Nervous Ukraine hint at real depths

Ukraine - 1 Tunisia - 0: Ukraine, the renaissance team among the countries competing in the splintered Eastern Bloc, now know the heaven of the second round. A country that has known heavy political and football turbulence placed all its hopes in this final Group H game in Werner March's epic palace on the edge of Berlin.

It was one of those matches we in Ireland are well familiar with: largely unimportant to the wider world but monumentally significant to the nation involved.

Andriy Shevchenko won a penalty with all the cunning of one of the game's most expensive strikers and converted it with the kind of glacial poise they hope to see at Stamford Bridge next winter.

It was not the most handsome of journeys into the second round, but Tunisia were a stubborn proposition and Ukraine were caught in that fatal mood of wanting to win but desperately fearing the kind of mistake that might dump them from the tournament.

And there were signs here, now Oleg Blokhin has guided his team into the prestige stages of the World Cup, that Ukraine might just start soaring at the right time.

Crowded out as he was, Shevchenko hardly had an electric afternoon. But Maksym Kalinichenko, Andriy Voronin, Anatoly Tymoschuk and Oleg Gusev all caught the eye as Ukraine patiently tried to break down the cat-and-mouse Tunisians. But they needed a flash of inspiration from their talismanic forward, and while it was not one of his more spectacular moments, Shevchenko will probably long remember the emotion of a penalty that must have ignited great celebrations in the old country.

It was probably the only time the Tunisian defence were turned all afternoon, and it fell to Karim Haggui to be the man adjudged to have downed Shevchenko.

After the goal, Tunisia had no way back. Their hand was terribly compromised when forward Zied Jaziri was sent off for a second wild tackle, felling Tymoschuk needlessly, though there were signs Tunisian resistance was weakening before that sending-off.

Roger Lemerre was, understandably, explicit in his instructions that his team sit back to see how the afternoon developed, and for long periods the entire Tunisian team lined up in their own half, Jaziri acting as first defender.

Ukraine looked inhibited by the importance of the match. Gusev was unable to supply Shevchenko with the precise passing that facilitated the unlocking of the Saudi defence, and the Tunisian defence guarded the Chelsea-bound prize with petrified intensity, Radhi Jaidi doing well to keep his composure when Shevchenko got possession in the box after 31 minutes.

It was a tentative half but between long bouts of shadow-boxing, Ukraine revealed something of the inner depths that guaranteed their convincing qualification. After just three minutes, the impressive Andriy Voronin might have guaranteed vodkas all round back in Kiev when he challenged goalkeeper Ali Boumnijel to a dangerous cross, but Tunisia's 40-year-old goalkeeper still has spring in his legs.

Ukraine responded to a rare attack by Tunisia after 20 minutes with a scintillating break, initiated by Gusev and ending with an adventurous assault on goal by Tymoschuk. Shevchenko had a chance with a volley a minute later. It looked a matter of time.

Ukraine's best chance came in the 46th minute when central midfielder Oleg Shelayez moved in on a ball that had been crudely hacked away from Tymoschuk to hit a fine drive from 35 yards. After Boumnijel's save, the Paraguayan referee took the fatal sanction against Jaziri.

Lemerre frustrated the Ukrainians with his second-half alignment, and at times Blokhin looked close to despair, most notably when the brave Hatem Trabelsi sent a low shot skidding across the Ukrainian goal and when Hamed Namouchi essayed a well-struck 64th-minute free.

Kalinichenko's tackle had given Ukraine the possession that led to the penalty, and the big man was almost through on goal himself in injury time.

The Tunisians were wrecked by then, as despondent as the Ukrainian's were euphoric. Shevchenko led the scenes of happy patriotism under the famous clock of the Olympiastadion. Ukraine's adventure continues. They are still the mystery team of this tournament.

SUBSTITUTIONS

UKRAINE: Vorobey for Rebrov (54 mins), Gusin for Kalinichenko (75 mins), Milevskiy for Shevchenko (88 mins), Voronin. Subs not used: Yatsenko, Yezerskiy, Pyatov, Chigrynskiy, Vashchuk, Nazarenko, Byelik, Rotan, Shust. Booked: Sviderskiy, Shelayev, Tymoschuk, Rusol.

TUNISIA: Ben Saada for Bouazizi (79 mins), Santos for Chedli (79 mins), Ghodhbane for Nafti (90 mins). Subs not used: Essediri, Yahia, Gmamdia, Chikhaoui, Nefzi, Jemmali, Saidi, Kasraoui, Melliti. Booked: Jaziri, Bouazizi, Jaidi.

Referee: Carlos Amarilla (Paraguay).