Saturday, July 03, 2021

From political failure to Euros success: Shevchenko's remarkable route back to the top with Ukraine


On June 11, 2012, Ukraine claimed their first ever victory at the European Championship: a 2-1 win over Sweden.

Their most recent tournament success arrived on Tuesday night, with 'The Blue and Yellow' beating the same opponents by the same scoreline.

These two momentous occasions in Ukrainian sporting history have one more thing in common: Andriy Shevchenko.

It was Shevchenko the player who scored both of his nation's goals in their win over the Swedes in Kyiv.

And it was Shevchenko the coach who masterminded Ukraine's shock last-16 triumph in Edinburgh earlier this week.

This, though, is not an example of a smooth transition into management for a former superstar.

An awful lot happened between two of the most significant victories in Shevchenko's life.

Goal fills in the gaps below...

What did Shevchenko do after Euro 2012?

He retired. At the end of July 2012, Shevchenko announced that he was going into politics. Sheva joined the Ukraine, go forward! party.

But even his incredible popularity did not help their cause – the party gained just 1.58 per cent of the national vote in the general election held in October 2012, thus failing to secure any seats in parliament.

This signalled the end of Shevchenko's short political career.
When did Shevchenko return to football?

In November 2015, Ukraine qualified for the following summer's European Championship in France by beating Slovenia 3-1 on aggregate in a two-legged play-off.

However, the Ukrainian Football Association (UAF) found themselves in an awkward position, as the coaching staff's contracts were scheduled to expire at the end of 2015.

Amid great uncertainty, there were reports that Mykhailo Fomenko's deal would not be renewed and that Shevchenko would replace him as head coach.

© Provided by Sporting News Andriy Shevchenko Ukraine Euro 2012

These rumours were not well received by influential Ukrainian football commentator Viktor Vatsko, who told Matchday: “With all due respect for Shevchenko as a footballer, this would be a strategically risky step for the current UAF bosses.

"We all understand that this is a super prestigious and important position, so to entrust it to a person who has not even worked for a day as a coach would be absurd."

In the end, the UAF agreed an extension with Fomenko but Shevchenko was added to the backroom team in February 2016, replacing former Juventus player Oleksandr Zavarov as assistant coach.

How did Euro 2016 go for Ukraine?

Badly. Ukraine bowed out after losing all three of their group-stage games, against Germany, Northern Ireland and Poland, without scoring a single goal.

After this inglorious exit, the entire coaching staff was dismissed – except for Andriy Shevchenko. The AC Milan legend was entrusted with building a new national team.

Some critics believe that this was due to Shevchenko's friendship with the head of UAF, Andriy Pavelko.

Shevchenko is the godfather to Pavelko's daughter Anastasia and some fans are unhappy with the pair's close ties, given Pavelko is not a particularly popular figure in Ukrainian football.

What challenges did Shevchenko face?

The first problem the new boss had to resolve was the enormous divide in the dressing room.

The national team consisted mainly of players from Dynamo Kyiv Shakhtar Donetsk, several of whom had been involved in a mass brawl during a club clash just before Euro 2016.

To Shevchenko's credit, he was able to unite the squad in what was the first demonstration of his impressive man-management skills.

The most memorable moment in this regard came before a Nations League clash with Spain in October of last year when an unidentified player found something funny about Shevchenko's instructions during a team talk on the eve of the game.

In a video that went viral, the coach responded by saying, "Don’t laugh! It's not so funny. It's not funny to me. And it will not be funny for anybody tomorrow. Okay?" The following night, Ukraine claimed a famous 1-0 victory over Spain.


Shevchenko has also cleverly surrounded himself with quality coaches.


He's brought in the likes of Milan legend Mauro Tassotti (assistant coach), Maurizio Sarri's former No.2 Luigi Nocentini and, perhaps most significantly of all, Andrea Azzalin, who was Leicester City's fitness coach during their stunning Premier League title triumph in 2016.

How have things gone on the field?


Quite well, though there have been tough times. Indeed, a 1-0 loss to Malta in an unofficial friendly in Austria in June 2017 represented arguably the most embarrassing result in Ukraine's footballing history.

However, after narrowly missing out on qualifying for the 2018 World Cup – a 2-0 loss at home to Croatia proved decisive – Ukraine showed that they were a team on the up by finishing top of their group in the 2018-19 Nations League.

Still, there was still widespread shock when Ukraine qualified for Euro 2020 by winning a group that also contained Portugal, after taking four points off Cristiano Ronaldo & Co.

At the finals, Ukraine have played only in patches, coming from 2-0 down in their tournament-opener against Netherlands only to end up losing 3-2 in Amsterdam.

© Provided by Sporting News Andriy Shevchenko Ukraine Euro 2020

They disappointed in the second half of their 2-1 win over North Macedonia and were roundly criticised for their dismal display in a 1-0 loss to Austria that looked to have ended their hopes of reaching the last 16.

However, Ukraine were helped by results elsewhere and eventually progressed as one of the best third-placed teams with just three points and a -1 goal difference.

