Ukraine 2-1 Sweden: the Shevchenko show
The starting line-ups
The story of the tournament so far – Andriy Shevchenko rolled back the years to complete a surprise turnaround in Kiev.
Shevchenko was named from the start, despite speculation Oleg Blokhin would use him as a substitute. The rest of the side was as expected.
Erik Hamren made a surprise choice in the centre of midfield, playing Rasmus Elm alongside Kim Kallstrom. This meant Ola Toivonen started on the left, and Markus Rosenberg played upfront.
This was a peculiar game, where all the interesting tactical features were completely divorced from the goalscoring action. The goals were simply three smart finishes from clever strikers, and their nature wasn’t representative of the football played over the course of 90 minutes.
Shevchenko’s double was so special because he won the game on his own – it was Shevchenko’s superb runs and smart finishes that were the difference between the sides – he didn’t simply put the finishing touches to a dominant performance, he was the reason Ukraine were victorious.
Formation battle
Sweden set out in roughly the expected system, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic dropping off the front. They defended with two banks of four when Ukraine had long spells of possession, though the shape was more fluid with the ball.
Ukraine were also the expected formation – basically a 4-4-2 but with Anatoliy Tymoshchuk and Andriy Voronin dropped significantly deeper from their lines, making something like a vague 4-1-3-1-1.
Tymoshchuk v Ibrahimovic
This was an interesting battle – Ibrahimovic naturally moves towards the right for Sweden, but Tymoshchuk generally plays towards the opposite side of the pitch, with Serhiy Nazarenko higher up, left-of-centre. Nevertheless, Tymoshchuk spent the first part of the game trying to track Ibrahimovic, who was basically playing as a number ten.
Ibrahmovic didn’t want this close attention, however, and he was clever with his movement. Sometimes he ventured towards the flanks, away from Tymoshchuk – who had to guard that central zone for fear that Toivonen, Seb Larsson or Kim Kallstrom would move into it – and got space in wider zones. More often he simply became a second striker, drifting high up the pitch where Tymoshchuk didn’t want to drop into.
Voronin
Andriy Voronin was crucial to Ukraine’s system, involved in various key parts of their game – he dropped deeper than the Sweden midfield to link play, and also connected the midfield and Shevchenko.
Equally important was his work without the ball – he dropped back into midfield and moved onto Kallstrom, meaning Sweden found it difficult to play through the Lyon man.
Ukraine counter-attacks
Ukraine had long spells of possession, but their main threat came when they broke quickly through the wingers, Yevhen Konoplyanaka on the left and Andriy Yarmolenko on the right. They sprinted forward as soon as Ukraine won possession and were excellent at dribbling with the ball. Their end product was inconsistent, and they were less effective when Sweden got men behind the ball, but by simply carrying the ball down the flanks, they put Sweden’s backline under pressure. They really stretched the play, hugging the touchline and making themselves available for long crossfield balls.
Ukraine were particularly dangerous on the break because Sweden played without anything close to a natural holding player. They were expected to use Anders Svensson in the centre of midfield – himself more of a ball player than a tackler – but the decision to field Elm alongside Kallstrom meant Sweden looked very open in front of their defence. It was no surprise that Kallstrom picked up a booking within 15 minutes when forced to stop a break illegally, and Hamren waited too late to introduce Svensson (for Toivonen, with Elm moving wide), after the the three goals had been scored.
Another disappointing aspect of Sweden’s play was their set-piece delivery. Ukraine were disciplined and didn’t concede any fouls in shooting positions, but from long free-kicks Larsson’s crosses into the box were overhit.
Shevchenko
But the main feature of this game wasn’t tactics, but simply Shevchenko’s performance. His movement throughout the game was very intelligent, despite his lack of pace and stamina. He moved towards the ball then tried to spin in behind the Swedish centre-backs, and his link-up play was generally good too.
His goals were similar – one from a right-wing cross, one from a left-wing corner – but both dependent upon sudden movements towards the near post, and fine headers.
Substitutions
Hamren made changes, but broadly kept the same shape. Christian Wilhelmsson was a good introduction – he offered direct dribbling ability from the flank, something Sweden lacked in the first half, while Johan Elmander came on upfront for Rosenberg and should have finished a late chance.
Blokhin simply replaced tired legs, with Shevchenko, Voronin and Konoplyanka withdrawn in the final ten minutes for Artem Milevskiy, Marko Devic and Ruslan Rotan – Ukraine kept the energy high and saw out the win.
Conclusion
Sweden’s shape looked unnatural – no holding player, probably not enough drive and directness from the flanks either. Their build-up play was also surprisingly direct at times, using the striker too quickly rather than building through the midfield. They could have won the game had they defended crosses better, but they still wouldn’t have played well.
Ukraine’s goals barely related to their best attacking moments, which came through the wide players on the flanks. Shevchenko was the key, and now Ukraine are in a great position at the top of Group D – other sides will look to come onto them, and Ukraine can play on the break.
Sweden really disappointed me. They didn’t play their natural game and deserved to lose. Is there any reason they didn’t play Svensson?
