What: International Friendly
Who: Ukraine vs Poland
When: Wednesday 20 August 18:00 CET
Where: Olympic Stadium, Berlin, Germany

Ukraine Preparing For Tough World Cup Group

After qualifying for the 2006 World Cup, their first-ever major international tournament as an independent nation, Ukraine were unable to build on that by also making it to Euro 2008. It must be said, however, that they found themselves in what became known as the Group of Death, which included World Cup finalists Italy and France, as well as a solid Scotland side.

Now the team coached by Alexei Mikhailichenko, who took over from Oleg Blokhin at the start of the year, prepare to face the World Cup qualifying round, and once again the odds seem to be against them. They have been drawn in Group 6 along with Fabio Capello’s new England side and Slaven Bilic’s impressive Croatia team, who came within seconds of making it to the Euro 2008 semifinals.

It is very likely that it will be a three-horse race to make it to the finals from this group, as the other teams, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Andorra don’t look like they will pose a threat. In any event, one would still bet on England and Croatia finishing in the top two.

Once again Ukraine will rely heavily on captain Andriy Shevchenko, who always gives everything when playing for his country, even though at club level he has been on a steady decline ever since joining Chelsea in 2006. However, also the likes of midfielder Anatoliy Tymoshchuk and striker Andriy Voronin are experienced international players from top-drawer clubs (Uefa Cup winners Zenit St. Petersburg and Liverpool respectively).

Against Leo Beenhakker’s Poland, who impressed during the qualifying round for Euro 2008, it looks set to be an interesting and, on paper, evenly-matched encounter.

Poland Out To Forget Euro Disappointment

After they finished ahead of Portugal in their Euro 2008 qualifying group and becoming the first Polish team ever to make it to a European championship finals, many expected coach Leo Beenhakker’s side to do well at the tournament. But the finals at Switzerland and Austria turned out to be a big disappointment, as they could only manage a draw against Austria (1-1), and lost to both Germany (2-0) and Croatia (1-0).

Still, the Dutch coach had built up enough of a reputation to avoid the sack, and will lead the Eastern Europeans through their World Cup qualifying group as well. A group that on paper looks less daunting than Ukraine’s, as they have been drawn with a declining Czech Republic side, who were dumped out of Euro 2008 at the group stage by Turkey, Northern Ireland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and San Marino.

There doesn’t seem to be one or more clear favorites to make it out of this group, unlike in Ukraine’s group, so Poland are definitely in with a good chance of reaching South Africa 2010. Among their most talented players are goalkeeper Artur Boruc of Celtic, who had a fine tournament at Euro 2008, midfielder Jacek Krzynowek of Wolfsburg, and striker Ebi Smolarek of Real Santander.

An interesting aspect of this game is that we will see the two joint-hosts of Euro 2012 in action. For both sides, what happens in the next two years will be very important for their reputation and morale leading up to the 2012 tournament, in which they will certainly hope to do better than this year’s co-hosts Austria and Switzerland, who both crashed out at the group stage.

FORM GUIDE

Ukraine

01/06 (Friendly): Sweden-Ukraine 0-1
24/05 (Friendly): Holland-Ukraine 3-0
26/03 (Friendly): Ukraine-Serbia 2-0
06/02 (Friendly): Cyprus-Ukraine 1-1
21/11 (Euro 2008 qualifier): Ukraine-France 2-2

Poland

16/06 (Euro 2008): Poland-Croatia 0-1
12/06 (Euro 2008): Austria-Poland 1-1
08/06 (Euro 2008): Germany-Poland 2-0
01/06 (Friendly): Poland-Denmark 1-1
27/05 (Friendly): Albania-Poland 0-1

TEAM NEWS

Ukraine

Goalkeeper Vyacheslav Kernozenko and defender Andriy Nesmachniy will be out due to injury.

Possible formation (4-4-2): Shovkovskiy; Shevchuk, Rusol, Mandzyuk, Kucher; Kalynychenko, Tymoschuk, Nazarenko, Levchenko; Voronin, Shevchenko.

Poland

No injury worries for Beenhakker.

Possible formation (4-5-1): Boruc; Wasilewski, Jop, Bak, Zewlakow; Smolarek, Dudka, Guerreiro, Lewandowski, Krzynowek; Saganowski.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine)

The former Milan star will lead his team out once again and the striker will be looking to score and get a morale boost ahead of the new season with Chelsea. Currently coach Luiz Felipe Scolari doesn’t seem to consider him a first choice, but a striker of Shevchenko’s class can always fight his way back into any team.

Artur Boruc (Poland)

The Celtic goalkeeper has been at the center of a number of transfer rumours, but in the end it seems the 28-year-old will stay in Scotland. He probably would have favored a move to Milan, who have been following the player ever since he gave an extraordinary performance against them in a last 16 Champions League match in the 2006/2007 season, but it seems only a matter of time before he earns a move to a big club.

PREDICTION

The 2012 co-hosts have had differing fortunes of late, but home advantage should allow Ukraine to share the spoils despite some tough times.

Ukraine-Poland 1-1

Ref From Danilo Pochini - goal.com