Shevchenko, then, deserves all the praise he has been receiving for changing Ukraine's style of play in order to secure a way past Sweden in the round of 16.
What next for Shevchenko?

About a year ago, there were rumours that Shevchenko could return to Milan as coach, and be replaced at the helm of the national team by Serhii Rebrov, who led Hungarian outfit Ferencvaros into the Champions League for the first time in 25 years.

However, Stefano Pioli's position at San Siro is now secure, while Rebrov has since taken over at Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates.

For now, though, Shevchenko is solely focused on Saturday's quarter-final showdown with England.

The Three Lions are heavy favourites to prevail in Rome, but if Ukraine can somehow spring another surprise, their inspirational coach won't be short on offers after the Euros.


England vs. Ukraine: Time, lineups, TV, streams, odds, prediction for Euro 2021 quarterfinal match




WRITTEN BY SIMON BORG
@SimonBorg

With every passing game it’s feeling like England is a team of destiny with their home field of Wembley Stadium in London hosting the semis and final if the English can get past Ukraine.

But it’s those same expectations that could weigh on the Three Lions should they face any moments of adversity. Despite a 2-0 win over Germany that will have turned some skeptics into believers, there’s still an air of fragility about manager Gareth Southgate's England. Much of it is due to a history of falling short in major competitions, but there are also questions about whether the English are too conservative and cautious given the talent on the roster.

The other dynamic at play for the quarterfinal: England won’t be playing in front of the Wembley crowd like it did for its first four matches. The quarterfinal against Ukraine will take place in Rome, without traveling English support given quarantine rules for UK travelers imposed by the Italian government.

There are no such complexes with the Ukrainian team, which is playing with house money after making history by advancing out of the group stage. It took advantage of a Sweden red card in the Round of 16 to continue its unexpected run to the elite eight of the competition despite suffering two losses in the group stage.

Ukrainian legend and manager Andriy Shevchenko has the charisma and swagger to have his team believing it can spring another upset. Only a few weeks ago the Ukrainians held France to a 1-1 away draw in World Cup qualifying.

How to watch England vs. Ukraine
Date: Saturday. July 3
Time: 3 pm ET
TV Channel: ABC
Spanish-language TV: Univision, TUDN
Streaming: fuboTV, ESPN app, ESPN3, TUDN.tv

The quarterfinal will be available in English on ABC and in Spanish on Univision and TUDN. Both those networks can be streamed on fuboTV (free 7-day trial).

England-Ukraine starting lineups

Gareth Southgate goes back to the team’s 4-3-3 after fielding a 3-man center back line to match Germany’s tactical set-up in the Round of 16. Ukraine, like Germany, will also be fielding a 3-man back line.

After his recent transfer to Manchester United, Jadon Sancho will be getting the start over Phil Foden. And Chelsea’s Mason Mount also returns to the starting lineup after sitting out the Germany match given he missed practice time in self isolation as a close contact of a COVID-19 positive case.

Southgate praised the Ukrainian front line in the lead-up to the match and Andriy Yarmolenko, the team’s captain, is fit after coming out of the last match. The Ukrainians be without forward Artem Besedin after the knee ligament tears suffered on the horror tackle that resulted in Sweden’s red card in the Round of 16.

Ukraine (5-2-3, left to right): 1-Bushchan — 17-Zinchenko, 22-Matviyenko, 4-Kryvtsov, 13-Zabarnyi, 21-Karavaev — 5-Sydorchuk, 6-Stepanenko — 10-Shaparenko, 9-Yaremchuk, 7-Yarmolenko

England (4-3-3, left to right): 1-Pickford — 3-Shaw, 6-Maguire, 5-Stones, 2-Walker — 19-Mount, 4-Rice, 14-Phillips — 10-Sterling, 17-Sancho, 9-Kane
England vs. Ukraine: Odds & prediction

This will be a lot closer than many expect.

England has faced Ukraine at Euros 2012 (a 1-0 win) and the Three Lions are 4-1-2 all-time against Ukraine. The last two meetings came during 2014 World Cup Qualifying and both matches were draws.

Much has been made of England’s four straight shutouts to start the tournament, but it’s worth noting that the expected-goals-against figure across those four games is actually 2.9. We’ll see if they can keep that up against a Ukraine team that has forwards who can create chances.

Ukraine could very well be the first team to get a goal against England (the Ukrainians have scored six times in four games) and that would make two specific props attractive: both-teams-to-score and England-to-win-and-both-teams-to-score.

After that, it comes down to the margin of victory for England. If you think there’s a chance it will be more than a goal, then the England -1.25 Asian Handicap should make for an interesting play given risk/reward.

Prediction: England 2, Ukraine 1

Odds courtesy of DraftKings
England to win (90 mins): -215
England to advance: -500
Draw (90 mins): +330
Ukraine to win (90 mins): +700
Ukraine to advance:+385
Both teams to score: +130
England to win and both teams to score: +300
England -1.25 Asian Handicap: +110
Ukraine +1.25 Asian Handicap: -127


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