Ukraine
Earning our seat among Europe’s Elite 13
Well, its been a roller-coaster this year for our Zhovto-Blakytni, with a lot of close calls…
In a tough Group 6, we held for a couple dramatic ties against Croatia and posted a narrow away loss to England – in both the shark-infested waters of Zagreb and Wembley stadium. Belarussian conviction nearly ended our Ukrainian campaign early – a win in Minsk on Sept 9th could have saved us a lot of anxiety, but it wasn’t meant to be. It took a home victory (largely Internet-watched) over England in Dnipropetrovsk to vault our Yellow-Blues to second, from which they haven’t looked back.

Looking ready, in home kits
So here we sit, waiting for the final two playoff matches to prove ourselves worthy for our seat among the 13 European teams heading in to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup. We’re down to the last 4 spots. Get ready for some fantastic football.
Things kick off on November 14th, and we’ve drawn an away-and-home series against Greece, the lowest-ranked of the seeded teams (16th in the world, FIFA). They are, however, a dangerous opponent – a EURO 2004 victory doesn’t happen by accident. We’ve all heard about Greek fans at home.
I like our chances, though. Why? The Yellow-Blues have shown poise under pressure, winning when it matters. On aggregate scoring, Ukraine beat both England and Croatia – two teams FIFA ranks consistently ahead of our next opponents. Ukraine only lost 1 game through Group 6 qualification – in fact, our Yellow-Blues averaged scoring 2.1 goals/game, only giving up an average of 0.6 (21 goals for, 6 goals against). Ukraine’s FIFA ranking has been gaining steam recently, with the team winning their last couple fixtures to bounce back up to 22nd (FIFA) worldwide. It wasn’t long ago we were 11th.
Our team has depth. Coach Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko has an impressive arsenal at his disposal, quarterbacked by the experienced Captain Andriy Shevchenko. Sheva has found his form again, improving with each Dynamo match. He’s showing great speed, skill and playmaking ability. Sheva is also becoming quite a partner for Artem Milevskiy – who’s turning heads as one of Europe’s emerging top assassins. But don’t forget about some of the rocket goals launched by recent Ukrainian footballer of the Year Serhiy Nazarenko (who’s netted 5 already). Anatoliy Tymoshchuk is as solid as he’s ever been in the mid-field. The team has such depth that other tigers, like Andriy Voronin, now have to patiently wait for their opportunities to hit the pitch.
Our next match is Greece on November 14th in Athens, followed by home turf – Donetsk – on the 18th. We control our World Cup fate… and I wouldn’t want it any other way.
More Ukraine World Cup News
Ukraine – Kazakhstan: No Time For Letdowns
Ukraine can pull level on points with Croatia on Wednesday by beating visiting Kazakhstan at Dynamo Kyiv’s Lobanovsky Stadium. The national team has never lost on Dynamo’s home turf, but nothing short of a victory will satisfy Oleksiy Mykhaylichenko’s squad or their supporters. Ukraine will be without captain Andriy Shevchenko, ... [read]
Croatia 2 – 2 Ukraine: Everything Still To Play For
The clash between Ukraine and Croatia had all the makings of a heavyweight prizefight. The visitors were stunned early, but bounced off the ropes with an uppercut of their own. Ukraine had gained the momentum but the loss of their talisman evened out the flow of the match. And ... [read]
Last Stand For Sheva & Co?
It would be difficult to overstate the importance of Saturday’s World Cup qualifier between Croatia and Ukraine. The teams are in direct competition for the runner up spot in Group Six. A loss for either side would make them outsiders in the race for South Africa 2010, that much is ... [read]
Aliyev Hurt, Out Of Qualifiers
Oleksandr Aliyev will not be able to help Ukraine in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers. The Dynamo Kyiv playmaker suffered an ankle injury in training and will be unavailable for two weeks. That means Aliyev will miss the matches against Croatia and Kazakhstan.
