Ukraine
by Herr DannyHow exactly has this team of workmanlike, semi-skilled, negative journeymen made it into the quarter finals of the World Cup? A truly shambolic display against a hardly awe-inspiring Spain, a walk in the park against the dismal Saudi Arabia and a skinny victory over Tunisia courtesy of Shevchenko tripping over his own leg. The performance against Switzerland was mediocre at best, against a team that offered no attacking threat whatsoever. World Cup winning form? I don’t think so!
Has there ever been a team less deserving of a place in the last eight?
June 27th, 2006 at 1:05 pm
I honestly thought you were talking about England after I’d read your first sentence.
June 27th, 2006 at 1:08 pm
England semi-skilled? Surely you are having a laugh Mr Aqua.
Are Ukraine the new Greece?
June 27th, 2006 at 2:29 pm
Could well be. And are England the new Germany? Playing badly, much overrated, but grinding their way to the final? Let’s hope so
June 27th, 2006 at 3:03 pm
I thought the result was harsh on Switzerland who hadn’t conceded a goal in all 4 matches that they played, then I remembered I’d just sat through two hours of turgid non-football and decided that they deserved to go out if they can’t even make a penalty shoot out remotely exciting.
June 27th, 2006 at 3:12 pm
Switzerland were lucky to win their group. If Zidane had been on the bench for the opening group match France would have won. I’m so glad Switzerland qualify automatically for the next European Championships. It would be a real shame to miss out on their exciting brand of football.
If Ukraine win the World Cup, I’m Kaka.
June 27th, 2006 at 6:23 pm
Didn’t the USA make it this far last time?
June 27th, 2006 at 8:35 pm
The US did make it this far in 02, but the team really played their hearts out against Portugal and Mexico to get there. They survived S. Korea and lucked out of the first round thanks to Korea. But they beat Mexico (they do tend to have Mexico’s number) soundly and played better than the Germans in their loss, so I would not say that they were the equivalent to Ukraine. If the US were in a hgarder group that year, they would not have advanced, but I think the Ukrainians have only dealt with soft competition excluding Spain.
June 27th, 2006 at 9:17 pm
Yes, the US outplayed Germany in the 02 quarter-final, so it can be argued they were deserving of a place in the last four. A USA v South Korea semi-final would have been interesting.
June 27th, 2006 at 10:20 pm
Well they deserve to be there because of the way the draw has gone, I can’t see them going any further but surely you could have levelled the same arguments against Switzerland had they progressed.
June 28th, 2006 at 11:02 am
Switzerland beat South Korea comprehensively, a team better than both Tunisia and Saudi Arabia and also played the hardest team in their group without losing 4-0.
June 28th, 2006 at 3:52 pm
Shevchenko is the poor man’s David Hirst.
June 29th, 2006 at 3:33 pm
Harsh.
Anyway, world cup matches are like first dates. Sometimes you hit it off, sometimes you don’t. Sometimes you get one in 4 times, sometimes you spend hours in meaningless banter.
Argentina and Mexico made out like a house on fire, these two… didn’t.
Much enjoyed Milevskiy’s cheeky chip though.
June 30th, 2006 at 10:04 am
Not much speed dating so far.