Ukraine

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• Manager:Oleg Blokhin

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Shev keen to recreate spirit

27 Jun 2006 - 08:53:03

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Ukraine captain Andriy Shevchenko thinks his side can beat Italy and win a place in the World Cup semi-finals if they can recreate the spirit they showed in Monday's victory against Switzerland.

Ukraine secured a place in the last eight of the tournament following a drab goalless draw with the Swiss before winning a penalty shoot-out 3-0, despite Shevchenko missing his spot-kick.

The Chelsea star said: "We have a good squad with a great team spirit. We played with a lot of heart and that made up for anything else we were missing.

"(Coach Oleg) Blokhin was so emotional in the dressing room afterwards he was virtually speechless.

"I was sure our goalkeeper was going to save the penalties - he's a bit of a specialist. I've taken lots of penalties in my career, I've scored a few and also missed a few, but tonight I hit the ball badly.

"I'm going to be very busy over the next few days with all the questions I'm going to get from friends and journalists in Italy. I've spent seven wonderful years there and I owe the country a lot, but now I have to play against them in the most important football match in the history of Ukraine.

"Italy are favourites but the important thing for us is to play with enough heart to make up for any technical shortcomings. The Italy squad is packed with talented players, many of whom are my former team-mates who I'll now have to play against."