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For the first time, the head coach of the Ukraine national team, Oleg Blokhin, announced the final squad for the upcoming World Cup finals in Germany, which will also feature our neighbors and future opponents in the European Championship qualifying cycle.
As expected, the coach included the injured team leader, "Milan" striker Andriy Shevchenko, who is currently recovering from a knee injury suffered in a recent Serie A match against "Parma." Despite this, he hopes to recover in time to help his country debut in the highest level tournament.
The squad also includes Dynamo Kiev goalkeeper Oleksander Shovkovsky, who is dealing with neck problems. Besides him, seven other Dynamo players were called up, five players are from the newly crowned national champion Shakhtar Donetsk, four are from Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, and the same number are foreign-based players - along with Shevchenko, there are Russian-based defenders Andriy Husin and Maxim Kalinichenko, and Bayer Leverkusen striker Andriy Voronin.
Ukraine, the first European team to secure a spot in Germany, will play in Group H against the national teams of Spain, Tunisia, and Saudi Arabia.
Ukraine National Team Squad:
Goalkeepers: Oleksander Shovkovsky (Dynamo Kiev), Andriy Pyatov (Vorskla), Bogdan Shust (Shakhtar);
Defenders: Andriy Nesmachny (Dynamo Kiev), Vladyslav Vashchyuk (Dynamo Kiev), Serhiy Fyodorov (Dynamo Kiev), Volodymyr Yesersky (Dnipro), Andriy Rusol (Dnipro), Dmytro Chigrinsky (Shakhtar), Vyacheslav Svidersky (Arsenal Kiev);
Midfielders: Anatoly Tymoshchyuk (Shakhtar), Oleg Gusiev (Dynamo Kiev), Ruslan Rotan (Dynamo Kiev), Serhiy Nazarenko (Dnipro), Oleg Shelayev (Dnipro), Andriy Husin (Krylya Sovietov, Russia), Maxim Kalinichenko (Spartak Moscow, Russia);
Forwards: Andriy Shevchenko (Milan, Italy), Andriy Voronin (Bayer, Germany), Serhiy Rebrov (Dynamo Kiev), Artyom Milevsky (Dynamo Kiev), Andriy Vorobei (Shakhtar), Olexiy Belik (Shakhtar).
