Shevchenko saga grips Ukraine

June 13th, 2006 | by: Andriy Korol |

What should have been a dream come true for Ukraine is in danger of becoming anything but. When Oleg Blokhin’s side qualified for their first ever FIFA World Cup™, they were dancing on the streets of Kiev.

But as fans looked forward to seeing their heroes take on the best in the world, the spectre of injury reared its ugly head, choosing their talismanic forward Andriy Shevchenko as its victim.

Shevchenko, who suffered a knee injury while playing for his former club AC Milan a month ago, is by no means a definite on the team sheet for Ukraine’s opening Group H match against Spain. At a press conference earlier, coach Oleg Blokhin made no attempt to hide his disappointment at the prospect of doing without Chelsea’s new striker for any length of time.

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“I want Shevchenko to be the star of this World Cup. We will have to wait another couple of days, though, to see whether he will be fit enough to start.” While his team-mates were fine-tuning their game with some excellent results in pre-tournament friendlies, the 2004 European Footballer of the Year was stuck on the treatment table.

Without their captain, the Ukrainians strolled to victories against Costa Rica and Libya (4-0 and 3-0 respectively), and even managed a 0-0 draw in Italy. ‘Sheva’ was back for the 3-0 win over Luxembourg, coming on as a substitute and showing within a matter of minutes that he had not lost the knack for scoring goals.

Plan A or Plan B
Shevchenko knows, however, that a few minutes against one of the lesser lights of European football is no way to warm up for a FIFA World Cup. “It’s difficult to know just how fit I really am at the moment after playing for just half an hour. There is a little bit of time left for me and the coach to weigh things up and decide what to do.”

Even though Blokhin, who was himself named European Footballer of the Year in 1975, has no desire to risk further injury to his prize asset, he knows just how important Shevchenko is to the team. “If he’s not fit enough, we’ll do without him. But it’s true that when he plays, Ukraine are a different prospect compared with when he doesn’t.”

It’s not all bad news, however. Without Shevchenko, Ukraine managed to score seven goals and concede none in their warm-up matches. “Of course, Shevchenko is the team leader, but we’ll be ready, whether he’s fit or not,” continued Blokhin. “We’re not solely dependent on him”.

The Ukraine coach has said that he will not name his team until an hour before kick-off, either to give Shevchenko as long as possible to prove his fitness, or a case of playing mind-games with his Spanish rival Luis Aragones.

Whatever team he puts out, Blokhin is certain that Ukraine will not freeze when they make their debut on the game’s biggest stage. “We have been analysing Spain’s play and we’re ready for our opening match. It will be a very big game, particularly since it’s our first ever in the World Cup”.

Best possible start
If the most recent training sessions are anything to go by, Shevchenko will be in the starting XI. At Potsdam on Saturday, ‘Sheva’ did not seem to be in any discomfort as he went through the routine of sprints and exercises with his team-mates. “I’m able to train with the team and that certainly feels good”, said the man who has 29 goals in 64 games for his country. “I still have to improve my fitness, though, so the coming days will be very important.”

It is now only a matter of hours for the 29-year-old who, looking ahead to the game, added: “Spain are one of the big teams so if we beat them, that will give us the confidence we need to go a long way.” How far Ukraine go may depend on how well Shevchenko’s knee holds up in Leipzig. A nation is counting on him.

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Comments

By OPKO | June 13th, 2006 at 7:07 pm

YIKES!

Posted from Canada

By sergio | June 13th, 2006 at 8:37 pm

oh sheva has to play! come on its the world cup!!!!! he’s got to play

Posted from United States

By Ukraine | June 14th, 2006 at 2:04 am

shevchenko this shevchenko that, i’m tired of shevchenko. Stop talking about shevchenko and start talking about our national team – Ukraine.

