UEFA Euro 2012

One of Ukraine’s star players at Euro 2012 will be their talismanic former AC Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko who needs no introduction, especially to Chelsea supporters. Another is the versatile Anatoliy Tymoshchuk (now with Bayern Munich) who was recently named the best Ukrainian footballer ever, while three more are Oleksandr Shovkovskiy, Serhiy Rebrov and Oleksandr Aliyev.

The latter is a modern day schemer with very good playmaking abilities who holds the key to unlock the tightest of defences.

One of the more notable young attacking players in the squad is Yevgen Konopolyanka, a good dribbler with change of pace.

He has been deployed on the left of the midfield by coach Oleh Blokhin, while the former Barcelona flop Dmytro Chygrynskiy, a centre-half by trade and one of the mainstays of the Shakhtar Donetsk team last season, is also expected to feature, along with Dynamo Kiev striker Andriy Yarmolenko who will be another goalscoring threat.

He can use both feet and his head, is courageous and will shoot on sight. Defenders can’t allow him to get within sight of goal…. or else.

Blokhin, in his second spell as the Ukraine national team coach, insists his team will be difficult to beat, saying: “Several of my players have the know-how to operate in a big tournament; they have loads of unrivalled experience.”

He prefers to use two systems, either 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1 with the latter seemingly the best! Being drawn in a tough group of Sweden, England, and France, Ukraine will have to produce some giant killing acts if they are to stand a chance of qualifying for the quarter finals.

Home support will be vital to the Ukraine players who will want to perform well in such a big tournament which the country is staging for the first time and indeed as Ukraine are also taking part in its first-ever European Championship.

The team will carry the expectations of the whole nation when they take centre-stage for their first clash against Sweden at their spiritual home – the Olympic stadium in Kiev.

They need to win that and hope for the best against France and England to make the knockout stage. Can they do it? Yes… with a wee bit of home help and luck!