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Stadium: AOL Arena, Hamburg, 50,000 spectators
Referee: Graham Poll (England)
Saudi Arabia 0 - 4 Ukraine
4' [0 - 1] Andriy Rusol
36' [0 - 2] Serhiy Rebrov
46' [0 - 3] Andriy Shevchenko
84' [0 - 4] Maksim Kalinichenko
Saudi Arabia: Zaid, Dokhi (55' Khathran), Tukar, Al Montashari; Sulimani, Al Ghamdi, Ameen (55' Mouath), Noor (77' Al Jaber), Khariri; Aziz, Al Kahtani.
Ukraine: Shovkovskiy; Nesmachniy, Rusol, Sviderskiy, Tymoschuk; Shelayev, Gusev, Rebrov (71' Rotan), Kalinichenko; Shevchenko (85' Milevskiy), Voronin (79' Gusin)
The Saudi Arabian footballers started the match nervously and made defensive mistakes in the early minutes. One of these mistakes was capitalized on by Andriy Rusol in the 4th minute. Rising for a corner, he remained unmarked near the near post and sent the ball past the goalkeeper between his legs, sending the opponents into disarray.
Later, one of the few dangerous chances in the first half near the Ukrainian goal was created by the Arabs.
Rising for another corner, Andriy Shevchenko headed towards goal, the ball hit a defender standing next to the post and bounced straight to Serhiy Rebrov, but his shot from a few meters away was unsuccessful and flew over the crossbar.
Ukraine tried to score another goal and gain a more solid lead, but they couldn't find the target. Perhaps because the pitch was wet and it was difficult for the players to play precisely.
Eventually, nearing the end of the first half, in the 36th minute, S. Rebrov scored a beautiful goal from about 30 meters. Later, Andrei Voronin, Maksim Kalinichenko could have increased the lead of the Ukrainian national team, but their shots missed the mark. The first half ended with a score of 2-0 in favor of Ukraine.
The second half started tragically for the Saudi Arabian team. Already in the first minute of the half, a header into Saudi Arabia's goal after a pass from M. Kalinichenko was scored by the new "Chelsea" acquisition A. Shevchenko.
After playing for 10 minutes, the coach of the Saudi Arabian national team decided to play aggressively and introduced defender Abdulaziz Khathran and forward Malek Mouath, replacing Ahmed Dokhi and Mohammed Ameen, respectively.
Arab Omar Al Ghamdi tried to deceive and fool the referee by falling in the penalty area, trying to earn a penalty, but Graham Poll, who had an impeccable performance throughout the match, rightfully showed a yellow card for simulation.
Later, M. Kalinichenko hit the crossbar of the Arab goal. In the 68th minute, there was another threat to Saudi Arabia's goal, but the shot was off target. Even though the Ukrainians slowed down the pace of the game, they still created numerous dangerous opportunities near the opponents' goal, while the Saudi Arabian footballers tried to at least score a consolation goal.
The demolition of the Saudi Arabian national team was concluded in the 83rd minute by M. Kalinichenko, who this time struck accurately. A. Shevchenko made the pass, and a few minutes later, he was replaced by Artem Milevskiy.
The result of the match could have been even more tragic for the Saudi Arabian team, but in the final moments of the match, M. Kalinichenko missed another opportunity, opting to pass to his teammate, and shortly after, a long-range shot from Anatoliy Tymoshchuk flew past the post.
Ukraine celebrated the victory and will compete for a spot in the quarterfinals in their next group stage match against Tunisia.
