Although, only now does the irritation of the head coach of the Ukrainian national team, Oleh Blokhin, become understandable when he is asked whom he can take from the nearest reserves... Indeed, there is no one to take there for now. Neither the Belarusian defector Milevskyi nor Shakhtar's hope Pukanych, by the quality of their play demonstrated in the match against the Greeks, will remain on the list of permanently promising players for a long time. The only one who in the near future can count on a promotion in class is defender Oleksandr Yatsenko.
It is not excluded that the change of head coach influenced the play of the Ukrainian youth national team; however, we will find out about this already on Wednesday after the match with the Georgians.
As for the match itself, both teams did not spoil the sparse fans with dangerous moments. The first shot toward the Greeks' goal in the 17th minute was taken by Pukanych, though he missed the "frame." A minute before that, Vorobey fell in the Greeks' penalty area, but the referee did not award a penalty. But the referee from Northern Ireland corrected his mistake in the 26th minute when Vorobey was again fouled in the penalty area, and he pointed to the 11-meter mark. Aliyev converted the penalty, striking into the upper corner of the goal, and if not for the power of the shot, the Greek national team's goalkeeper could have become the hero of the game, as he guessed the direction of the ball's flight and even deflected it under the crossbar. 1:0.
After the goal was scored, the Ukrainians, as before, controlled the ball, but nothing worked for them in attack. Fortunately, the Greeks also were not having their best day.
For the last seven minutes or so of the game, the hosts had every chance to concede. In the 37th minute, Shiryayev pulled a header from Fitaniadis from the upper 9[corner], and a few minutes later Gandoulakis from six meters somehow managed to shoot straight into the Ukrainian goalkeeper's hands. To these attacks by the guests, the players in blue-and-yellow shirts responded with a dangerous cross from the penalty area, which Ishchenko nearly converted at the far post.
At the beginning of the second half, the Greeks pressed the Ukrainians somewhat toward their goal, but it did not come to dangerous moments. And if Oleksiy Mykhailychenko's charges managed to play reliably in defense, then in attack there was complete chaos. Throughout the whole game, apart from the penalty shot, there was not a single accurate shot on target(!!!). However, one thing is pleasing – the Greeks also did not particularly distinguish themselves.
As for the super-promising Milevskyi, for whom Surkis won the battle against all of Europe, the play of this forward evokes no feelings other than disappointment.
A forward who was predicted to have a great future in the main Ukrainian national team and in Kyiv's Dynamo cannot walk "on foot around the field" for the entire match! And his conversion of goal-scoring chances, plus speed and technique – that is a separate matter. It seemed as if on the eve of the game Milevskyi had been unloading train cars rather than preparing for the game.
The Ukrainians reached the Greeks' penalty area without problems, but then began the rolling of the ball, which ended in its loss or an inaccurate pass to nowhere. Toward the end of the match, the same Milevskyi "wasted" two goal-scoring chances.
In the 76th minute, the Dynamo-2 forward failed to use an ideal pass from Aliyev, which sent him one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and Artem, thinking for a long time about which corner was better to score into, was robbed by a defender who knocked the ball out from under his feet. Already in the last minute of regular time, Milevskyi again came face to face with the goalkeeper, but this time he shot low past the goalkeeper, but so "powerfully" that the defender managed to catch up with the ball and clear it from the empty goal for a corner.
For now, the game can be summarized as follows. The result, as is known, remains, and as for the game, let the players themselves forget it first of all, and let them recall it only in the context when it will be necessary to think about how one should not play.
Euro 2006. Youth national teams.
Group 2
Ukraine - Greece - 1:0 Goal: Aliyev 26 - from a penalty Ukraine: 23. Shiryayev, 3. Romanchuk, 4. Yatsenko, 5. Ishchenko (c), 6. Chyhrynskyi, 8. Aliyev, 9. Pukanych (Sytnyk 65), 10. Milevskyi, 14. Cheberyachko, 16. Vorobey (Humeniuk 88), 17. Samborskyi. Greece: 1. Karnezis, 2. Spiropoulos, 3. Liapakis, 4. Torosidis, 5. Fitaniadis, 6. Tsiolis, 7. Bourmpos (Pliagkas 71), 8. Goundoulakis (Kapetanos 75), 9. Mantzios, 10. Leontiou, 11. Lagos (Darlas 64).
Albania - Denmark - 1:2 Goals: Shyqyri 90, Rasmussen 28, Absalonsen 74.
Turkey – Kazakhstan – 1:0 Goal: Semi 77
Tournament standings: 1. Denmark - 6 (2 games). 2. UKRAINE - 6 (3). 3. Georgia - 4 (2). 4. Greece - 4 (3). 5. Turkey - 4 (3). 6. Albania - 1 (3). 7. Kazakhstan 0 (2).