Archive: Ukraine
Who Do You Like in Group H?
Ok, it's been delayed, but here it is ... your favorite World Cup prediction game. Study aides: - Group analysis from The Post's Steven Gofff (written at the draw in December) - Team profiles from Goff, also written in December. From BBC.com: - Saudi Arabia - Spain - Tunisia - Ukraine I have a friend and soccer teammate who's a Spain fan, as well as a boss who refers to the team as "my people" (he does this with Rafael Nadal, too). I want to get under their skin and predict an upset here ... but I think this is perhaps the most boring group in the World Cup. There's a little intrigue ... how big a factor will Raul be? Is Shevchenko ready to go? Still, I think Spain finishes first, Ukraine second, Tunisia third and Saudia Arabia last. I know, not going out on a limb here. Anyone...
By Jon DeNunzio | June 4, 2006; 09:00 AM ET | Comments (9) | TrackBack (0)
Mid-Afternoon Kick-About
Other notes: - Netherlands Coach Marco van Basten picked a 28-player provisional squad. Yet another veteran was cut loose -- Edgar Davids (Roy Makaay and Clarence Seedorf already had been left out). - Ukraine/AC Milan super-striker Andrei Shevchenko will miss 25 days with a knee injury. If the 25 days starts today, that means he's back in action on June 1. The Ukraine has a friendly vs. Italy scheduled for June 2, and opens Group H play vs. Spain on June 14. - Germany/Dortmund MF Sebastian Kehl may miss the World Cup with an ankle injury -- possible ligament tear. - U.S. defender Cory Gibbs signs with Charlton in the Prem. He played with Feyenoord this season. According to Gibbs, a number of other Premiership clubs, including UEFA Cup finalists Middlesbrough and Bolton, were also interested in the left-sided player who made his full international debut in 2003. - It's...
By Jon DeNunzio | May 8, 2006; 01:43 PM ET | Comments (13) | TrackBack (0)
The Definitive Injury Post
Well, maybe that's too strong. But FIFAWorldCup.com does a nice job in this piece of getting us up to date on the major injury worries as June 9* (not to mention May 15**) approaches. Will they or won't they? XI on the fitness trail Oleksander Shovkovsky, Ukraine goalkeeper Gabriel Heinze, Argentina defender Sol Campbell, England defender Ledley King, England defender Ashley Cole, England defender Xavi, Spain midfielder Pablo Aimar, Argentina midfielder Lionel Messi, Argentina midfielder Francesco Totti, Italy forward Jan Koller, Czech Republic forward Michael Owen, England forward Did they miss anyone? Am I right in thinking the U.S. is fortunate not to have a major injury concern right now? * - Matchday 1 of the 2006 World Cup, as if you didn't know. ** -- FIFA's deadline for final roster submission....
By Jon DeNunzio | April 19, 2006; 11:04 AM ET | Comments (21) | TrackBack (0)
Morning Kick-About
- Rooney libel case settled. That's one distraction out of the way. The 700,000-pound gorilla lingers: The scale and voracity of Rooney's betting has shocked many observers. Although the player is paid nearly £3 million a year by United and earns about the same in endorsements, the debt represents a substantial slice of his annual income. It is more than a third of his salary after tax. - Sol Campbell hurt again. Is a spot in the English side realistic? (Please note my savvy use of prepositions) Well, Rio Ferdinand is on Sol's side. "Sol's been unfortunate, along with Jonathan Woodgate, with injuries in the last season. Maybe that will play against him or maybe he'll come back fresher, and the manager could see that as a good ingredient to add to the squad." - Trinidad & Tobago names its squad (provisionally). Players you might know thanks to their previous...
By Jon DeNunzio | April 13, 2006; 10:00 AM ET | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Spanning the Globe ...
Like I said last week, this blog cannot just be about the "big" soccer nations (and the U.S.). So, in the spirit of learning about the little guys, I give you: - Ukraine gets its first-string goalie back from injury. It may not seem like a big deal, but the Ukraine was the first European team to qualify for the World Cup, coming out of a qualifying group that included Turkey, Denmark and Greece (check out Group 2 here). Shovkovsky started all 12 qualifiers, allowing seven goals. - Ghana has a young goal-scoring prospect named Prince Tagoe. He hasn't played much yet: [Tagoe] made his Ghana debut in a friendly against Tunisia on 15 January and subsequently appeared twice at the CAF African Nations Cup, coming on as a late substitute against Senegal and then playing the first 45 minutes of the embarrassing 2-1 defeat by Zimbabwe. But hey, they...
By Jon DeNunzio | April 10, 2006; 06:00 PM ET | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
