June 9, 2006
THE SHEVCHENKO SHOW
Ukraine is powered by one of the best

With all due apologies to that classic television show, Newhart, coach Oleg Blokhin might introduce his front line this way: "This is my striker Andriy, and this is my other striker Andriy, and this is yet my other striker Andriy."

No, Blokhin doesn't repeat himself too often. His three front men are all named Andriy. That's Andriy Voronin from Bayer Leverkusen (Germany), Andriy Vorobei from Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine) and Andriy Shevchenko of A.C. Milan (Italy).

Undoubtedly the class of the three Andriys is Shevchenko, whose reputation precedes him as one of the most dangerous strikers in the world. Shevchenko is the entire package. He can run fast. He has great vision. His skills on the ball are amazing, especially in tight quarters. And his strength and shot are formidable. Put them all together and you have a scoring machine.

Shevchenko, 29, the 2004 European football player of the year, has scored 28 goals in 63 international appearances through the winter of 2006. He also had tallied 19 times in his first 22 matches for A.C. Milan during the 2005-6 season.

But it goes to show that even having one of the best players in the world doesn't necessarily mean a country is a shoo-in for any tournament. Remember, the Ukraine failed to reach the last four major tournaments -- the 1998 and 2002 World Cups and Euro 2000 and 2004.

"There is no point in building an entire team around Andriy Shevchenko," Blokhin told Reuters. "This team needs backbone and Shevchenko can only put the finishing touches on it. We simply don't have enough players. There are, for instance, no proper right-sided defenders."

While it is difficult to portray soccer as a one-man show, the Ukraine's notoriety and attack, like it or not, might be the closest thing to it. Not too many people outside of the country know of anyone else but Shevchenko, who can change the course of a game with one well-timed strike of his foot.

Oh, there are a number of able-bodied performers, such as midfielder Ruslan Rotan, who scored several important qualifying goals, including the lone one in the vital 1-1 tie with Denmark.

Blokhin likes to use a 4-2-1-1-2 formation. That starts with four defenders, two holding midfielders in front of them, an attacking midfielder, a deep-lying forward and two strikers.

There are, however, some question marks.

The midfield could very well buckle against quality sides.

Goalkeeper Olexander Shovkovsky missed two months of Dynamo Kiev's season with a broken collarbone after colliding with an opponent during a club friendly against FK Moscow. Shovkovsky, who played every minute of the Ukraine's 12 qualifiers, needed to get himself back in form for June or risk leaving the team without an experienced international goalkeeper.

Bolkhin is a disciplinarian and refuses to take anything from players who don't follow the rules.

For example, midfielder Oleksander Rykun failed to stick to a training regime. Blokhin dumped Rykun from the team along with his three Dnipro teammates after they returned drunk and missed the curfew.

In November, 2004, three players -- Alexander Zotov, Viacheslav Checher and Serhiy Zakarlyuka -- were sent home for reporting for duty to the National Team in the middle of the night. They were supposed to show up at 5 p.m., but arrived at 2 a.m.

Outside of a total collapse, the Ukraine should be able to reach the second round with seeded Spain and weak sisters Saudi Arabia and Tunisia in Group H. After that, it could be anyone’s guess.

"At this moment, we are simply not prepared to win the world championship," Blokhin said. "But we will not be whipping boys."

A bit of interesting information for World Cup history buffs

The Ukraine became the first former member of the Soviet Union (other than Russia) to qualify for the World Cup on its own in 2006.