by Patrick Hartfrom
Estádio Municipal de Aveiro
Ukraine have reached
the UEFA European Under-21 Championship final after defeating Serbia
and Montenegro 5-4 on penalties following a thrilling 0-0 draw. Milan
Purović's miss proved costly as the shoot-out ended in a sudden-death
situation. Olexiy Mykhaylychenko's men, whose national anthem
translates as 'Ukraine is not yet dead', lived to fight another day.
Purović promise
In a reflection of the first half, Serbia and Montenegro threatened the
early breakthrough. First, Purović raced between Ukraine's centre-backs
to latch on to a lofted pass from the left by Nenad Milijaš, and from
just inside the penalty area, lobbed centimetres wide with goalkeeper
Andriy Pyatov beaten. A similar move followed, only from the right,
with Dušan Basta's long ball being perfectly weighted for Purović to
touch with his instep, over the keeper, but again narrowly off target.
Milevskiy setback
The sad contrast for Ukraine was the sight of leading scorer Artem
Milevskiy, always a languid figure, labouring with a back injury.
Milevskiy still found space to angle a beautiful ball which Ruslan
Fomin met with a diagonal run and flicked against the legs of
goalkeeper Vladimir Stojković. That, however, was his last
contribution.
Going close
It seemed a Serbo-Montenegrin ploy to win left-wing free-kicks and
after one such set-piece had been half-cleared, a cross was whipped in
from the other flank by Basta for Purović to head against a defender
and over. Then Milijaš menaced, running through midfield, via a one-two
with Miloš Krasić, and rifling over from 30 metres. He would go closer
yet with a free-kick near to half-time.
Pinball
Delivery was also key when Adrian Pukanych's left-sided centre prompted
pinball in the Serbo-Montenegrin back line. While the Balkan side asked
more questions, Fomin, assisted by lively substitute Olexiy Godin,
answered the one about his team's ability to cope without Milevskiy,
drawing a foul from, and yellow card for, blue-shirted totem Milan
Biševac.
Out of context
This was a match befitting its location, an ultra-modern bowl of a
stadium, out of town and out of context with the surrounding
countryside. These countries had not been expected to be here either,
but such was progress. When Grigoriy Yarmash surged down the right
following the restart, Ukraine almost made their mark in Aveiro,
Pukanych shooting into the sidenetting.
Retaliatory strikes
Milijaš then took the introduction of a midfield rival in Olexandr
Aliyev as his cue to launch a strike at Pyatov. Aliyev responded with a
free-kick from the byline which fell for Olexandr Maksymov, free in the
area, to fire over. A more inviting opportunity arrived on 67 minutes
but Ukraine's Taras Mikhalik shot in haste. Yet Ukrainian superiority
was short-lived. Branislav Ivanović nodded a Milijaš corner against
Pyatov. Purović was prompted by Basta to drive hard and low towards
Pyatov's near post; the keeper saved.
Nedvěd impersonator
The yellows came again. Yarmash and Mikhalik's combination produced a
shooting chance for Aliyev, before Olexandr Yatsenko flicked a corner
wide. The traffic was one-way as full time approached, despite the busy
Basta's best Pavel Nedvěd impression. Parity reigned, though. In a
tournament attuned to stadium rock, both sides were keeping the dream
alive.
Testing times
So to extra time and another shift in momentum. Milijaš tested Pyatov's
reflexes from long range while from point-blank, Purović miscued.
Ukraine stood up to the pressure, all except Fomin, felled by
Janković's exocet. When Olexandr Rybka replaced Pyatov with seconds
remaining, penalties appeared the inevitable conclusion, although the
newcomer had to dive to keep out Janković's bicycle kick. As the drama
segued into a shoot-out, Aliyev and Janković missed their sides'
opening attempts with Stojković and Rybka saving. The remaining
conversions were successful until Purović's stroke of bad luck.
Carlsberg Man of the Match: Andriy Pyatov
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