Belarus v Ukraine background
Monday, September 1, 2014
Article summary
Four matches unbeaten, Belarus will seek inspiration from a 2002 friendly success as they meet a Ukraine side looking to bounce back from defeat in UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying Group C.
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Article body
Belarus can take heart from a 2-0 victory in Moscow 12 years ago as they look to secure a first competitive win against their UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying Group C guests.
Match background
• Belarus's record in the nations' previous seven meetings is W1 D3 L3 (W0 D2 L2 in competitive fixtures). Their record in three home matches against Ukraine is W0 D2 L1.
• All those competitive encounters came in the 2002 and 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaigns, with Belarus failing to score in any of them – though two of the matches ended in 0-0 draws.
• The sole Belarusian victory against Ukraine came in a 2002 friendly tournament, the late Valentin Belkevich and Aleksandr Hleb scoring the goals.
• Belarus are unbeaten in their last four matches (W2 D2) and in their last three home games (all of which were friendlies). They kicked off Group C with a 1-1 away draw against Luxembourg.
• Ukraine lost their opening Group C game 1-0 to Slovakia but were unbeaten in four group stage away games in their 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying group (W3 D2), scoring 16 goals and conceding just two on the road. However, they crucially lost their last competitive away game, a 3-0 play-off defeat in France.
• The four UEFA age-group tournament meetings between these nations have ended in four Ukrainian wins, most recently a 4-1 victory for the Under-17s in 2006.
• Thus far, the Ukrainian side has won five of the seven meetings between the nations' clubs, with Belarus's lone win coming in the first encounter as FC Shakhtar Donetsk lost 2-1 at home to FC Ataka-Aura Minsk in the 1996 UEFA Intertoto Cup. Shakhtar will meet FC BATE Borisov in the UEFA Champions League this autumn.
