Ukraine’s wins against Sweden gives them hope

Andriy Shevchenko was the hero for co-hosts Ukraine as they came from behind to beat Sweden and go top of Group D.

The 35-year-old former AC Milan and Chelsea striker, who is in his second spell with Dynamo Kiev in his native country, rolled back the years with two headed goals in the space of six second-half minutes to lead his side to victory after Zlatan Ibrahimovic had given Sweden the lead in Kiev's Olympic Stadium.

I feel great. I feel 20 years old, not 35. It was an historic game for us, and it's a victory," said Shevchenko, who will retire from international football after Euro 2012.

"It's such an important competition. Thank you to everybody who supported me. It was a very long walk because I had a lot of problems before the European Championship."

There was a doubt as to whether Ukraine coach Oleg Blokhin would select Shevchenko, who was European Footballer of the Year in 2004 but is not the force he once was, as age and a string of injuries have caught up with him.

However, Blokhin was rewarded for his decision to select the striker, who was given a standing ovation by the vociferous crowd inside the Olympic Stadium when he was substituted 10 minutes from full-time.

Sweden coach Erik Hamren felt his side should have done more to impose their authority on the game. He also believed his side was wasteful in the latter stages as they went in search of an equalizer.

"We knew how they would play and it was our performance which was not up to scratch. You need 11 players right on their game and we only had five or six in the first half," said 54-year-old.

"We knew the crosses would come in - and we were up against a super player. Technically and tactically we didn't cut it. We should have scored with the good chances we had at the end."

Sweden goalscorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who also saw a header, hit the post in the first-half, said: "We have three games to play here, it's not just one game.

"There are still two games left and we still have the two games to get a result. We need to play a better game than we did today."

Ukraine's two-goal hero Andriy Shevchenko believes his side's 2-1 victory over Sweden has given them a good chance of qualifying from Group D.

The 35-year-old took his international goal tally to 48 from 108 caps in Kiev on Monday as the co-hosts won to top a group which also includes England.

 

-BBC