Matchday #5 - Ukraine vs Serbia
Some matches you wish they'd never end.
This was one of those.
Few expect a Ukraine-Serbia matchup to be one of the most exciting and well-played matches of any kind of competition, these kids outdid themselves tonight.
Right away it was obvious that both of these teams had arrived on the stadium with one objective - to secure a place in the upcoming Round of 16 as early on as possible. Both seemed eager to get that first goal that would put them in the driver's seat, usually exploring the opponent's wings to create some danger in the form of crosses, mostly.
Six minutes in and bad news for Ukraine, as Agapov the rigthback is injured and comes off for Shushko. The latter would end up being one of the most active Ukrainian players throughout the whole match, but this was a sign of things to come, as not five minutes later after that injury,
Serbia is able to score the first goal. That was also the first shooting attempt of the match for any of these nations; but when you have a striker like Markovic up front, anything is possible.
Still, Ukraine kept going. They surely lack the art and the technique to match Serbia's superior talent on all fronts, that's undeniable, yet they managed to put some pressure on the opposition's defense, mainly through the solo attacking runs of Shushko down the right lane and the one-man-show presented by striker Kholod, who strangely enough completely overshadowed L. Ribeiro and took the reigns of Ukraine's offense. That wasn't enough to create some actual, palpable danger as Serbia's defense didn't even have to break a sweat to maintain a clean sheet early on.
Bit by bit, after a frenetic fifteen/twenty minutes of endless end-to-end fun, Serbia's midfield starts asserting itself in this match, as the likes of Milosavljevic and Jocic completely take control of the game - as expected beforehand, surely. If when defending they are reckless and give no space to the likes of Panchyshyn on the other side - often committing fouls to prevent Ukraine from putting together a counterattacking play -; offensively, they accurately build-up play and simultaneously join the offense later on. Such a beautiful dynamic was a joy to watch; at times, it looked as if Serbia had five instead of only two centre-midfielders, such was this duo's dominance.
Ukraine couldn't get a break. Though they were often getting close to Serbia's box on offense, they still hadn't had a single shooting attempt. After a couple of unsuccessful shots by the Serbian side,
they do score the 0-2. Tedic is an attacking midfielder but here he was, appearing in the box for a header in a zone typically occupied by the striker: this was a constant scenario during the whole game, as Serbia put often 3-4 players in the box waiting for a cross every time, and wasn't shy on letting pretty much everyone besides the two centrebacks attack the space and join the offensive process. Strength in numbers and superior talent is a combination that was proving to be too much for a (albeit competent) Ukrainian side.
After the goal, Serbia diminished their electric intensity and just relied on their trademark uber-pressing strategy when without the ball (at times there were four players surrounding Ukrainian's defense when the latter had ball possession...not that far away from their own keeper!). This allowed for Ukraine to gather the strength to come up with a couple of shooting attempts, even if those were utterly forgettable and provided no danger for Gordic the keeper, who at this point was just enjoying the show whilst reading a magazine and drinking margaritas. That's fine mate, enjoy it while it lasts, for right when the ref was going to blow his whistle and send everyone to their locker rooms,
Kholod proves himself to be a force to be reckoned with. Serbia seemed to have the match under complete control and the second half was surely going to be a walk in the park as a consequence, but Kholod had other plans and at halftime, only one goal separated both teams.
Yes, Ukraine could and should still dream about that equalizer. What's your take on it, Serbia? They laughed. Milosavljevic and Jocic just kept enforcing their superiority down the middle, and the dynamics were as cool as ever. Serbia is turning out to be one of the most interesting teams to watch in this competition; their brand of fast-paced one-twos-based football, played by technically endowed individuals is one that every football enthusiast must love to watch. As Ukraine lost both their energy and hope, suddenly, even those two CMFs were able to have a few shots on goal, and Milosavljevic even got a one-on-one situation with the opponent's keeper not five minutes after the second half had started, though he wasted it alright.
From the 60th minute until the very last one, Ukraine had one shot (didn't even tickle the keeper, to be honest...) while Serbia had...eight. Manager Valery Komoplyanka tried everything he could to provide his Ukrainian team with an improved attacking presence but this was clearly too much for them to handle. Serbia's the far better team here and deserved to go through to the next round. Thanks to Trubin the goalkeeeper, Serbia couldn't score anyway, and the match would end 1-2.
In the end, I'm disappointed. Sometimes, 90 minutes is not enough time to witness such a great team like this Serbian side. Adapting the words once uttered by a very wise man, I'd buy this Serbian team only to watch them play in my backyard.
Men of the Match: Yes, "Men of the Match": Mirolavljevic and Jocic. Together, they had twelve (12!) interceptions, had a good portion of Serbia's ball possession and overall dominated the entire match in a dramatically obvious way.
Take a look at Jocic's heat map:
This is not a man, this is an engine.
Up: L. Markovic. He was there when the team needed him the most, and was always Serbia's most feared offensive weapon (as expected).
Up: Panchyshyn. Though he took a while to heat up, once he got it together, Panchyshyn was Ukraine's leader out there: on offense he took care of build-up the play from the back; defensively, we did what he could to help contain the opponent's midfield - a brave effort, if inglorious.
Up: Kholod. What a goal he scored. That was the cherry on top of an overall solid exhibition; Kholod wasn't always successful in his attacking ventures - far from that - but he did put his heart out there at all times.
Down: L. Ribeiro. What, Kholod had an attacking partner? I kept shouting "Ribeiro! Ribeiro! Where are you Ribeiro?!" during the whole match, hoping the team's bus driver heard it and went to the team's hotel to pick him up and bring him to the stadium. He never did.
Highlights
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NOOOOT!!
! I've been searching one in my own language (loved the voice-overs, one of my first and best memories as a young gamer) for a lifetime but without any luck.
