Saudi coach Marcos Paqueta: “Ukraine are a weak team and we have to try and get to them early. We have to take advantage of the way the fixtures have worked out for us.”

I’m not sure what Paqueta is smoking but whatever it is it has clearly affected his judgement. Saudi Arabia has done little in the World Cup and I would be very surprised if they do anything on Monday. It is our time to shine.

Here are the projected lineups. Keep in mind that Vladislav Vashchyuk is out with a red card suspension and Oleg Gusev is doubtful with a knee injury.

Saudi Arabia (4-4-2)
21-Mabrouk Zaid (34-0); 2-Ahmed Dokhi (69-4), 13-Hussein Sulaimani (98-3), 6-Omar Al Ghamdi (39-5), 4-Hamad Al Montashari (33-6); 14-Saud Al Khariri (35-12), 8-Mohammed Noor (64-22), 18-Nawaf Al Temyat (57-13), 16-Khaled Al Thaker (15-2); 9-Sami Al Jaber (161-44), 20-Yassir Al Qahtani (44-33)

Ukraine (4-4-2)
1-Oleksander Shovkovsky (69-0); 5-Volodimir Yezersky (25-1), 6-Andri Rusol (24-1), 13-Dmitro Chigrinsky (0-0), 2-Andri Nesmachny (50-0); 14-Andri Husin (65-9), 4-Anatoli Timoshchyuk (56-1), 8-Oleg Shelayev (20-0), 21-Ruslan Rotan (20-3); 7-Andriy Shevchenko (65-29), 10-Andri Voronin (33-4)

“The next game for us will be much tougher than the game against Spain,” Serhiy Rebrov said. “We have a lot of pressure on us now before the game. Everybody understands we have to win next game.”

Ukraine will be without defender Vladyslav Vashchuk for the game because of the red card he received against Spain. This will add to the challenge but from what I saw of Saudi Arabia I don’t think their offense is too much of a threat. If we play our game, get an early lead and avoid mistakes we can come away with three point.

The pressure might be on, but I think our players are ready to respond well to it.

“My condition improves day by day,” said Shevchenko. “I have to be careful not to speed things up as there are certain things that you cannot hurry. “When the doctors examine me again, my condition and my World Cup hopes will be more clear.”

Fingers crossed that he continues to gain his fitness. He’s going to have a huge World Cup!

Many people have us marked down as dark horses and reckon we have a decent chance. Obviously we have to be proud about that. But our initial target is to get through the group phase and that will be hard enough. The sky’s the limit after that, and we’ll just do our best to go as far as we can.

He also talks about the team being much more than just one player. He is absolutely right. We need a team effort to do well in this tournament!

Cheers.

“Unfortunately, the mood at the moment is not terribly good. In the qualifying games we had only one or two injured players but now we are beginning to feel the impact,” he said. “Things in the forward line and in midfield are more or less all right, but we have serious problems with the defenders. We will practically have to build our defence from the ground up. For three years we have been unable to solve the problem at right back. We have too few candidates to draw on.”

Blokhin said that if defender Serhiy Fyodorov is unable to gain his fitness he will replace him with Dmitri Chigrinsky from Shakhtar Donetsk.

Roster:

Goalkeepers: Oleksander Shovkovsky (Dynamo Kiev), Andriy Pyatov (Vorskla Poltava), Bogdan Shust (Shakhtar Donetsk)

Defenders: Andriy Nesmachny (Dynamo Kiev), Vladyslav Vashchyuk (Dynamo Kiev), Serhiy Fyodorov (Dynamo Kiev), Volodymyr Yesersky (Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk), Andriy Rusol (Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk), Dmytro Chigrinsky (Shakhtar Donetsk), Vyacheslav Svidersky (Arsenal Kiev)

Midfielders: Anatoly Tymoshchyuk (Shakhtar Donetsk), Oleg Gusiev (Dynamo Kiev), Ruslan Rotan (Dynamo Kiev), Serhiy Nazarenko (Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk), Oleg Shelayev (Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk), Andriy Husin (Krylya Sovietov Samara), Maxim Kalinichenko (Spartak Moscow)

