The return match became a real test for Oleksiy Mykhailychenko's team. This game was supposed to answer: what the current "youth team" is capable of. It turns out the team has not only game but also character.
In the first half of the away match against Belgium, the hosts had the advantage both in chances and in ball possession. Once again our defender made a mistake, but Andriy Pyatov saved the day.
Twice after Vanderbergh's shots our goalkeeper had to get into the game and save the team. The blue-and-yellows had a good chance to score through Fomin, but from an acute angle he could not beat the Belgian national team's goalkeeper.
However, the Ukrainian team "messed up" the end of the game. In the 40th minute, De Ceulaer at speed got past Romanchuk and Chyhrynskyi and went one-on-one with Pyatov, but our goalkeeper saved the Belgian's first shot, while De Ceulaer's second attempt was accurate and it was 1:0.
That's how the first half ended.
In the second half, the Ukrainians started more actively in attack. In the 56th minute, Milevskyi lost a chance, having practically run one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but he delayed and the chance was lost. In the 68th minute, Mykhailychenko guessed right with the substitution. The substitute Pivnenko gave an accurate pass to Fomin, who shifted to the left and powerfully shot past the goalkeeper — 1:1.
The scored goal inspired the Ukrainians to storm forward and they completely seized the initiative and did not lose it. In the 80th minute, Pukanych curled in a corner and Chyhrynskyi, winning the struggle for the aerial ball, scored with a header to make the score 1:2 in favor of the Ukrainians.
The Belgians retreated almost with their entire squad to their own half of the field and played to clear the ball. However, in the 90th minute, the hosts miscalculated their strength and could not hold Milevskyi, who, having dribbled past several defenders, scored the third goal into Proto's net with an accurate shot — 1:3. Thus, on the aggregate of the two matches, Ukraine advances to the final part of the 2006 European championship and will fight for a ticket to the Olympic Games.
It should be noted that besides our national team, the teams of Serbia and Montenegro, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Portugal, France and Italy also earned tickets to Euro 2006.
Playoff. Second match.
Belgium (U-21) - Ukraine (U-21) - 1:3 Goals: De Ceulaer 40, Fomin 40, Chyhrynskyi 81, Milevskyi 90. UKRAINE: Pyatov, Romanchuk, Fomin, Chyhrynskyi, Feshchuk, Aliyev, Milevskyi, Nevmyvaka, Bashlay, Yarmash, Maksymov.