Ukraine won through to the Quarter Finals of their first World Cup with a dramatic penalty shoot out victory over the Swiss in Cologne.
The sides could not be separated in normal time with a drab 0-0 scoreline summing up a dull game. Despite making all the running the Swiss were the victims of a penalty shootout nightmare as they missed all four of their spot kicks to be the first ever team to be dumped out of the World Cup without conceding a goal.
Missing Philippe Senderos after injuring himself against Korea the Swiss were forced into doing very little defending were as Ukraine sat back with the line up which had helped them beat Tunisia.
It took the Swiss just ten minutes before they started firing in shots towards the Ukraine goal and it was Wicky who first stung the palms of the keeper after the ball was carelessly given away in defense by the Eastern Europeans.
The shot powered from the edge of the area by the midfielder forced the keeper into a diving save to his left and it was a sign of what was going to happen over the next 120 minutes.
Ten minutes later however the Ukraine were able to get a clear chance on goal as Voronin struck in a free kick towards Shevchenko. The Chelsea forward somehow managed to flick the low free kick with his head into the top of the cross bar as the ball unluckily bounced to safety to let the Swiss of the hook.
Midway through the first half Frei struck a free kick onto the crossbar from twenty five yards as the teams traded blows up and down in a fast paced game. The Swiss had battled hard to get this far and they weren't going to let their unbeaten record go now as they halted Ukraine attacks before turning them into counters.
Moments after half time however Ukraine did have a chance to take the lead as Voronin threw himself at the ball after an excellent cross. The timing of his jump was slightly off however and the ball skidded off the front of his forehead before missing the post by a yard or so.
With half an hour left in the game Shevchenko almost weaved his way through the Swiss defensive before striking magical shot towards the keepers left post. As the defense sat back off him the former Milan superstar swung a left boot at the ball arrowing the ball past the stationary keeper but also just inches past the post.
With the game now becoming more desperate the Ukraine pushed one last time in a bid to end the game in normal time this time with Gusin just missing the past after a corner whipped in from the left. Three Ukraine players attacked the ball but replays showed Gunin’s head made contact with the ball but he could not find the net with his effort.
The game rolled into extra time and the Swiss had all the possession and created the majority of the chances. Ukraine seemed to be sitting back somewhat for penalties and were almost caught out as an excellent shot from Frei forced a save from the keeper. His chance however was to be the last act of the game as penalties were needed to decide the identity of Italy’s opponents.
The penalty shootout began with the Ukraine and surprisingly Shevchenko missed the opportunity to take his side in front. For Shovkovskiy however penalties seemed to be a walk in the park as he saved from Streller and Cabanas whilst Barnetta hit the bar. In between for the Ukraine Rebrov and Gusin scored whilst under the pressure of a nation Gusev sent the keeper the wrong way to fire in the decisive penalty for his country.
The sides could not be separated in normal time with a drab 0-0 scoreline summing up a dull game. Despite making all the running the Swiss were the victims of a penalty shootout nightmare as they missed all four of their spot kicks to be the first ever team to be dumped out of the World Cup without conceding a goal.
Missing Philippe Senderos after injuring himself against Korea the Swiss were forced into doing very little defending were as Ukraine sat back with the line up which had helped them beat Tunisia.
It took the Swiss just ten minutes before they started firing in shots towards the Ukraine goal and it was Wicky who first stung the palms of the keeper after the ball was carelessly given away in defense by the Eastern Europeans.
The shot powered from the edge of the area by the midfielder forced the keeper into a diving save to his left and it was a sign of what was going to happen over the next 120 minutes.
Ten minutes later however the Ukraine were able to get a clear chance on goal as Voronin struck in a free kick towards Shevchenko. The Chelsea forward somehow managed to flick the low free kick with his head into the top of the cross bar as the ball unluckily bounced to safety to let the Swiss of the hook.
Midway through the first half Frei struck a free kick onto the crossbar from twenty five yards as the teams traded blows up and down in a fast paced game. The Swiss had battled hard to get this far and they weren't going to let their unbeaten record go now as they halted Ukraine attacks before turning them into counters.
Moments after half time however Ukraine did have a chance to take the lead as Voronin threw himself at the ball after an excellent cross. The timing of his jump was slightly off however and the ball skidded off the front of his forehead before missing the post by a yard or so.
With half an hour left in the game Shevchenko almost weaved his way through the Swiss defensive before striking magical shot towards the keepers left post. As the defense sat back off him the former Milan superstar swung a left boot at the ball arrowing the ball past the stationary keeper but also just inches past the post.
With the game now becoming more desperate the Ukraine pushed one last time in a bid to end the game in normal time this time with Gusin just missing the past after a corner whipped in from the left. Three Ukraine players attacked the ball but replays showed Gunin’s head made contact with the ball but he could not find the net with his effort.
The game rolled into extra time and the Swiss had all the possession and created the majority of the chances. Ukraine seemed to be sitting back somewhat for penalties and were almost caught out as an excellent shot from Frei forced a save from the keeper. His chance however was to be the last act of the game as penalties were needed to decide the identity of Italy’s opponents.
The penalty shootout began with the Ukraine and surprisingly Shevchenko missed the opportunity to take his side in front. For Shovkovskiy however penalties seemed to be a walk in the park as he saved from Streller and Cabanas whilst Barnetta hit the bar. In between for the Ukraine Rebrov and Gusin scored whilst under the pressure of a nation Gusev sent the keeper the wrong way to fire in the decisive penalty for his country.