Ukrainian legend and now national team manager Andriy Shevchenko called on his 26 men squad for the upcoming European Championship. A fascinating striker in his days, this will be his first major competition after taking charge of the hot seat in 2016. It is to be noted that he was the assistant coach to his predecessor Mykhaylo Fomenko in the Euro 2016 and took charge after his dismissal.
Ukraine UEFA Euro 2020 Squad :
Goalkeepers: Georgiy Bushchan (Dynamo Kyiv), Andriy Pyatov (Shakhtar Donetsk), Anatolii Trubin (Shakhtar Donetsk)
Defenders: Oleksandr Karavaev (Dynamo Kyiv), Serhiy Kryvtsov (Shakhtar Donetsk), Mykola Matviyenko (Shakhtar Donetsk), Vitaliy Mykolenko (Dynamo Kyiv), Denys Popov (Dynamo Kyiv), Eduard Sobol (Club Brugge), Oleksandr Tymchyk (Dynamo Kyiv), Illia Zabarnyi (Dynamo Kyiv), Oleksandr Zinchenko (Manchester City)
Midfielders: Roman Bezus (Gent), Yevhen Makarenko (Kortrijk), Ruslan Malinovskyi (Atalanta), Marlos (Shakhtar Donetsk), Mykola Shaparenko (Dynamo Kyiv), Taras Stepanenko (Shakhtar Donetsk), Heorhii Sudakov (Shakhtar Donetsk), Serhiy Sydorchuk (Dynamo Kyiv), Viktor Tsygankov (Dynamo Kyiv)
Forwards: Artem Besedin (Dynamo Kyiv), Artem Dovbyk (Dnipro-1), Roman Yaremchuk (Gent), Andriy Yarmolenko (West Ham), Oleksandr Zubkov (Ferencváros)
Key Player: Malinovsky & Yaremchuk
Ukraine are carrying a talented group of individuals to the tournament. For sure there is Atalanta's Rusan Malinovsky that will bring dynamism, energy and tenacity to the Ukraine attack but there is a growing gem ready to steal the limelight. It is Gent's reliable goalscorer, Roman Yaremchuk. The 25-year-old had a stellar campaign with the Belgium club scoring 20 goals and making 7 assists in 31 available games. On the other hand, Malinovskyi has provided 20 goal contributions,12 being assists. Both player's impact on the national side has also been great. Yaremchuk has proved his worth by scoring against top oppositions and proved to be a trouble for his markers. The growing genius of Yaremchuk is eye-catching. Manager Shevchenko will be underlying his capability of finishing chances whenever his team manages decent movements inside the box. Ukraine will be watching these two guys magic on the pitch at the Euros.
Also Read | Sweden UEFA Euro 2020 Squad and Team Profile
Strength (Creativity from midfield)
To assist Roman and Ukraine build undying spirit, the midfield will be in action to both sustain their play and offer creativity upfront. For most of the time they will be on their own half and rely on counters. Especially against top teams. This has been a quiet method from Shevchenko to extract the best out of his players. The defending is not compact but has a diversity of pressing and lying back. Hence, whenever the team will try to break the midfield will control the ball, retain possession and spray it forward. Veterans like Marlos or Stepanenko are very good at doing it. Oleksandr Zinchenko can also step into the middle of the park from the left back position to add superiority in numbers while being pressed and he is good at both attack and defense. Then there is Ruslan Malinovskyi of Atalanta who is an architect of creating spaces and scoring a consistent amount of goals.
Weakness
To be frank, Shevchenko's tenure as Ukraine coach has been exciting. He has shown the same maturity as a player to be a credible manager. His style of play has benefited a lot in transforming Ukraine to be a unit for the opposition to think a two about while facing them. Having said that, in recent fixtures Ukraine have not provided the sharpness in their display. In the World Cup qualifiers, they held France to a draw but failed to get past teams like Finland and Kazakhstan. Their nations league drubbing by Germany and Switzerland has been frustrating. Ukraine wasn't outclassed in those games but never managed to put something definitive on the pitch. So their style of play can be a weakness.
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