My adrenaline has yet to drop from watching Ukraine’s stirring comeback on a remarkable June 11 night for the co-host nation.
England 1 – France 1
Ukraine 2 – Sweden 1
– ‘Sheva’ the storybook savior. Andriy Shevchenko spent the first 50-plus minutes of the nightcap looking every bit of his 35 years, out of rhythm and seemingly out of ideas. When his team needed him the most, however, the striker came through in unbelievable fashion. Two precise headers in seven minutes sent the country into raptures and cemented Shevchenko’s national hero status — chants of “She-va, She-va” spontaneously broke out outside my window until the wee hours of the morning.
– Ukraine is now a quarter-final favorite. The Ukrainians had one foot out the tournament door when Zlatan Ibrahimovic put the Swedes in front, but Shevchenko’s double turned Group D on its head. France and England still await, but this was a vital three points for the Yellow-Blues and draw from either one of their next two should be enough to send them through. Ukraine’s gritty, no-nonsense approach may give it a fighting chance against more talented sides.
– England needs to keep attacking. Roy Hodgson, England’s coach, gambled by starting two strikers — Ashley Young and Danny Welbeck — and young winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in a surprisingly positive formation. The trio had mixed results, but, for the first half hour, England played with a looseness and freedom that I haven’t seen from them in years. As soon as they went in front, however, the Three Lions collapsed back to defend and France equalized almost immediately. England could never really finda way to flip the tempo again and were lucky to escape with a draw.
– Even with the draw, France showed their danger. It came in spurts, and Les Blues will be disappointed that it wasn’t more consistent, but the potential is there for a deep tournament run. The passing connections were just a bit off, though Samir Nasri, Yohan Cabaye and Karim Benzema all showed flashes of brilliance and Alou Diarra was vital in breaking up England’s attacks. France will bounce back quickly after the slow start.
– What can they do for an encore?The first round of games was thrilling, all the more so when contrasted with the first group stage matches of the World Cup, when every underdog plays for a draw. The tempo has been high, the tension higher, and it will only grow as teams begin facing elimination. After Ukraine and Sweden closed out the first round of games with the best half of the tournament, the rest of Euro 2012 has a lot to live up to.
Kyiv Post staff writer Matt Pentz can be reached at [email protected]