He is key to their more patient build up play and possession game, instead they tried to battle with Ukraine, which was a silly move as Sweden’s technical ability is the advantage they hold over Ukraine. He also as ZM mentioned drops deep to protect the defense, something Sweden really missed in this game. They struggled to build up goods attacks and more or less relied on Ibrahimovic to try and do it all himself. Ibra was great and could have actually won the game single handed, but this is a poor strategy to rely on. Sweden looked better when they brought on both Svensson and Elmander, who lead the line much better than Rosenburg and really should have scored an equaliser after fine link up with Ibra (again the key player for Sweden). Sweden will struggle against England if they play as they did today and surely that is a must win game if they want to qualify.
Ukraine really shocked me in how good they were. Their back line looks vulnerable and a better attack would have punished them more, with even Swedens poor display opening them up at times. But otherwise they were really impressive. Tymo broke up play well in midfield, Nazerenko recycled possession, the two wingers were pacy and threatening and Voronin worked his ass off pressing Sweden and also holding up the ball for the wingers. Shevchenko didn’t contribute to play much, but he came alive in the penalty box and these past two years have been justified for him
If Sweden can recapture their qualifying form, they could threaten for second place, otherwise they are out of this competition as one of the worst sides. Ukraine will be very proud of their team, but they will struggle against much better teams in England and France, who won’t be as poor as Sweden were today. Ukraine will find it hard to defend against the French attack and an England side reinvigorated with Rooney in attack.
Agree with you. Hugely disappointed with Sweden.
In this generation of international football, it is so refreshing to see a player like Shevcheko who is so dedicated to his country that he devoted his career to it. He gave up the opportunity to play on big teams and get more money at the end of his career just to help bring glory to Ukraine in a tournament held on their ground. It is really wonderful.
SHEVA! I was so sad when Chelsea didn’t work out for him after his stellar play with Milan, and I hope he drags his team to the Semis on their home turf.
there were a number of players in the ukranian side on the wrong side of 30 who played their heart out for the team and the country. after all the negative press on ukraine, i hope they do well and beat france in the next game. I think ukraine and england will get through to the next round.
They key player for Ukraine squad was Nazarenko,not Voronin.Nazarenko was all over the picth-from defence to attack.And Ukraine formation seemed more like 4-2-3-1 to me with Nazarenko given a more free role.
Interesting that there’s no mention of Ukraine’s high pressing in the article, they were after all the first side in the tournament to press with such dedication and pretty much for 90mins. Whether it was a surprise for Sweden, is hard to tell, but it really affected their build-up play and largely contributed to the surprisingly direct style of Sweden mentioned in the article.
I also think Ukraine’s midfield duo deserves big credit for their performance, and their partnership was the best I’ve seen thus far- both of them out passing and out tackling Elm / Källström, with great understanding between them. Ukraine did so many things well here, kept the ball with confidence, slick passing moves, flying wide mids, support from both fullbacks, spirited outing from CB pairing (Khacediri recording most clearances in a match thus far)- that saying ”Schevchenko won this game on his own” feels like a very unfair assessment of the match.
That’s what happens when teams are underestimated. I really hope they knock one of France and England out.
You should’ve seen the Swedish press before the game, everyone was 99% sure Sweden were going to win. Myself, on the other hand, was very uncomfortable with playing Ukraine in the opening game. The home crowd, the pressure, it’s a lot to handle, also they’re far from a bad side. If Sweden had played England or France, it’d been okay to lose, the pressure would’ve lessened, but now Sweden are more or less out of the group unless they perform two miracles against France & England.
Actually the game turned out to be a very good one, especially in the second half.
Isnt it interesting that almost all teams have started pressing high up, even England was doing that. Of course they are not able to do it for the whole 90 minutes and its not very intense, but isnt this showing a real change in the mind set.
Pep has really influenced football.
Why would you think that Pep is the one that has introduced high-pressing defense to the football-world?
He did introduce it as a constant element. Before it was all about getting behind the ball as fast as possible. I think one should credit him for the forward defending
Didn’t watch the whole game admittedly, but from what I saw sweeden pressed quite well. Am worried about how some of our players will be with the pressure.
I was a bit bewildered about both goals Shevchenko scored, since on both occasions marker didn’t take his eyes of the ball for a second, and that gave Shevchenko time to sneak past em, specially second (tho Mellbergs abysmal effort wasn’t much better), although marvelous timing and skill to hit it when he did, left Zlatan standing where a simple run of two meters towards the corner would be enough to clear it.
My 9 years son, who idolizes Zlatan, was absolutely livid because his coach would let him really hear of it if he did that mistake in their match.
I don’t think Ibra was supposed to mark Shevchenko though; he seems to zone the near post on corners, rather than mark a specific player. They just completely messed up the marking, and left him free.
“Yevhen Konoplyanaka on the left and Andriy Yarmolenko on the right.”
While right in the text, it is wrong on the chalkboard.
Ukraine were surprisingly good, especially out wide. I don’t really think Shevchenko on his own, although his contribution certainly helped the cause. I hope to see Ukraine escape the group at the expense of France or England on home soil, they have the advantage of points over both for now, and can use that to tactical advantage.