Like Rooney, Aliyev is a player whose reputation precedes him. In England Aliyev is probably best remembered for his “play dead” routine against Arsenal, and a red card later in that match. Groomed from a young age as a wunderkind footballer, the Dynamo Kyiv midfielder has run into trouble on and off the pitch. He tends to let his competitiveness take over his decision making process, which sometimes leads to brilliance but also contributes to acts that lets just say society frowns upon. I am sure Shrek can relate. In an interview with the Ukrainian tabloid Blik, Aliyev discussed the Wednesday incident with the England striker:

The shin guards saved my leg, or he would have broken it for sure. I was looking for some payback, but the right opportunity never came up. I’ll be sure to make it up to him in Dnepropetrovsk.

As for the match itself, Aliyev thought Peter Crouch did well as the target man for the Three Lions, and the attention he drew may have been responsible for the set piece lapses that let down Ukraine. Asked about the late free kick opportunity, Aliyev admitted he wanted to have a go, but “so did Sheva, and seniority has the right of way.”

Perhaps the only sour note for Ukrainian football this week was Andriy Shevchenko’s inability to make it on the team sheet as his AC Milan side took on Werder Bremen. The striker, who missed Ukraine’s training camp because he was visiting the dentist in London (yeah…), has a hip issue and was not part of the squad that traveled to Germany. It is a sad state of affairs for Shevchenko as the 2004 Ballon d’Or winner has become an afterthought in the minds of Rossoneri fans, even so far as having been mentioned as possible compensation in Milan’s bid to pry David Beckham from the LA Galaxy. Silly rumors aside, the window on Shevchenko’s time as a world class striker is closing fast. If the 32 year old cannot earn playing time in Milan he is unlikely to figure in Oleksiy Mykhaylichenko’s plans as Ukraine continues its World Cup 2010 qualification campaign.

Tymoschuk

Milevskiy

Seleznyov

Oliynyk

Voronin cut inside Christian Lell to head in a lofted cross and open the scoring. After Miroslav Klose’s equalizer, Voronin responded with a textbook forward’s goal. He turned Lucio inside out before running onto a through ball and confidently slotting it into the corner with his first touch. Voronin turned in a vintage performance against world class players that fill the ranks of Bayern. He said international teammate and soon to be Munich player Anatoliy Tymoschuk left him a message after the match. I hope Voronin’s friend asked him the million dollar question: why haven’t you been able to produce even a hint of this form in a Ukraine shirt?

The Bayern captain is in the last year of his contract and has been upset at the club for only offering him a one season extension. Bayern’s rumored €14 million move for Tymoschuk, who plays the same position as Van Bommel, put the Dutchman on the defensive:

Tymoschuk may come to Bayern, but he will be very comfortable sitting on the bench. I will make sure of this! So much money for a reserve player is just wasteful!

Van Bommel then picked up a dumb red card, yelled at his manager, and flipped off the fans before storming out of the press conference.