Shevchenko to miss out against Azerbaijan

Ukraine coach Oleg Blohkin has allowed Shevchenko to miss out in the friendly clash against Azerbaijan so he can see how his players will cope without there talisman.

Blohkin said “I am just testing the players. I want to see them in a friendly match as we have not had everyone together for some time,”

We all know that Shevchenko’s talent is unquestionable and I beleive it’s a good and some what brave decision made by Blohkin. With AC Milan coming up to the business end of the season I expect they’ll be glad to see Andrei Shevchenko given a well earned midweek rest. Especially with important UEFA Champions League and Serie A games coming up.

Against Azerbaijan it’ll be a good chance for Oleg Blohkin and his players to experiment to see how they can line up should they face the possibility of Shevchenko being injured or suspended for any of the World Cup games. With Shaktar Donetsk’s 18 year old Bogdan Shust expected to make his international debut in goal and recalls for Sergei Serebrennikov, Maxim Kalinichenko, Olexander Kucher and Viacheslav Sviderski it was already interesting enough without the absence of our star striker.

On arriving in Baku Blohkin was less than impressed with the state of the pitch “This is no pitch, It’s nothing more than a vegetable patch.” It might hinder his players but I’ve seen pictures of the pitch and it’s alot better than the state of Chelsea’s pitch last week against Barcelona at Stamford Bridge.

Tomorrow I shall have a full report of Ukraine’s match against Azerbaijan for all you Kraineyites out there.