| Oleg Blokhin's team made its debut at the World Championships The Ukrainian national team created the loudest sensation of the first round of the World Cup. Oleg Blokhin's team managed to lose to the Spanish team with the biggest score so far in Germany - 0:4, without having, by and large, any chance of a more decent result.
“Spain is the favorite, but anything can happen,” Oleg Blokhin said before this match. And, of course, by the words “anything” he meant something other than a defeat with a score of 0:4. But it seems that the players of the Ukrainian national team were so convinced of their own exclusivity and that they were destined to become the main surprise of this championship, that the opening game with Spain was considered the first step to glory and honor. It is no wonder that, having conceded two goals by the 17th minute, the Ukrainian team experienced such a shock from which they could not recover until the end of the match. And it is unknown whether he will be able to leave before the end of the tournament.
Of course, if you wish, both first goals can be attributed to bad luck. Indeed, it was necessary for Xabi Alonso to wriggle so much in order to manage to head the ball flying somewhere behind him. And this ball had to fly along the only possible trajectory leading into the goal net. But it happened. And four minutes later, Villa's free kick and the subsequent rebound practically decided the outcome of the match. The third missed goal was entirely on the conscience of the Swiss referee Busacchi, who saw a penalty where there could not have been one in principle.
All this is true. But it’s still worth remembering that in all the minutes that separated the first, second and third goals, the Ukrainian team was unable to create anything. Even less than nothing - not the slightest hint of a dangerous moment. And this can no longer be attributed either to the referee, who, by the way, sent off Vashchuk from the penalty spot in the ill-fated episode, or to bad luck, or to the heat. All hopes for Andriy Shevchenko, who nevertheless appeared on the field and played the entire 90 minutes with a tail of injury time, turned into disappointment. The game did not go well for the main star of the Ukrainian team. And there was no team at all. Neither Voronin, nor Timoshchuk, nor Gusin could take the lead, and only goalkeeper Shovkovsky single-handedly fought an unequal battle with the Spanish attack.
“It's a shame. We lost and didn’t even resist,” Oleg Blokhin was able to admit that the defeat of his team was fair. - My players did not play at the level they showed in preparation for the championship. After our player was sent off, it was very difficult for us to play on equal terms in such heat or even to contain such a strong opponent. But we must look to the future with optimism. We have two more games to improve the situation. These games should help the team reach the level it belongs to. Nothing has been lost yet."
Indeed, this is not the end yet. This is just a bad start. The Ukrainians have two more matches ahead of them against the not-so-formidable teams of Tunisia and Saudi Arabia. So the defeat from the Spaniards can do Oleg Blokhin’s team a good service, reminding that winning the qualifying tournament is not a guarantee of victory in the final part of the World Cup.
On the eve of the Ukrainian fiasco, the current world champions, the Brazilian national team, began competing in the tournament. The Brazilians won their first match in Germany, but at the same time it became clear that the championship favorites are not so formidable now. In any case, the victory over the Croatian national team was not as spectacular and unconditional as all the other championship participants feared.
They really fear the Brazilian national team. The same Croats lost largely because they were too respectful of their opponents. Having given the initiative at the beginning of the match, the Croats realized only after the break that they could fight and count on success even in a match with the pentacampeons. Moreover, with such a Ronaldinho, who probably saved his best game for the decisive matches, with Ronaldo, who had grown fat and warmed up to other defenders, and the unlucky Adriano. But it was already too late. By that time, the Brazilian national team was leading with a score of 1:0 and was not going to give up its advantage. Kaka chalked up this goal. He and Roberto Carlos can generally be called the best players of the match. The efforts of the attack of the Croatian national team, which became emboldened by the end of the meeting, in which army player Ivica Olic appeared in the second half, could no longer correct the situation.
“If you make one mistake in a match with the Brazilian national team, you lose,” the head coach of the Croatian national team, Zlatko Kranjcar, could only remark. But still, there remains a chance that he is wrong and Brazil will still have worthy rivals.
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Match results. Group "F". Brazil - Croatia - 1:0 ( Kaka 44 ). Group "N". Ukraine - Spain - 0:4 ( Xabi Alonso 13, Villa 17, 48 - pen, Torres 81 ). Tunisia - Saudi Arabia - 2:2. Andrey VDOVIN |
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