The national team of Ukraine under the leadership of Oleh Blokhin continues to disappoint its fans both with results and with its play. After a draw with the Libyan team, Blokhin's charges lost 1:0 in Skopje to the Macedonian national team. Add to this the unmanly act of the captain of the Ukrainian team Andriy Shevchenko at the end of the first half, and the picture of prospects comes out very unoptimistic.\n\nHowever, let's take things one at a time. For the game with Macedonia, Blokhin had the opportunity to call up all the strongest players available at the given moment who are not injured. After the draw in Libya, the coach of the "blue-yellows" lamented the absence of representatives of "Dnipro" and Shevchenko in the team. In the match with Macedonia, all these footballers played. But there was no game again. Of course, at moments something resembling football worked out for the Ukrainians, especially toward the end of the match, but this is not enough for a victory.\n\nThere are many reasons for this. Firstly, the players' lack of cohesion was noticeable, but where would it come from if in the starting lineup of the Ukrainian national team out of 11 footballers, only four had previously found themselves on the same team. There is no fault of Blokhin in this. It is impossible for footballers to gel in a few days. In attack in the first half of the match, practically nothing worked out for the Ukrainians. Shevchenko simply could not find common ground with his midfield partners. Perhaps if the "Milan" forward had flown in on time for the national team gathering, and not arrived a day before the game, then there would have been more of this mutual understanding. Although this is only one of the moments.\n\nIn the starting lineup, Blokhin released 4 "Dnipro" players at once, who were among the best on the field. And if in the first half of the meeting Oleksandr Rykun was not so noticeable, however in the second part of the match the Dnipropetrovsk player successfully assisted his partners and could have scored himself. Rotan and Nazarenko played at their level, doing a large amount of work. For a first game, Rusol also played not badly, performing the functions of the last defender, true, in the first half he lacked confidence. However, it can be noted that this quartet has the right to be invited to other games of the national team.\n\nAt their level, almost all the other players of the national team also played, among whom it is worth highlighting Dmytro Parfyonov, who played more or less reliably in defense and was also noticeable in attack. And now it can be said that the Ukrainian team has potential, however, it has not yet been fully used by the coaching staff of the Ukrainian national team. In the game with Macedonia, the imbalance and lack of cohesion of the footballers is evident. In addition, the tactical pattern of the Ukrainian team was heavily blurred. Between the defense and midfield when creating attacks, a "pit" was created, which gave the Macedonians the opportunity to move from their half of the field to the penalty area of the Ukrainian team in one or two passes. Let us also note the fact that during the first half, the attack of the Ukrainian team with the "star" Shevchenko was more similar to a passive midfield.\n\nAs for the moments, the first dangerous one arose near Shovkovskyi's goal, when in the 8th minute of the game Sedloski struck with a header, but the Ukrainian goalkeeper pulled this ball out of the corner. A minute later there was danger again near our goal, but this time the Ukrainian team was saved from a goal by the goalpost, which the ball hit after a strike by Stojanovski. A worthy response from the Ukrainians had to be waited for a long time.\n\nBut the hosts did not miss the chance to open the score. Over the course of 3 minutes, the players of the Macedonian national team terrorized the Ukrainians' goal. After Shakiri took a corner, Shovkovskyi punched the curled ball into the upper corner of the goal. In the next moment, the goalkeeper of the Ukrainian national team could no longer help. Shakiri threw the ball from a throw-in directly into the penalty area of the Ukrainian team, and Sedloski headed the ball down to Stavrevski, who, unmarked at the far post, struck the goal of the Ukrainian national team, shooting between Shovkovskyi's legs — 1:0. In the 30th minute, Shevchenko passed to Nazarenko, who from the corner of the goalkeeper's area struck dangerously, but the ball went off a defender for only a corner. This was the most dangerous moment produced by the Ukrainian national team in the first 45 minutes.