Ukraine Penalizes the Swiss, Advances on Kicks
Jakob “Koebi” Kuhn sat alone on Switzerland’s bench Monday night, tight-lipped and holding back the tears.
What can you say to a 62-year-old coach whose team has played four games at the 2006 World Cup, not given up a single goal and yet has been eliminated?
Not far away, Ukraine Coach Oleg Blokhin was being tossed in the air by his players, who moments before had stared defeat in the face after their icon, Andriy Shevchenko, had missed a penalty kick.
Ukraine, playing in its first World Cup, last week became the first former Soviet republic to advance beyond the first round at any World Cup, and Monday on a chilly night improbably clinched a place in the quarterfinals. It will play Italy in Hamburg on Friday.
Switzerland and Ukraine had played 120 minutes of dull, pedestrian soccer, each team canceling out the other. The Swiss hit the crossbar. So did the Ukrainians. The Swiss came up with the big save. So did the Ukrainians.
With 90 minutes of regulation and 30 minutes of overtime having failed to separate the teams, the match went to penalty kicks.
For Blokhin, a former European player of the year, it was time to leave. “I just told my team, ‘You have to settle this amongst yourselves, who is going to take the penalties,’ ” he said. “I couldn’t take it anymore.”
Shevchenko, one of the most feared strikers in Europe, stepped up to take the first shot from 12 yards for Ukraine. Facing him in the one-on-one shootout was Swiss goalkeeper Pascal Zuberbuehler, an intimidating figure at 6 feet 5 and 216 pounds.
Shevchenko fired toward the lower left corner. Zuberbuehler guessed correctly, dived down low and made the save.
It appeared the luck might be drifting Switzerland’s way. That didn’t last long.
Marco Streller took the first kick for the Swiss, aimed for the same corner and emerged with the same result, Ukraine goalkeeper Oleksandr Shovkovskyi making the save.
Next up for Ukraine was Artem Milevskyi, a player with attitude and swagger. He showed both on his shot, chipping the ball over the diving Zuberbuehler to give Ukraine a 1-0 lead.
Turning to the Swiss fans behind the goal, Milevskyi held a finger up to his lips, indicating that he had silenced the red-clad ranks.
Tranquillo Barnetta was the next to shoot for Switzerland. He blasted a shot and saw it ricochet back at him off the crossbar.
Serhiy Rebrov stepped up for Ukraine, fired a shot down the middle and beat Zuberbuehler. That made it 2-0 to Ukraine.
Ricardo Cabanas knew he would have to make good with his attempt or Switzerland was going home. He hit the ball well, but Shovkovskyi blocked the shot with his knees.
It was now down to a single shot. Oleg Gusev fired to the right, Zuberbuehler dived to the left and it was all over. Gusev spun away in delight. Ukraine had “won.”
The official result goes into the books as a 0-0 tie after overtime, with Ukraine advancing, 3-0, on penalties.
Kuhn will find scant comfort in the record books. Under his guidance, Switzerland had tied France, 0-0, defeated Togo, 2-0, and South Korea, 2-0. Throw in Monday’s game and the Swiss had played 390 minutes of soccer and not given up a goal.
But today they head for the airport. “I actually had a good feeling after Shevchenko missed the first one, but nothing came out of that,” Kuhn said. “What a pity.”
Said Blokhin: “The teams were very equal. We just had more luck, like Russian roulette.”
Or at least the Ukrainian version.
