Ukraine claim shootout glory
Ukraine claim shootout glory
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Monday, 26, Jun 2006 10:51
Ukraine are through to the last eight of the World Cup on penalties after a dire 0-0 draw with Switzerland in Cologne.
They will face Italy on Friday as Switzerland missed all three of their spot-kicks to give Oleg Blokhin's men a 3-0 penalties win.
In a nervous and edgy opening 45 minutes, neither side created much in the way of chances but both rattled the woodwork in the space of three minutes.
First it was the turn of the Ukrainians on 20 minutes, as Maxim Kalinichenko's inswinging free-kick from the left was met by a brave low header from Andriy Shevchenko but the ball bounced off the turf and back off the bar.
Then on 23 minutes, Alex Frei's 25-yard free-kick looped over the wall but cannoned back off the bar just above the top left-hand corner.
However, it was a brief moment of quality in an uninspiring half; a pattern which continued in the same vein in the second-half.
It took another piece of quality to reignite the game on 67 minutes as Shevchenko was lucky to get away with bringing the ball down with his hand.
However, he made the most of it as he cut inside and lashed a left-footed shot from 25 yards just wide of the post.
Pascal Zuberbuhler was fortunate to get away with flapping at a cross on 74 minutes as Andriy Gusin got there first but his glancing header flashed just wide.
Extra-time seemed inevitable though and despite a place in the last eight for the taking, the game continued to lack creativity or imagination.
Switzerland's Marco Streller was denied by a fantastic last-ditch tackle by Gusin with six minutes of extra-time remaining but penalties always seemed on the cards.
However, there was drama from 12 yards as Shevchenko had the first penalty of the shootout saved by Zuberbuhler then Streller had an equally-poor spot-kick saved.
Artem Milevskiy cheekily dinked the first goal of the night down the middle before Tranquillo Barnetta smashed his effort at the bar.
Former Tottenham striker Serhiy Rebrov gave Ukraine a cushion before Ricardo Cabanas' weak penalty summed up the Swiss effort on the night.
Finally, Oleg Gusev stepped up to score and put the Ukrainians into the last eight.