WORLD CUP 2006: Ukraine in the comfort zone

/noticias.info/ Courtesy of their seven-point buffer at the top of Group 2 in the European qualifying zone, Ukraine's first-ever participation in a major international tournament is as good as guaranteed.

"We're now 99.9 per cent certain of making the trip to Germany," acknowledged coach Oleg Blokhin after their 1-0 victory in Greece on 8 June, which came courtesy of an Andriy Husin goal eight minutes from time.

Right from the start of the qualifiers, Ukraine have enjoyed a near-perfect campaign, picking up seven wins (four of them away from home) and two draws. It would now take a collapse of cataclysmic proportions for them to miss out on qualification, as their final run-in does not appear overly taxing. On 3 September they travel to Georgia, before playing host to Turkey four days later and then ending their campaign at home against Albania on 8 October.

But still smarting from two unfortunate experiences, Ukraine are reluctant to pronounce the job done just yet. The eastern Europeans failed at the play-off stage in two of their last three qualifying campaigns. On the road to France 98 they were eliminated by Croatia, and then, in touching distance of the Korea/Japan 2002, their hopes were shattered by the future finalists Germany.

After a further failure in the UEFA EURO 2004 preliminary competition, Football Federation of Ukraine chiefs opted to open a new chapter with the appointment of the former Soviet international Oleg Blokhin. A European Player of the Year in 1975, Blokhin instantly found himself on the same wavelength as his star player, Andriy Shevchenko, winner of the same award 29 years later. Blokhin on the bench and Shevchenko on the pitch has proved a winning combination, as the two have forged a new mentality within the squad by communicating their thirst for success and international experience.

Ukraine are also fortunate enough to boast a vast pool of talented home-based players, from which Blokhin has drawn heavily. In the 22-man squad for the game with Greece, for example, the only foreign-based players were a trio plying their trade in Russia, another from Germany (Andriy Voronin at Bayer Leverkusen) and, of course, Shevchenko of AC Milan.

Ukraine's achievement is all the more impressive for the fact that Blokhin was forced to resign on 16 March, before being swiftly reinstated by a tribunal. As the member of a political party, the 53-year-old coach was theoretically not permitted to occupy another official post. Where football is concerned, however, such technicalities can usually be overcome. There is a slight downside, though, in that even if Ukraine qualify, the tribunal also ruled that Blokhin was not entitled to receive a salary for his work as national coach.