Page 27 - Soccer360 Issue 106

NICKNAME: THE BLUE AND YELLOW S360 PREDICTION | 20TH PLACE
GROUP E - UEFA EURO 2024
FACTFILE
POPULATION:
37.7 million
EURO FINALS APPEARANCES: 2
BEST FINISH:
Quarter-finals, 2020
MOST MEMORABLE EUROS MOMENT: Artem Dovbyk’s extra time winner in a marathon last 16 clash with Sweden at Euro 2020.
HOW THEY GOT TO EURO 2024: Finished third in their group before winning play-offs against Bosnia- Herzegovina and Israel.
LAST EUROS APPEARANCE: 2020 - Reached the quarter-finals before losing 4-0 to England.
MOST CAPPED PLAYER: Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, 144
LEADING INTERNATIONAL SCORER: Andriy Shevchenko, 48
HOW TO FOLLOW:
ANDRIY SHEVCHENKO
VS ROMANIA VS SLOVAKIA VS BELGIUM JUNE 17TH JUNE 21ST JUNE 26TH 9:00AM | EST 9:00AM | EST 12:00PM | EST
FIFA RANKING 22ND
UKRAINE
Despite having to play all their qualifying games away from home due to the ongoing conflict, Ukraine booked their spot in Germany and will prove difficult opponents to overcome in Group E. Ian Waterhouse analyses.
EURO APPEARANCES: 3
EURO CHAMPIONSHIPS: 0
THEIR BEST THREE EUROS
2020
2012
2016
8TH
12TH
24TH
UEFA EURO OVERALL RECORD PLD:11 W:3 D:0 L:8
THE COACH:
SERHIY REBROV
Forever remembered for his lethal strike partnership with Andriy Shevchenko during his playing days, Serhiy Rebrov has had to deal with some unique challenges since being appointed Ukraine boss in June 2023. His task was to lead them into the Euros and he managed that with a tense yet exciting play-off victory, and with only defeat so far in his tenure, he may secretly harbour hopes of matching the quarter-final berth they achieved in Euro 2020.
KEY PLAYER:
ARTEM DOVBYK
Striker Artem Dovbyk was one of the breakout stars of European football in 2023-24 after a fantastic first season with Girona, firing the underdogs to a shock La Liga title challenge and a place in the Champions League for
next season. A lot of Ukraine’s hopes in attack will rest on his shoulders, but with Group E opponents Slovakia and Romania lacking a top striker, he could well be the difference.
FIGHTING TO THE END
For very obvious reasons, it hasn’t been easy for the Ukraine national team since they made it to the quarter-finals of Euro 2020. Unable to play any games at home and with the unimaginably challenging backdrop of the ongoing conflict, they have kept going impressively and having narrowly missed out on a place at the 2022 World Cup, they came out on the right side of a tight play-off clash this time to seal their spot in Germany.
Group E promises to be incredibly tight as they come up against Belgium, Slovakia, and Romania, but head coach Serhiy Rebrov will believe his side should progress to the latter stages especially given their pedigree and the talent he has at his disposal.
He has the squad to do it too with the attacking prowess of Chelsea’s Mykhailo Mudryk and Girona’s star striker Artem Dovbyk who hit the 20-goal mark in La Liga for the unexpected title challengers in 2023- 24. That is not all though, as while they are strong going forward Ukraine also have quality at the back in Arsenal’s Oleksandr Zinchenko and Real Madrid’s Andriy Lunin between the sticks.
Rebrov has what all managers dream of and that is a strong spine to the squad which will attempt to play on the front foot allowing Dovbyk the freedom to do what he does best in front of goal.
There will no doubt be plenty of neutral support for the Ukraine in a group that may not steal the limelight but could steal the show for competitiveness and the Blue and Yellow will expect to be inside the top two after their three games.
PROBABLE STARTING XI
MALINOVSKYI
DOVBYK
MUDRYK
TSYGANKOV
KONOPLYA
STEPENENKO ZINCHENKO
MYKOLENKO MATVIYENKO ZABARNYI
LUNIN
SOCCER360 SUMMER 2024 25