Forwards: Andriy Shevchenko (AC Milan), Andriy Voronin (Bayer Leverkusen), Serhiy Rebrov (Dynamo Kiev), Artyom Milevsky (Dynamo Kiev), Andriy Vorobei (Shakhtar Donetsk), Olexiy Belik (Shakhtar Donetsk)

It was made by TNMK, and is called “Viva Ukrayino!” and is a remix of the song “We will rock you” by Queen. They explained they had an idea of making a song for the national team, and finally, decided what it would be. They distributed it all over the internet, and are even selling it for free in certain parts of Ukraine. They also explained they dont intend to make one cent off of this song, they only want to make the passion for the national team stronger . To download this song, go here

Vivaaaaa Uuuuu-krayyyy-iiii-nnnnnn-ooooooooo!!!!!!!

First, a great Goalkeeper. Olexandr Shovkovsky, the number one Goalkeeper for Ukraine, and FC Dynamo Kyiv for quite some time now. If it wasnt for him, and his timely saves at just the time we needed them ; I don’t know if we would be in Germany. If we are to do well in Germany, then “Sasho”, as he is called in Ukraine, will, and must be one of the biggest leaders of our team.

Second, a young, skilled, and strong midfeild. Mainly, Anatoliy Tymoschuk. Just entering his prime, Anatoliy has been rumoured to be heading to multiple English club giants, including teams like Arsenal, Manchester United, and Everton. Anatoliy is a leader on and off the feild, and has even said, he only wants to leave Ukraine for another country if it helps in the growth of Ukrainian football. Currently a key player for FC Shakhtar Doents’k, no one knows how much longer he’ll remain in Ukraine. Could be forever, could be untill the day after the World Cup ends. Aside from Anatoliy, our midfeild contains other weopons, mainly, two Dynamo Kyiv players : Oleh Husyev and Ruslan Rotan’. Not to mention Andriy Husin, who scored some of the most important goals in Ukraines qualifying campaign.

Aside from the “mighty” Shevchenko, we also have another striker who regularly plays : Andriy Voronin. Andriy, a native of Odesa, currently plays for FC Bayer Leverkusen of Germany. Hes a very hard worker, and never gives up on the ball. Many of his goals for Ukraine have come by opposing players paying too much attention to “Sheva” and leaving Andriy Voronin wide open. And even aside from these two, we have two FC Shakhtar Donets’k players who are notoriously dangerous strikers : Olexiy Byelik, and Andriy Vorobey. Although its not expected either of them will be starters this World Cup, count on both of them to make at least an appearence or two on the feild ; Which in their case could mean a goal or two.

Now, our defense. Defense was one of Ukraines strongest assets during World Cup 2006 qualifying. Yes, having a Goalkeeper like Shovkovsky in net did help ; But so did our defence. On defence, our main tool is Andriy Rusol, who plays for FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovs’k. Like many other Ukraine players, Rusol has been linked with moves to bigger European clubs ; But nothing is concrete yet. Rusol has been solid for the entire time he has been on the national team. He is young, and hasn’t even been in the Ukrainian National Team rotation for over 3 years. Aside from Andriy Rusol, we have two other solid defenders : Andriy Nesmachny, and Serhiy Fedorov.

Last, but certainly not least : The coach of Ukraine. Oleh Blokhin is often called the greatest Ukrainian footballer in history, even ahead of Shevchenko ; But it would take a brave man to compare the two. He has instilled a whole lot of confidence in our National Team’s players ; And in the fans. As he always says regarding Ukraine “We respect all of our opponents, but fear none”. This is a great attitude to have, and so far its been working. Even before Oleh saw any World Cup groups, he made one guarantee : Ukraine would be in World Cup 2006. Once the draw was made, and Ukraine were with 3 European powerhouses – He stuck by his word. Oleh has already lifted a major European trophy ; For FC Dynamo Kyiv. Will he be able to lift a major world trophy, for “Ukrayina”? Only time will tell.