England’s strong defence posses a big threat from Ukraine striker Andriy Shevchenko, who will be up to jolt three lion’s smooth progress towards the World Cup finals at Wembley on Wednesday.
Beckham and Rooney will be once again expecte to shine against Ukraine
The 32-year-old AC Milan striker proved an expensive misfit during two forgettable seasons with Chelsea and not even a move back to San Siro has managed to rekindle the spark that made him one of Europe’s most feared marksmen.
He is still Ukraine’s most famous footballer, however, and with an international strike rate of roughly a goal every two games he could pose the biggest threat to England in their Group Six qualifier.
“Shevchenko has played very little this year — he had lots of injuries, some poor matches, but his experience and desire are priceless for us,” Ukraine coach Olexiy Mykhaylychenko said in the build-up to the game.
“Young players will progress faster with him nearby.”
Unbeaten Ukraine are third in the group, five points behind leaders England with a game in hand and Wednesday’s match is pivotal to their hopes of competing for the top spot.
They arrived in England last week without Dynamo Kiev forward Artem Kravets who sustained a hamstring injury but with Bstriking talent like Shevchenko, Andriy Voronin and Evhen Seleznev, Mykhaylychenko is confident of a decent result.
“We have chances of acquiring the first place in our group,” he said.
“I perfectly realise how strong our opponents are but now there are no invincible teams in the world.”
CAPELLO WARY
England have never played Ukraine in a competitive fixture, winning two home friendlies without conceding a goal, but will expect a fifth consecutive victory in Group Six which would put clear daylight between themselves and their rivals with half the qualifying campaign left. To know the Line-up Click Here…
