I really thought the Ukraine's 0-4 complete annihilation by Spain might come back to haunt them, but Tunisia's struggling to a draw against the Saudis helped, and so did this game. Other than at about the hour mark when the Saudis went on a real offensive spree, they looked pretty well outclassed by the Ukraine.
Defender Andriy Rusol scored early for the Ukraine on the receiving end of a set piece, and it looked like things might get interesting after that. Teams are usually a little disorganized and vulnerable after scoring a goal, kind of like the brief male post-coital coma, so there was some awfully shaky marking by the Ukraine on a set piece at the other end. Rusol also came close to scoring an own goal on a shot that deflected off his shin 20 minutes later, but generally speaking the Ukraine's defense was pretty solid. Rusol had the perfect tackle in the penalty area in the second half, sliding and knocking the ball away from Omar then pulling his legs back so abruptly to avoid the foul and a penalty. So well done that Omar, when he tried to stretch his leg out and make contact with Rusol before falling down, couldn't reach at full extension, and tripping over a piece of dirt three feet to his right got him a yellow card for diving.
Sergei Rebrov, back from the Land of the Dead (or maybe it was just Tottenham) kept it going with one of those long shots that's in the back of the net before anybody realizes he's taken it or where it's going, and the keeper has to just watch it rattle the net on the far side. It was looking like 3-0 when a Saudi defender tried to make a bicycle kick clearance on a ball intended for Andrii Shevchenko, unfortunately his clearance went right to a wide open (and probably surprised) Andriy Voronin who put it wide. The Saudis committed what I thought was a really pointless foul out at the sideline in stoppage time, and Shevchenko finished off the half with a header off the free kick.
The Ukraine's defense got back in on the action late, in the 84th minute Shevchenko, pulling the whole defense and the keeper towards him him like a magnet, cut a ball back for Maxim Kalinichenko, who put it in the top of the net as the keeper vainly tried to dive back across the goal. Really nice looking stuff from the Ukraine, and nice to see the defenders, who really could use a boost of confidence after the thrashing by Spain, score two goals.
Apparently only Italy and Saudi Arabia use only players from their domestic leagues, something that's often commented on by Italians who go abroad, that you can't make the national team even if you play for a huge club in Spain or England. The Saudis have the issue England has had, where English players were so considered so valuable by English clubs that there were cheaper alternatives. The Saudis apparently make so much in Saudi Arabia that there's nobody willing to offer enough to lure them away. I kind of wonder if that puts a ceiling on player development, like Landon Donovan only playing in California, but hey who knows.
Ukraine 4-0 Saudi Arabia
'3 Rusol
'45 Shevchenko
'36 Rebrov
'84 Kalinichenko
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