Blokhin: Ukraine cannot shoot or tackle
Reuters - Saturday 09 June 2012, 12:01
Ukraine coach Oleg Blokhin has a
couple of problems at Euro 2012 - he is worried his forwards do
not score enough goals and his defenders cannot tackle.
Brought in to lead the side just over a year ago, he regrets
he did not have more time to prepare the co-hosts for the finals
in which they face Sweden in Group D on Monday, before taking on
England and France.
"I was short of a few months," the 59-year-old coach said in
an interview posted on Ukraine's official Euro 2012 website on
Saturday.
He said strikers of other nationalities had banged in plenty
of goals across Europe this season but the top goal-scorer in
Ukraine's championship, Evhen Seleznyov, had managed only 14.
"Excuse me, but this level is very low for our
championship," Blokhin said. "If a forward can't create a
situation where he's able to poke the ball home, then he's not a
forward for me."
Listing some of the foreigners who line up regularly for
teams in Ukraine, he said: "In our case, it's difficult even to
find a forward playing permanently for his club."
Blokhin, who led Ukraine to the quarter-finals of the 2006
World Cup and is a former European footballer of the year, said
there were long-running problems with Ukraine's defence.
"We have problems related to both the central defenders and
full-backs," he said. "Figuratively speaking, our defenders do
not even tackle properly."
YARMOLENKO FIT
Despite this, Blokhin, who returned to the post in April
2011, said it was not a bad thing to be seen as outsiders.
"I think the fact that we are not regarded as favourites is
good. There will be less pressure on the team," he said.
"Our first task is to qualify from the group. Then we shall
see. We have the example of Greece at the European Championship
in Portugal [in 2004]: the national team which was not the
strongest became the winner."
Andriy Yarmolenko, dropped for Ukraine's 2-0 defeat by
Turkey in a friendly on Tuesday, said after training that he had
recovered from a stomach muscle injury in time for Monday's
match against Sweden.
"I don't know what happened. I just felt a pain in my leg.
The scan showed nothing serious," he said. "The game against
Sweden will be significant in terms of psychology. Victory would
let us feel more at ease in the next matches."
Taras Mykhalyk, who is expected to partner his Dynamo Kiev
colleague Evhen Khacheridi in the centre of defence, said it
would be vital to smother the threat of tall Sweden forward
Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
"Yes, he loves working with his elbows but it doesn't
matter. The most important thing is not to back down to him
physically," Mykhalyk said.
President Viktor Yanukovich visited the Ukrainian players on
Friday to try to inspire them, and veteran Andriy Shevchenko
presented him with a team T-shirt with the number 12.