Sheva sends Ukraine through
23 Jun 2006 - 17:28:17
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- Sheva sends Ukraine through
Ukraine booked their place in the last 16 of the World Cup with a 1-0 victory over ten-man Tunisia in a lacklustre encounter in Berlin.
Andriy Shevchenko's penalty 20 minutes from time sealed Ukraine's passage through as runners-up in Group H on their debut in the tournament.
The opening minutes of the game in the Olympiastadion saw few clear chances for either side, although Ukraine should have taken the lead with 21 minutes on the clock.
Anatoliy Tymoschuk found space in the area, but opted to shoot when three team-mates were unmarked in the centre and waiting for a tap-in and keeper Ali Boumnijel made a solid stop.
There were few other openings in the first 45 minutes, but the game swung on a moment just before the interval, when Zied Jaziri was dismissed for a second bookable offence - a late tackle on Tymoschuk.
That left Tunisia to battle away a man short, needing to win the game to deny Ukraine their moment of history.
Twenty-five minutes from time Tunisia were unlucky not to win a penalty as Anis Ayari's free-kick was deflected narrowly over the crossbar by the hand of Andriy Voronin.
Five minutes later Ukraine did win a spot-kick after Shevchenko tumbled under the combined challenge of Boumnijel and Karim Haggui.
The Chelsea new boy got up to score with ease, sending Boumnijel the wrong way with a cool penalty.
Oleh Shelayev wasted a good chance late on as Ukraine began to find space and Voronin forced a fine save from Boumnijel before shooting wide of the target in stoppage time.
However, Ukraine had done enough to ensure a meeting with the eventual winners of Group G in the last 16.