\n\nHowever, toward the end of the match an episode occurred that will be discussed for a long time and for good reason. In the 45th minute of the game, in a fully manly struggle, Stojanovski unintentionally hit Shevchenko in the face with his elbow. Shevchenko, whose lips were visibly broken and blood was flowing, without explaining anything, took off the Ukrainian national team jersey and calmly walked to the locker room....\n\nOf course, there is little pleasant about being hit in the lips, but this is not an injury because of which a player cannot continue the match. Especially if you are the captain of the Ukrainian national team and, moreover, your team is losing. Otherwise than a dismissive attitude toward his national team and their fans, this act of Shevchenko cannot be called. It gave the impression that the "mega-star" Shevchenko was playing street football, and when he wanted to, he left the field. In the match with Spain, the "Milan" forward did not like being substituted by Buryak, and he threw his boot in his direction. What will be the next step of the caught-up "star" Shevchenko, who, as is known, does not particularly respect Ukrainian journalists either, saying they write various things about him... But, excuse me, what is there to write in this case about the game of a footballer who so despises his team. One can understand that the game with Macedonia is a friendly, and no one wants to get injured. Nevertheless, why then come to the national team. For a checkmark?\n\nAnd one more example to conclude this topic. Shevchenko's "Milan" partner Gennaro Gattuso in one of his team's recent matches finished the game with a bandaged head that was half covered in blood. And he played fine, because he played for his TEAM, which he respects. Shevchenko's older colleagues at "Dynamo" more than once set examples of finishing a match at the limit of their strength. And here there's blood, a broken lip, almost intensive care... And it's also interesting how Blokhin, who has repeatedly said that he wants players to play for the prestige of their national team, will now set an example for his less renowned and less young charges. And whom to hold up as a model — Shevchenko, who leaves the field when his team is losing, or Luzhny, who has already contented himself with matches for the Ukrainian team, or Yashchuk, who cannot decide what is more important to him: Belgian citizenship or Ukrainian...\n\nThe second half of the game differed from the first only in that the speeds dropped significantly, and the Ukrainians, traditionally for themselves, only started playing in the last minutes. Rebrov also tried, but once again unproductively in this game, although there were no moments for scoring for Serhiy. But the "Fenerbahce" player did receive a yellow card for simulation when he fell in the penalty area of the Macedonian national team.\n\nThe most realistic chance to equalize the score was lost by the Ukrainians in the 64th minute, when after a turning shot by Rykun the ball flew a few centimeters from the post. Checher and Kosyrin had opportunities to distinguish themselves in this game, but the goalkeeper pulled the former's shot out of the upper corner of the goal, and the "Chornomorets" forward was inaccurate when striking with his head. In one of the moments, Kosyrin also failed to use a one-on-one when Mitreski knocked the ball out from under his feet at the last moment.\n\nThe conclusion is one. Blokhin promises all of us a core and some kind of pattern in the national team's play for the match with France on June 6. Until then, the Ukrainians have only one match planned with the Slovaks on April 28. How Blokhin intends to create what he failed to do over three games remains a mystery. After the match with Macedonia there is only one positive moment, that there are players from whom the Ukrainian national team can be molded, but this still needs to be able to be done...\n\nMacedonia - Ukraine - 1:0\nGoal: Stavrevski 26\nMACEDONIA: 1. Milosevski (Nikolovski 46), 2. Stavrevski, 4. Sedloski, 5. Mitreski, 6. Stojanovski (Bozinovski 62), 7. Mitrevski (Kumbiev 89), 8. Shumulikoski (Mustafi 81), 9. Dimitrovski, 10. Shakiri, 11. Krstev, 17. Janchevski (Toleski 65).\nUKRAINE: 1. Shovkovskyi, 2. Symonenko (Matiukhin 46), 3. Parfyonov, 4. Tymoshchuk, 6. Rusol, 7. Shevchenko (Kosyrin), 8. Rykun, 10. Nazarenko (Kalinichenko 81), 13. Checher, 16. Rotan, 20. Husiev (Rebrov 46).\n\n