World Soccer - UK (2019-10)

UNBEATEN UKRAINE

KEEP IT TIGHT

W

ith Europe’s joint-tightest

defence – like Belgium,

they have conceded

just one goal so far –

Ukraine are unbeaten in five games and

have only failed to score once: in their

opening game when they held European

champions Portugal to a goalless draw.

Four straight victories followed,

including a 5-0 thrashing of Serbia

in June, a result which prompted the

sacking of their opponent’s coach,

Mladen Krstajic.

Andriy Shevchenko’s side are a team

in transition, with Anatoliy Tymoshchuk,

Vyacheslav Shevchuk and Oleh Husyev

being replaced by new stars Oleksandr

Zinchenko, Mykola Matviyenko and

Ruslan Malinovskyi. However, only

keeper Andriy Lunin has so far made

the step up from last year’s Under-20

World Cup-winning side.

There has been controversy over the

naturalisation of Brazilian-born players

Marlos and Junior Moraes, with Portugal

and Luxembourg protesting that Moraes

had not spent five continuous years in

Ukraine. But the protests were dismissed

by UEFA and Ukraine remain on course

for next summer’s finals despite the

problems that have hit their domestic

game, where financial troubles have

forced some clubs out of business and

civil war pushed Shakhtar out of Donetsk.

Portugal can call upon some exciting

new talent in Bernardo Silva (who

missed Euro 2016 through injury), Joao

Felix, Goncalo Guedes, Bruno Fernandes,

Joao Cancelo and Ruben Dias. But

Cristiano Ronaldo remains their talisman,

with his four goals in a 5-1 thrashing of

Lithuania in September taking him to 93

• just 16 behind Ali Daei’s world record.
  The key result was September’s 4-2
  win in Serbia, which got Portugal’s
  campaign back on track after two
  opening draws with Ukraine and Serbia.
  Serbia’s campaign was derailed by the
  5-0 humiliation in Ukraine, their heaviest
  defeat as an independent nation. Krstajic,

STAR MAN

MYKOLA MATVIYENKO

Ukraine

If the Ukraine rearguard has proved

almost impenetrable in qualifying,

a large slice of the celebratory cake

belongs to the 23-year-old Shakhtar

Donetsk centre-back.

Watchful, tenacious, good on the ball

and cool under pressure, he has been a

rock for his national side of late and was

whose ambitious 3-5-2 formation

backfired spectacularly, may have

departed but many of the same

concerns remain under Ljubisa

Tumbakovic, who left Montenegro in

controversial circumstances in June after

refusing to take charge of their Group A

meeting with Kosovo.

While the attacking flair of Dusan

Tadic and goals of Aleksandr Mitrovic

offer hope, there have been too many

Serbian defensive and midfield mistakes

for comfort.

“We lost to

a majestic team

full of world-class

players,” said

Tumbakovic after

the Portugal defeat in Belgrade. “As ever

in Serbian football, we were vulnerable

defensively and that undermines every

other department.”

Serbia face Luxembourg and Lithuania

before a final-day meeting with Ukraine,

by which time their only route into the

finals is likely to be via the play-offs,

having won their Nations League Division

C group last summer.

Luxembourg topped the group after

the first round of games after beating

Lithuania, who then drew the return

for their only point so far.

EURO 2020 | Qualifiers

GROUP

B

“We lost to a majestic team full of

world-class players”

Serbia boss Ljubisa Tumbakovic on Portugal

Outclassed...Serbia after

losing to Portugal

On top...Ukraine

defender Sergii

Kryvtsov beats

William Carvalho

of Portugal