Andriy Shevchenko might be Ukraine's most famous player, but Anatoliy Tymoshchuk is the hosts' most important and influential player by some distance.

Fans outside Ukraine might have been a bit surprised when Tymoshchuk was voted the country's best ever footballer in a national poll, but it was actually a very natural result. Ever since joining Shakhtar Donetsk in January 1998 at the tender age of 18, Tymo was the symbol of efficiency, stability and quality.

As a holding midfielder, Tymoshchuk is a natural leader, an absolute authority on the pitch and in the dressing room. His strong physique and deft technique, superb vision and great distribution, make him of the most highly rated player in his position.

Not for nothing Zenit St Petersburg paid more than €15 million in January 2007, post-Soviet record in those days.

Having won three Ukrainian championship titles with Shakhtar, Tymoshchuk was almost immediately made Zenit's captain by Dick Advocaat and wasimmensely important in taking the club to its maiden Russian title, in his first season.

He later lifted the UEFA Cup, Zenit thrashing Bayern Munich in the semi-final on their way to the triumph. No wonder the Bavarians made him on of their top transfer targets, eventually sealing the deal in summer 2009.

Problems started because the management chose the player before the new coach, Louis van Gaal, arrived and he decided he did't need a player like Tymo. His successor this season, Jupp Heynckes, didn't do the Ukrainian too many favours either. Tymoshchuk's three years at Allianz Arena were not as successful as they could have been, and even when taking the field he was sometimes used out of position as a central defender. This is undoubtedly the greatest disappointment of his career, and at 33 he is rumoured to be tempted to come back to Shakhtar in the near future.

Despite his club troubles, however, Tymoshchuk continues to excel for the national team, as he has always done. With 114 appearances since 2000, he is Ukraine's all-time most-capped player, and he rarely puts a foot wrong. He even surpassed national coach Oleg Blokhin, who played 112 times for Soviet Union.

The quarter-final achievement at 2006 World Cup is misleading, as the Ukrainians played poorly when thrashed by Spain and Italy, were very lucky to be drawn against Tunisia and Saudi Arabia to give them their historic tournament wins, and were involved in one of the worst games ever that this stage in a boring 0-0 draw with Switzerland.

That said, Tymoshchuk was one of the few Ukrainians who did perform extremely well and got great reviews all round. His leadership is extremely important for Ukraine in their first European Championships adventure as well.

"We must aim for the win in the tournament. Greece did it in 2004, we should learn from them" said Tymoshchuk.