Posted from United States

By Andriy | June 14th, 2006 at 5:23 am

haha i feel the same way, unfortunately in the last days before the match, all the news that was comming out was sheva’s status, blokhin hasnt revealed who will be starting tomorrow, so i cant talk aboot that either :O)

Posted from United States

By Ukraine | June 14th, 2006 at 6:29 am

I just think all this hype around shevchenko downplays the rest of our players. Shevchenko is not our team, a striker is not a team and he is not a playmaker, he can’t drive a team alone like a playmaker can. We have some great talent out there and no one knows anything about it because all everyone knows is that ukraine have shevchenko. You know, in our friendlies we went 10-0 and shevchenko only played 30 minutes and scored only one of those ten goals. We won 4-0 vs costa rica without sheva. I just wish the media would know a little bit more about our national team except shevchenko. Sure he’s good but there’s 10 guys behind him who deserve as much respect because they did no less work than him to bring us to Germany.

Posted from United States

By USA | June 14th, 2006 at 7:30 am

I think Ukraine has a good team, with or without Sheva. If he plays and is productive, all the better. But even if he can’t start, they still got great strikers. I was really impressed with Milevskiy, I hope Blokhin plans to use him.

Posted from United States

By Toncho | June 14th, 2006 at 12:30 pm

Sheva will play even if he is not 100%. It’s first WC and don’t want to miss a single match. Anyway, Ukraine IS NOT Sheva and 10 more as many may think.

Posted from Luxembourg

By Total Football | June 14th, 2006 at 3:08 pm

It may be 92 degrees in Leipzig, but this game has started fiercely for both sides, fabulously for fans: we need a good game, after a run of somewhat sub-par performances (including yesterday’s overweight and underperforming Brazil debut). One advantage in this match: neither team is the overwhelming favorite, both teams have a chance at dark-horse status.
Pierre Uncensored http://www.pierretristam.com

Posted from United States

By Total Football | June 14th, 2006 at 3:57 pm

For Ukraine, here’s the question: where’s Rusol (other than landing himself yellows?) Where’s Gusin? For that matter, where has Shevchenko been all game? Yes they’re being outplayed by a wonderful display of on-point football the likes of which Iberia hasn’t produced in the last, oh, half millennium, but since when have you heard of Ukrainians being intimidayed by anything, and anyone? That’s the surprise in this match: the unevenness–not to take anything away from the superior beauty of the Spaniards.
Pierre Uncensored http://www.pierretristam.com

Posted from United States

By USA | June 14th, 2006 at 3:59 pm

I hope they let Milevskiy play.

Also, they need to put the ball on the ground and try to run on flanks. When they tried that at the end of the half, they looked better.

Unfortunately, Spain is playing up to its potential today and Ukraine is just plain nervous.

Posted from United States

By Total Football | June 14th, 2006 at 4:10 pm

A cloud is wafting over the Ukrainian side, and it’s got the Chernenko effect colored all over it…
Pierre Uncensored… http://www.pierretristam.com

Posted from United States

By Total Football | June 14th, 2006 at 4:30 pm

The game is out of reach for Ukraine, advancing into the second round isn’t–if the Ukranians think the battle of the Muezzins, between Tunisia and Saudi Arabia, will allow them to divide and conquer. But they may be surprised: Tunisia, now Africa’s last hope, are no push-overs, and the Saudis can be unpredictable despite having a man older than the dunes in goal.
Pierre Uncensored http://www.pierretristam.com

Posted from United States

By Total Football | June 14th, 2006 at 4:43 pm

What a terrific run of football in this game. Leipzig was once known as the Communist world’s capital of gymnastics; today it’s the capital of the beautiful game: three of the four goals in this game deserve to hang at the Louvre, even if Ukraine haven’t put up much of a worthy opposition.
Pierre Uncensored http://www.pierretristam.com

Posted from United States

By Total Football | June 14th, 2006 at 4:49 pm

How symbollic of this game: Shevchenko takes his one and only true shot all match in injury time, slams against a Spain defender, and hears the whistle calling an end to this big, big defeat for Ukraine. This was the Match of Death they would have rather avoided. Wonderful Spain, but Ukraine ain’t done yet.

Pierre Uncensored http://www.pierretristam.com

Posted from United States

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