Tuesday, June 29, 2021
Brutal red and last minute gate
Ukraine made it to the quarter-finals dramatically
The round of 16 of the European Football Championship comes to an end with a thriller: Ukraine shocked Sweden in extra time and is now England’s next opponent. For most of the extra time, Ukraine played outnumbered after being sent off and then struck late.
Ukraine has provided for the next surprise coup at the European Football Championship and has made it into a quarter-finals for the first time since the 2006 World Cup. At the end of the round of 16, the team of the former star striker Andrei Shevchenko won 2: 1 (1: 1, 1: 1) in Glasgow after extra time against Sweden with the outstanding Leipzig Emil Forsberg. Alexander Zintschenko (27th) had given the outsider the lead in front of 9,221 spectators in Hampden Park, which Forsberg (43rd) equalized with his fourth goal in the tournament. Artjom Dowbik (120th + 1) scored the winning goal after the Swede Marcus Danielson (98th) had seen red for a gross foul after video evidence. In the round of the last eight, Ukraine will play against Germany-conqueror England on Saturday (9 p.m.) in Rome.
The Swedes were the first to win Group E with two wins against Poland and Slovakia as well as a draw against the quarter-finalists Spain, mainly thanks to the formidable Forsberg. For the first time at this tournament in Glasgow striker Dejan Kulusevski was in the starting line-up and replaced the Mainz professional Robin Quaison. The 21-year-old from Juventus Turin was initially out due to a corona infection, but then as a substitute in the 3-2 win against Poland, he had provided plenty of momentum. Ukraine, on the other hand, made it to the round of 16 as one of the four best third-placed players in the group.
A 1-0 win against North Macedonia was enough for coach Andrei Shevchenko’s team. Surprisingly, the former striker did without key player Ruslan Malinowski from Atalanta Bergamo in the first knockout game for Ukraine. Nevertheless, the round of 16 newcomer came to the first big goal opportunity of the game. Former Dortmund’s Andrej Jarmolenko put forward Roman Yaremchuk, whose shot was masterfully parried by Sweden’s goalkeeper Robin Olsson.
At the only meeting of the two teams so far at a European Championship, the then co-host Ukraine had won the group game 2-1 in Kiev in 2012 with a goal from Shevchenko, among other things. In Glasgow, the team initially had advantages in possession of the ball. The Swedes came through their offensive trio Forsberg, Kulusevski and Alexander Isak a few times in front of the gate of the Ukraine, but remained harmless. In contrast to the outsider. When captain Jarmolenko flicked the ball from right to left in the penalty area, Alexander Zintschenko was completely free and overcame Olsson with a hard shot (27th).
The goal hit the Scandinavians like a wake-up call. Driven by the tireless Forsberg, the Swedes pushed for an equalization. And the Leipzig midfield strategist also overcame the defensive of the Ukrainians, which was fired on by the numerically superior fans. Shortly before the break, Forsberg got the ball in front of the penalty area and took off bravely. His shot was deflected and hit the net indefensibly. For the 29-year-old, it was already the fourth goal in the tournament.
Ukraine had the first chance after the restart. Yarmolenko again drove the ball forward on the right side and put it in front of Sergei Sidorchuk, who hit the post (55th). Almost in return, Forsberg (56th) shot after a counterattack with a fine flick to the post. As the season progressed, the Scandinavians pushed Ukraine more and more on the defensive. In the 69th minute, the Leipziger took heart again, but his shot hit the crossbar. But by the end of regular time, neither of the two opponents had a hit, also because most of the players were visibly dwindling.
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