Ukraine a not-so-unexpected surprise – 24hfootnews

Quarter-finalist of Euro 2020 after a 2-1 victory in extra time against Sweden, Ukraine has also finally passed the group stages in this competition after failures in 2012 and 2016. Quarter-finalist surprise of the Cup world 2006, the independent country since December 1, 1991 has a young history under the yellow and blue banner. Formerly an integral part of the USSR, Ukraine has distinguished itself in particular with the Dynamo Kiev of Valeri Lobanovski who won the Cups in 1975 and 1986 as well as during Euro 1988 with 13 of the 20 finalists from Ukraine. It is therefore with the pride of the past and with the desire to shine outside the Soviet banner that Ukraine thinks about its football. Driven by Dynamo Kiev and Shakhtar Donetsk who place 18 of the 26 Ukrainian players at Euro 2020, the Zbirna is in any case on the right track.

Qualified for Euro 2020 by finishing at the top of a group that included Portugal and Serbia in qualifying, Ukraine inherited a hat status 1 and ended up with the Netherlands, Austria and North Macedonia. In an affordable squad, but with the disappointments of the past in mind, Ukraine first faced the Netherlands. Mistreated and led 2-0, Andriy Shevchenko’s players struggled to equalize late in the match even though they had to lose 3-2. Dominating North Macedonia (2-1), losing against Austria (1-0), Ukraine has had a lot of success since it finished fourth best third in the group stage, i.e. with the worst record of sixteen qualified in eighth. However, the disappointment of having missed the match against Austria was quickly evacuated and Zbirna beat Sweden 2-1 after crazy extra time in which they lost Artem Besedin and Andriy Yarmolenko to injuries. A strength of character which proves that this team has not usurped its place in the eight best nations of the continent.

Andriy Shevchenko, the mainstay of Ukrainian success

This return to the forefront of Ukraine is due in part to one man: Andriy Shevchenko. Golden ball in 2004, he is the best representative of his country that he had already worn in the quarterfinals of the 2006 World Cup as a player. Breeder since July 15, 2016, he has been doing admirable work for 5 years. Due to his recent retirement (2012) and his early arrival in the Ukrainian team, Andriy Shevchenko (44) is very close to his players. The generational gap is quite small and he even played with certain elements such as Andriy Yarmolenko, Andriy Pyatov, Taras Stepanenko, Sergiy Kryvtsov or even Roman Bezus. Being able to find interesting relays in the Ukrainian workforce, Andriy Shevchenko easily assimilated his ideas. And to shine at the Euro, he had two plans, a 4-3-3 allowing him to be protagonist on the field against opponents within his reach (North Macedonia and Austria) as well as the 3-4-2 -1 that we could see against Sweden.

Offering football based on counterattack and verticality, Andriy Shevchenko has found the right combinations over time in order to have a fluid game with good ball outputs. Some players have paid the price such as Marlos quickly put aside or Viktor Tsygankov who is however one of the great promises of Ukrainian football. Against Sweden, he also did without left side Viktor Mykolenko who is also very promising in order to put Oleksandr Zinchenko in a better position in order to treat the fluidity of the offensives. Not hesitating to make strong choices without compromising the good state of mind in his group, Andriy Shevchenko also knew how to surround himself in his staff. His former teammate Oleksandr Shovkovskiy is the goalkeeper coach while he brought back Mauro Tassotti as assistant, a man who was his assistant coach when he was a player at AC Milan under Fatih Terim and Carlo Ancelotti .

Golden youth

Guiding the helm of the Ukrainian boat, Andriy Shevchenko also had the advantage of falling on the blossoming of a talented generation. With Andriy Yarmolenko, Ruslan Malinovskiy, Oleksandr Karavaev and Sergiy Sydorchuk to bring experience to every row, this Ukrainian team can count on young people with great potential in the squad. Oleksandr Zinchenko (24) who shines at Manchester City is the standard bearer, but Roman Yaremchuk (25) who has already scored two goals in this Euro is also very important. Mykola Shaparenko (22) also took a good place in the midfield while the defense made up of Mykola Matvienko (25), Vitaliy Mykolenko (22) and especially Ilya Zabarnyi (18) is promised a great future. . The latter also delivered an extraordinary performance against Sweden with two successful tackles, three interceptions, four clearances and two shots blocked. A meeting full of personality for a player who is only living his first season as a professional.

On the bench, talent is also present with Viktor Tsygankov (23), Denys Popov (22), Georgiy Sudakov (18) and Anatoliy Trubin (19) who could have been the number one goalkeeper, but who still has to wait as Georgiy Bushchan’s understudy. With Vladyslav Supryaga (21 years old), Andriy Lunin (22 years old), Valeriy Bondar (22 years old) or even Viktor Kornienko (22 years old) knocking on the door and who could have been at the Euro this summer, Ukraine has a bright future ahead. Victorious of the U20 World Cup in 2019, Ukraine is seeing many talents bloom and this Euro is a great reward. If the quarter-final against England promises to be complicated, Andriy Shevchenko does not promise to be beaten and wants to carry the Zbirna to the end: “England are a very well organized team. She has her own style. We will have to know how to defend well on the sides and in the zone. I’ve seen almost every England game. It’s really hard to score against England. Their bench is probably three times the Ukraine team. But we are going to develop a strategy. Everything is possible.” Capable of lifting mountains, Ukraine and Andriy Shevchenko want to continue this wonderful summer 2021.

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