If we recall the not-so-glorious and not-so-distant history, the blue-and-yellows also did not deserve defeats in playoff matches against the Croats or those same Slovenians. Finally, the celebration has looked in on the Ukrainians' street too.
The current victory over the Greek team brings Ukraine closer to the final world championship in Germany not even by a step, but by some foot. In order to win first place in their group, Blokhin's team needs to earn only two points in the final three matches.
The triumphant conclusion of the qualifying tournament could come on the seventh of September in the game against Turkey. True, there will still be chances in the match against Georgia and Albania at home afterwards.
Nevertheless, before experiencing the happy moments of victory, the match against Greece for 80 minutes produced not the best impressions of the game of Blokhin's charges.
The match with the Greeks can by no means be called spectacular for the blue-and-yellows.
In the starting lineup for the duel with the lads from Hellas, Blokhin chose to play as the second number, although no one expected anything else. In the center of defense, a trio was fielded: Yezersky – Rusol – Fedorov. On the flanks operated Nesmachny and Husyev. In the center – Tymoshchuk and Husin. In attack, Shevchenko and Voronin had to toil, and Vorobey helped them.
From the first minutes of the game, the Greeks did not rush forward first of all, but guided by German rationality under Otto Rehhagel, they tried to unsettle the Ukrainians' defense. And they were doing this quite dangerously. The players of the Ukrainian national team did not feel too comfortable in the stadium, which was seething with the atmosphere created by the fans.
Already at the start, Nesmachny and Fedorov received yellow cards. The closed game in their own half of the field eventually brought the Greeks closer and closer to Shovkovsky's goal. In the 8th minute, Vryzas delivered the first shot on Shovkovsky's goal, but the Ukrainian goalkeeper caught this ball without much effort.
Even after playing for about 20 minutes, the Ukrainians had no chances for attacks. Shevchenko and Voronin could not hold onto the ball, and in the center of the field Husin and Tymoshchuk were completely losing to their counterparts. Another dangerous signal for the Ukrainians sounded in the 21st minute, when Kapsis won an aerial duel for the ball against Rusol, but shot over the goal.
Two minutes later, only Shovkovsky's excellent reaction saved the Ukrainian national team from a certain goal. Rusol again lost a positional battle, this time to Gumas, who from several meters was firing at our goal, but Shovkovsky in a split parried this shot. In the very next attack, after Fedorov and Husyev were beaten, Karagounis took a well-aimed shot. Fortunately, the ball went a few centimeters over the crossbar.
Closer to the middle of the first half, the hosts completely seized the initiative. Various combinations were working for them, starting from set pieces and ending with displays of dribbling by the forwards and midfielders.
For the Ukrainians, things looked much worse. Neither Shevchenko nor Voronin tried to go one-on-one to beat their man, and the active Vorobey without the ball was ineffective in this game. Voronin in particular did not look his best, making many mistakes in passing and simply could not find common ground with his partners. Almost throughout the entire game, Blokhin was shouting something specifically at the "Bayer" player.
However, the Ukrainians still got the only moment to dilute the Greeks' complete dominance. In the 30th minute, Voronin from a free kick on the left flank crossed to Shevchenko at the far post, who headed the ball diagonally toward the goal line, and Fedorov was a mere few centimeters short of reaching the ball. .
In the 32nd minute, the Greeks managed to score, but only from an offside position, which was clearly recorded by the two-meter Dutch referee Temmink.
That's how the first half ended. Blokhin needed to change something, and possibly first of all cancel the order "not a step forward," if there was one. It seems there was.
At the beginning of the second half, the Ukrainians played more freely. Tymoshchuk began to join the attacks more intensively, who was already using his tackles more effectively and playing more productively in one-on-one duels.
The play of the forwards continued to leave much to be desired. Voronin and Shevchenko quite often did not understand each other. The problem of holding onto the ball forced the "Milan" forward to spend more time in midfield and even take throw-ins and press in his own half of the field.
In the 49th minute, the Greeks scored again. But again offside. Toward the end of the 50th minute, Blokhin brought Rotan onto the field, replacing Vorobey. It was precisely the entry of the "Dnipro" footballer that added constructiveness to the Ukrainian team's play.
The Ukrainians made their first shot on target against Nikopolidis in the 58th minute (!!!). Shevchenko from about 26 meters shot low, but the goalkeeper was in place. Another free kick by Sheva hit the wall.
Already for the third time, the Greeks should have scored in this game – after Fisass's cross, Yannakopoulos shot, but missed the goal from a meter, but if he had hit, it would still have been offside...
After that, Shovkovsky had to save his team. After Tsartas's shot, the ball deflected off Tymoshchuk's leg and flew into the top corner, but the goalkeeper interrupted its flight, deflecting it for a corner.
Rotan fully justified his substitution. In the 74th minute, the young playmaker from the left flank gave a wonderful through pass to Voronin, with Fedorov also nearby, but Nikopolidis came far out of his penalty area and headed the ball away.
The misunderstanding between Shovkovsky and Rusol almost became dramatic for the Ukrainian national team when the goalkeeper, coming out to intercept a high ball, collided with the Dnipropetrovsk player and dropped the leather ball, which fell to Vryzas. Yezersky did not allow the latter to shoot from an acute angle, immediately rushing into the tackle, and the Greek, seeing that the moment was lost, fell and speculatively demanded a penalty. Temmink did not give it.
A real knockout for the European champions occurred in the 81st minute. Rotan on the left flank decided to give a pass to Husin, who was running about 15 meters from the center circle, but did so inaccurately. It seemed that in a second Basinas would take the ball without problems, but the Greek made a mistake and the football projectile rolled to Husin, who after running 20 meters found himself one-on-one with Nikopolidis. However, the midfielder of the Russian "Wings" did not shoot immediately, looking around and not seeing partners in a scoring position, Husin closed in on Nikopolidis and struck hard and accurately into the top corner. It was 0:1 in favor of the Ukrainian national team. Blokhin nearly started hugging the fourth official out of joy.
Such a turn of events greatly confused Rehhagel's team's goals for this match. Yes, they again had the advantage as throughout the entire game, but even creating goal-scoring chances was beyond the Greeks. As a final chord – there were tears on the faces of some fans of the Greek national team, who now have a chance only for second place, for which they will have to fight with the Turks and Danes.
Ukraine, meanwhile, has the most realistic chance among all teams in the European qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup to book a place in Germany as early as the beginning of autumn.
Ratings for the players of the Ukrainian national team for the match against Greece (on a 5-point scale)
Shovkovsky - 5 Fedorov – 3.5 Yezersky – 3.5 Rusol – 3 Tymoshchuk – 3.5 Husyev – 3.5 Nesmachny – 3.5 Voronin – 3 Vorobey – 3.5 Shevchenko – 3.5 Husin – 4.5 Rotan – 4.5
Greece - Ukraine - 0:1 Goal: Husin 81 Greece: Nikopolidis - Seitaridis, Kapsis (Vintra 57), Gumas, Fissas, Zagorakis, Karagounis (Tsartas 35), Basinas, Yannakopoulos, Vryzas, Charisteas Ukraine: Shovkovsky, Yezersky, Rusol, Fedorov, Nesmachny - Husin, Tymoshchuk, Husyev, Vorobey (Rotan 56), Shevchenko (Byelik 90), Voronin (Shelayev 89).
Tournament standings: 1. UKRAINE - 23 (9). 2. Turkey 16 (9). 3. Greece - 15 (9). 4. Denmark - 12 (8). 5. Albania - 9 (9). 6. Georgia - 5 (7). 7. Kazakhstan - 0 (7).