... [read]
Aliyev: Rooney Will Get His
No harm no foul right? That’s what Wayne Rooney tried to convey as he stared pleadingly at the referee with the eyes of a teenage vandal caught red handed. Luckily for him Claus Bo-Larsen was in position to see the England striker catch a piece of the ball in his ... [read]
England 2 – 1 Ukraine: Solid Performance Goes Unrewarded
If the England national team was hoping to tilt the Wembley pitch and roll over Ukraine in their World Cup 2010 qualifier, those dreams evaporated quickly into the London haze. Oleksiy Mykhaylichenko’s side proved they are not pushovers as they produced their best showing during the tenure of their much-maligned manager. ... [read]
England – Ukraine Preview: Freerollin’
In the last few days I have been diligently looking over English media outlets, trying to figure out what the Brits think of their Eastern European opponents. The two football teams have a lot in common, you know. Both sides reached the quarterfinals of the 2006 World Cup, and both ... [read]
Ukraine @ England: The Injury Fairy Strikes Again
Artem Kravets’s hopes of making his national team debut at Wembley stadium were dashed when he suffered a muscle tear in his hip during training. The in-form Dynamo Kyiv striker was replaced on the roster by Shakhtar Donetsk’s Yevhen Seleznyov. While the Ukraine squad is getting sick of going up ... [read]
Latest Comments
- Ukraine - Kazakhstan: No Time For Letdowns
This is to Zagreb! Marko and Yevy are Molodetz! What about the red card rooney should have picked ...[read more] - Ukraine - Kazakhstan: No Time For Letdowns
zagreb, we've all already seen that you understand nothing from football. please better be quiet... ...[read more] - Ukraine - Kazakhstan: No Time For Letdowns
Ukraine leaders of the group? Is that a joke? You are playing classic old school soviet type footbal ...[read more] - Ukraine - Kazakhstan: No Time For Letdowns
well said Yevy. Zagreb has clearly lost the confidence of his own team. ...[read more] - Ukraine - Kazakhstan: No Time For Letdowns
yevy JA TEBE LUBLU, HAHAHAHAHA!!!! WHAT A SPEACH, OH MY GOODNESS, HAHA! You're 100% right. Take all ...[read more] - Ukraine - Kazakhstan: No Time For Letdowns
I can play that game too - we should have won by 5 goals today by converting even half our chances, ...[read more] - Ukraine - Kazakhstan: No Time For Letdowns
OMG how lucky can Ukraine get? Won VS Blr in last minute after dubious penalty, escaped with a draw ...[read more] - Ukraine - Kazakhstan: No Time For Letdowns
Marko why do you always seem to take it for granted that Ukraine will kick ass? We're not really tha ...[read more] - Ukraine - Kazakhstan: No Time For Letdowns
haha we should have won 11:1 but yes Ukraine managed to play against 22 players: 11 Kazakhs and 11 U ...[read more] - Ukraine - Kazakhstan: No Time For Letdowns
poor result. needed more goals. - Ukraine - Kazakhstan: No Time For Letdowns
Many thx. Will see if my f-wall will let me through ...[read more] - Ukraine - Kazakhstan: No Time For Letdowns
This site is excellent:http://www.atdhe.net/# They have the best streams. ...[read more] - Ukraine - Kazakhstan: No Time For Letdowns
Sergey - http://www.iraqgoals.net/ch2.html - Ukraine - Kazakhstan: No Time For Letdowns
Sasha - where are you watching the game? - Ukraine - Kazakhstan: No Time For Letdowns
Oh my goodness, Milevskiy???!
Ukraine Club Football News
- Punished: Late Goal Knocks Dynamo Out Of UEFA Cup
- Dynamo - Shakhtar: Lets Get Ready To Rumble!
- No Contest!
- Dynamo - PSG: Leg 2 Preview
- PSG - Dynamo: First Leg Preview
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