Ukraine win penalty shootout; beat Switzerland for quarter-final spot

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Monday, June 26, 2006

Ukraine beat Switzerland 3-0 in a penalty shootout to get to the quarter-finals of the 2006 Fifa World Cup after a goalless deadlock, Monday.

Both teams started the game knowing their round of sixteen opponents were not ranked in the Fifa top 10 and appeared determined not to make mistakes. Tackles went in quick and hard but no side took any risks to win the game.

The statistics suggest Switzerland had more shots but they arguably were the more defensive team as they had started with one forward, Alexander Frei, whereas the Ukraine had three.

Swiss and Ukraine supporters in Cologne for match day.

Frei's single shot came from a first period free kick which shook Oleksandr Shovkovskyi's lintel. Ukraine's forward men amassed six shots; Andriy Shevchenko went closest on 20 minutes when his diving header came off the ground and onto the crossbar.

Ukraine did not play well and despite their more attack-minded formation were so wasteful with possession that they made statistically fewer chances than the Swiss with their 4-5-1 formation. Switzerland had 55 per cent of the ball in the game.

From a viewer's perspective the Mexican referee Benito Archundia was lenient with tough challenges. A game with 44 fouls - one every three minutes - had only one yellow card. The yellow card was awarded on the hour to Tranquillo Barnetta for pushing a Ukrainian player as he ran toward the penalty area.

Ukraine fans cheered when Oleg Gusev scored the decisive penalty.

15 minutes each way for extra-time was not used effectively by the teams; neither side attacked hard and in the second period there were no shots at all. Switzerland almost got one but Andriy Gusin blocked Marco Streller 12 yards from goal.

Ukraine took and missed the first penalty but won the shootout 3-0 after Artem Milevskiy scored first with a impudent chip down the middle. For the Swiss Barnetta hit the bar, and then Shovkovskyi made two saves low to his right and left to send Ukraine through to a quarter-final match against Italy.

Switzerland was eliminated from World Cup competition without having conceded a goal during the entire tournament (excluding penalty shootout goals), the first time this has happened in World Cup history.

Round of sixteen

Match 54

June 26, 2006 21:00
	Ukraine	0–0	Switzerland	RheinEnergieStadion

Attendance: 45'000

Penalties

	Notes	Result		Notes	Result
Shevchenko	Saved low right	X
Milevskiy	Straight chip		Streller	Saved low right	X
Rebrov	Hard low left		Barnetta	Crossbar right	X
Gusev	Hard low right		Cabanas	Saved low left	X

Notes are from the goalkeeper's view.

Formations

Ukraine

Right wing	Right	Center	Left	Left wing

		Oleksandr Shovkovskyi (GK)
	Vladyslav Vashchuk		Andriy Nesmachnyi
		Anatoliy Tymoschuk
Oleg Shelayev	Andriy Gusin		Oleg Gusev	Maksym Kalinichenko
		Andriy Voronin
	Andriy Shevchenko (C)		Andriy Vorobey

Substitutes

75' Ruslan Rotan for Kalinichenko
94' Serhiy Rebrov for Vorobey
111' Artem Milevskiy for Voronin

denotes one goal scored.

Switzerland

Right wing	Right	Center	Left	Left wing

		Pascal Zuberbuehler (GK)
Phillipp Degen	Johan Djourou		Patrick Mueller	Ludovic Magnin
		Johann Vogel (C)
Ricardo Cabanas	Raphael Wicky		Hakan Yakin	Tranquillo Barnetta 59'

		Alexander Frei