Ukraine national football team

Infobox National football team
Name = Ukraine
Badge = Ukraine_football_association.gif
FIFA Trigramme = UKR
Nickname = "Zhovto-Blakytni" ("the Yellow-Blues")
Association = Football Federation
of Ukraine
Confederation = UEFA (Europe)
Coach = Flagicon|Ukraine Oleksiy Mykhaylichenko
Captain = Andriy Shevchenko
Most caps = Andriy Shevchenko (85)
Top scorer = Andriy Shevchenko (39)
Home Stadium = Olympic Stadium, Kyiv
FIFA Rank = 19
FIFA max = 11
FIFA max date = February 2007
FIFA min = 132
FIFA min date = September 1993
Elo Rank = 28
Elo max = 18
Elo max date = March 2007
Elo min = 67
Elo min date = March 1995

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pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=_ukra06|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=0000FF|body2=0000FF|rightarm2=0000FF|shorts2=0000FF|socks2=0000FF

First game = Flagicon|Ukraine Ukraine 1 - 3 Hungary Flagicon|Hungary (Uzhhorod, Ukraine; 29 April, 1992)
Largest win = Flagicon|Ukraine Ukraine 6 - 0 Azerbaijan Flagicon|Azerbaijan (Kyiv, Ukraine; 15 August, 2006)
Largest loss = Flagicon|Croatia Croatia 4 - 0 Ukraine Flagicon|Ukraine (Zagreb, Croatia; 25 March, 1995) Flagicon|Spain Spain 4 - 0 Ukraine Flagicon|Ukraine (Leipzig, Germany; 14 June, 2006)

| World cup apps = 1
World cup first = 2006
World cup best = Quarter-finals, 2006
Regional name = European Championship
Regional cup apps =
Regional cup first =
Regional cup best =

The Ukraine national football team is the national football team of Ukraine and is controlled by the Football Federation of Ukraine. After the split of the Soviet Union, they played their first match against Hungary on April 29, 1992.

Prior to the split, Ukrainian players represented the USSR national football team. Some of the best Ukrainian players of the beginning of the 1990s (including Andrei Kanchelskis, Viktor Onopko, Sergei Yuran and Oleg Salenko) chose to play for Russia as it was named the official successor of the USSR, while Ukraine did not participate in major international competitions until 1994. As a result a crisis was created for both the national team and the domestic league. Problems were further compounded when Soviet Union's five-year UEFA coefficients, despite being earned in part by Ukrainian players (for example, in the final of the last successful event, Euro-88, 7 out of starting 11 players were Ukrainians [http://www.rsssf.com/tables/88e-full.html European Championship 1988 - Final Tournament - Full Details ] ] ), were transferred directly to the direct descendant of the Soviet national football team - the Russian national football team.

In the following years, the Ukrainian team improved, showcasing talents like Andriy Shevchenko, Anatoliy Tymoschuk and Serhiy Rebrov. However, Ukraine failed to qualify for any major intercontinental tournament prior to 2005, three times failing at the last qualifying stage, the playoffs, after finishing second in their qualifying groups. It lost to Croatia, failing to get to the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Slovenia prevented Ukraine from going to Euro 2000, and Germany stopped them prior to the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

After an unsuccessful Euro 2004 qualification campaign, Ukraine appointed Oleg Blokhin as the national team's head coach. Despite initial resentment to his appointment due to his previous poor coaching record and calls for a foreign coach, Ukraine went on to qualify for their first-ever FIFA World Cup on September 3 2005, by drawing with Georgia, 1:1, in T'bilisi. In their first World Cup (2006 FIFA World Cup), they were in the group H together with Spain, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia. After being crashed in the first match by Spain 0 - 4, Ukraine beaten other two opponents to reach the knock-out stage. In the round of 16, Ukraine played the winner of group G Switzerland, which they beat on penalties reaching the quarter-final of the tournament before losing 3:0 to eventual champions Italy.

tadiums

The most important matches of the Ukrainian national team are held in Kyiv´s Olimpiysky National Sports Complex, the previous home of Dynamo Kyiv (which presently only uses the stadium for major European matches). The alternative stadiums include: Ukraina (Lviv), Meteor (Dnipropetrovsk), Chornomorets (Odessa), Metalist (Kharkiv), and many others. However as new infrastructure and stadiums are built (especially in preparation for Euro 2012), other venues will include stadiums in the cities of Lviv, Donetsk, Odessa, among others.

2006 FIFA World Cup

In the 2006 FIFA World Cup, their first major tournament since splitting from the USSR, Ukraine were drawn in Group H along with Spain, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia.

Ukraine got off to a poor start with a 4:0 defeat against Spain, but recovered to beat Saudi Arabia 4:0 in a then-national record victory. In their last group match, a lackluster performance by Ukraine saw them hold on to second place, as they beat Tunisia 1:0 with a penalty kick scored by Andriy Shevchenko.

In the second round, Ukraine beat Switzerland on penalties (3:0) when the match ended 0:0 after extra-time. In the quarter-finals, Ukraine lost 3:0 to Italy to end their first World Cup campaign.

Forthcoming fixtures

European Championship record

Player records

Player/coach records are accurate as of September 10, 2008.

Most capped Ukraine players

Ukraine managers

;Midfielders

;Highest position ever:FIFA: 11 (February 2007):Elo: 18 (March 2007);Lowest position ever:FIFA: 132 (September 1993):Elo: 67 (March 1995)

ee also

*Ukrainians in USSR national football team

Notes

External links

* [http://www.fifa.com/associations/association=ukr/index.html Ukrainian page on FIFA web-site (include upcomming fixtures)]
* [http://www.ffu.org.ua/ Official website]
* [http://www.ukrainiansoccer.net/unt/totbycrit.asp?SID=1 Ukraine National Football Team]
* [http://www.ukrsoccerhistory.com/sources/pages.aspx?page=zbirna_matches&mode=seasons UkrSoccerHistory.com]
*http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=328162&cc=5901
*http://www.eloratings.net/
* [http://www.ukrainegoals.com Videos of Ukrainian soccer goals] (cataloged in English)