Blokhin fretting about Sheva
18 May 2006 - 16:18:54
Coach Oleg Blokhin fears Andriy Shevchenko's injury problems will prevent Ukraine making an impact at the World Cup finals.
The AC Milan striker damaged knee ligaments during the game with Parma on May 7 and will not be able to return to full training until the week before the finals start.
If he were not fully fit for the group games against Spain, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia it would be a disaster for Ukraine, according to Blokhin.
"We are naturally very worried about Shevchenko. Andriy now is having a two-week break after which he will be able to start training again," said the coach.
"Of course, with Shevchenko we have one team and without him it is quite another team."
Serhiy Fyodorov and Andriy Vorobei are also major doubts for the tournament and Blokhin added: "Unfortunately, the mood at the moment is not terribly good.
"In the qualifying games we had only one or two injured players but now we are beginning to feel the impact.
"Things in the forward line and in midfield are more or less all right, but we have serious problems with the defenders. We will practically have to build our defence from the ground up."