-old.

The striker had admitted recently that he may have retired earlier, had it not been for Euro 2012 being in his home country Ukraine.

He was unable to prevent his nation going out at the group stages, but did score two goals in their opening game victory over Sweden.

I don’t think that legend is too strong a word for Andrei Shevchenko. The striker has terrorised defenders in his homeland with Dinamo Kiev, in Italy with AC Milan and in England with Chelsea. It’s fair to say that his stay in the Premier League was not the most glorious chapter of his career though.

His time at Milan was a completely different story, as he established himself as one of the most feared strikers of his generation. In his two spells with the Rossoneri the Ukrainian scored 175 goals in 322 appearances.

Shevchenko helped Milan win the Champions League in 2003 and also the Serie A title in 2004. Shevchenko also won five pieces of silverware with Dinamo Kiev, again in two separate spells.

International

Andrei Shevchenko is regarded as the best player that the Ukraine have ever produced, alongside current national coach Oleg Blokhin. The striker is his nations all-time record goalscorer with 48 goals in 111 appearances.

Time

Age has finally got to Andrei Shevchenko. Although he has been a good player in recent seasons, he has been a shadow of the player that tore up Serie A defences in his prime. Although he still has a sharp football brain, he no longer has the searing pace that made him so dangerous to opposition defences.

The time was probably right to pull a curtain down on his glittering career. The striker is set to go into politics in his homeland. If his football career is anything to go by then he will be a political star in years to come.

Has Andrei Shevchenko retired at the right time?