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Saudi Arabia 0 - 4 Ukraine - Ukraine Banish Defeat By Spain With Rout - Shevchenko, Rebrov, Kalinichenko and Rusol On-Target

Submitted by Scott Harkness on Mon, 19/06/2006 - 18:54.

A rampant Ukraine have thrashed Saudi Arabia’s Al Sugour 4-0 in their World Cup Group H match at the AOL Arena in Hamburg on Monday.

An early goal from Andriy Rusol and a stunning strike from Serhiy Rebrov showed the dominance of Ukraine in the first-half, with an early second-half strike from captain Andriy Shevchenko and a goal from Maksym Kalinichenko.

Saudi Arabia and Ukraine met in a match that both were thinking they must win to have any chance of making the second round, with Ukraine still reeling from Wednesday's 4-0 defeat by Spain in the opening match.

Ukraine captain and new Chelsea FC signing Andriy Shevchenko was determined that his team would put on a better performance than they did against Spain’s La Furia Roja and right from the start they were the dominant team.

The pressure forced a goal in just the 3rd minute of the match from defender Andriy Rusol who, from a corner, rushed in on goal and knocked the ball past Mabrouk Zaid.

Ukraine were then totally dominant in the match, with the Saudi defence looking shaky and their strikers looking totally uncohesive.

Ukraine were getting closer with each attack and they scored again in the 36th minute.

Serhiy Rebrov was given far too much space as he ran towards the Saudi goal and the former Spurs and West Ham player scored an astonishing long-range strike to double the score.

Andriy Voronin should have scored in the 43rd minute, when he broke through the increasingly unsteady Saudi Arabian defence, but his shot went well wide.

The teams went into half-time with Ukraine totally in command and could have scored or five goals in the first-half.

Unless they can turn the game totally around, the Saudi’s are looking like they are sure of an early exit from the tournament.

Just a minute into the second period the Ukraine captain scored a third goal for the Europeans from a bullet of a header to make it 3-0, following yet another pinpoint cross from Maksym Kalinichenko.

Saudi’s made a double substitution in the 54th minute, crucially taking off midfielder Mohammad Ameen for striker Malek Al Hawsawi and the Al Sugour started to look lively, but Ukraine were happy to sit on their three-goal cushion and threatened far less.

Substitute Al Hawsawi almost scored a goal back for Saudi Arabia in the 60th minute when he was played a threaded pass through the Ukraine defence, but he took the ball too far and couldn’t get the angle to shoot.

Maksym Kalinichenko, who was having a great match, clipped the bar in the 63rd minute from a great shot from the corner of the penalty area.

The game started to get very bitty as the third half-hour of the match progressed, with bookings on both sides, but with Ukraine still well in command of the match.

Mohammad Noor came off for the Saudi Arabian legend Sami Al Jaber in the 75th minute – the same time he came off the substitutes bench in their 1-1 draw against Tunisia to give the Al Sugour the lead - with Paqueta hoping he could repeat the feat.

It was too little too late for Saudi Arabia, knowing the damage had been done by Shevchenko’s strike earlier in the half and their misery was compounded when Maksym Kalinichenko put the icing on the cake for Ukraine with an 84th minute strike after the Saudi’s committed themselves to an attack.

Shevchenko broke down the left-wing and played a great cross to Kalinichenko, who tapped it into the net from the penalty area for a well deserved goal.

Al Jaber almost played in Yasser Al Kahtani in the penalty area for The saudi’s best attack of the game in injury-time but was well defended and put away for a throw.

The game finished 4-0, with the Saudi’s hoping that Tunisia can draw with Spain in the match later today, to keep their slim dreams of reaching the last sixteen alive.