When Andriy Shevchenko's number is up these days he can take it as a good omen. The Chelsea substitutes' board was raised in the 88th minute at Porto so he could be the centre of attention as everyone recalled a finely taken goal that produced a valuable 1-1 draw. Jose Mourinho even caressed the Ukrainian's cheek, a radical shift for a manager who would not give the handshake to the forward that he extended to the other players at the end of the defeat by Liverpool last month.
The flow of compliments to which Shevchenko had been accustomed is in spate once more. This eagerness to acclaim him really reflects a popular desire to see one of the greatest players of modern times demonstrating his worth again. It may be that the attacker can lend glowing talent to a Premiership that is often lacklustre. The surging goodwill towards Shevchenko, however, has left the facts puffing distantly in its wake.
The equaliser the 30-year-old scored in Porto was the first indisputably important goal he has delivered for Chelsea. Ranked according to significance, its nearest rivals may be openers in home wins over Portsmouth and Levski Sofia.
His leveller on Tuesday did take his Chelsea total for the season into double figures, but he needs to use occasions such as tomorrow's English League Cup final with Arsenal to confirm his standing.
The most prominent side he has scored against in the Premiership is Portsmouth, who are seventh, and there have been only three league goals. The two registered in the FA Cup came against Norwich, 18th in the Championship, and Nottingham Forest, who are fourth in League One.
Shevchenko could feel sheepish, too, that his supposedly cathartic night arrived at Stamford Bridge in the League Cup when he notched a couple against Wycombe, seventh in League Two.
Of course no player, let alone a born predator, ever disowns a goal but Shevchenko will feel he is cut out for higher glories than those he has savoured so far at Chelsea.
He goes now to the Millennium Stadium, where his excellence in August turned out to be misleading. The Community Shield may be a friendly with ideas above its station, but very good teams do compete in it and Shevchenko's goal was claimed without fuss or mercy after he had slipped through the unduly large space Liverpool had left between right back and centre half.
In that instant most observers were convinced that he would go on finishing with such expertise week after week. It is hard to give a definitive explanation for the disappointments that were to ensue, even if Mourinho implied that Shevchenko was not giving as much of himself as more favoured members of the squad. That was a somewhat peculiar complaint considering that forwards as prolific as Shevchenko had been are not usually famed for their work-rate. They are specialists above all.
The Ukrainian may have been struggling to adapt to the tempo of the Premiership and he surely missed the sort of service he got from Kaka in the Milan days. Chelsea's style is entirely different. Frank Lampard, though, was adamant about Shevchenko's quality even in his gloomiest spells. The midfielder drew parallels with Gianluca Vialli, who got 11 in his first season and 19 the next as he gradually assumed the status of an idol.
Shevchenko has come to Chelsea at a younger age, though he is bound to be a touch slower than he once was and the football can be more hectic than in Serie A, but the statistics of his career show him to be a superb player and that distinction cannot have been stripped from him yet. This weekend's final is an occasion of enough merit to give him the chance to show that the influence he exerted in Porto can continue.
Gauche as Arsenal's line-up will be in part, Shevchenko will meet a proper test if the regular partnership of Kolo Toure and Philippe Senderos are at centre back, with Gilberto Silva ahead of them.
His effectiveness in the times to come is far more than a personal matter. Didier Drogba has often seemed to be waging a one-man war in attack, and winning, with 26 goals to date. Should he sustain the impact while Shevchenko, too, turns into a harrier of defences, Chelsea will no longer be so staid.
Shevchenko has much to do yet before he is re-established completely, but it is fascinating that the man who was synonymous with all that was going wrong at Chelsea should even hint that he can now inspire the pursuit of four trophies.
Guardian Service
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