Ukraine outclass club opponents
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
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Ukraine showed their mettle ahead of UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009™with 9-0 and 5-0 defeats of leading club Legend Chernigov, and coach Anatoliy Kutsev praised his players.
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Ukraine showed their mettle ahead of UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009™ with 9-0 and 5-0 defeats of leading club Legend Chernigov, themselves including several of the national squad.
Apanaschenko hat-trick
Daryna Apanaschenko claimed a hat-trick in Monday's first game while Zvezda-2005 colleague Vera Djatel struck two and another player form the Russian club, Nataliya Zinchenko, also scored along with Lyudmyla Lemeshko, Tetyana Chorna and Nataliya Sukhorukova. Two days later Olga Boychenko struck twice against the club she usually represents, with a further goal for Ukraine by Legend player Svitlana Vanyushkina; Djatel and Apanaschenko also scored. The matches were part of a five-day training camp, replacing a cancelled friendly against Poland which was to have been their first game since beating Russia 2-0 in Kiev on 29 May.
Kutsev content
"I'm glad as a coach to witness such a positive atmosphere in the team," said Ukraine coach Anatoliy Kutsev. "I can see that girls are happy to link up with the team, as they unfortunately do not meet up so often. Therefore it's not the result that pleases me the most, but the commitment of the players." Kutsev will gather his squad again on 8 August. He added: "We are currently waiting on the injured Iryna Vasylyuk, Valentyna Kotyk and Tetyana Romanenko. They all have a chance of coming to EURO 2009 as well as the other 22 candidates that are present here in Kiev."
Rivals
The coach will take his team to Finland on 19 August three days before they begin Group A against the Netherlands, before facing qualifying foes Denmark and the home nation. "Finland are the hosts, the Netherlands are experiencing a boom in women's football, while Denmark we know very well. They are one of the strongest teams in Europe. Nevertheless, we are aiming to progress to the quarter-finals."
Match 1: Zvarich (Baranova, 46; Zvarich, 63); Lishafai, Hodyreva, Mazurenko, Pekur (Sukhorukov, 59), Djatel, Chorna, Soukhoroukova (Boychenko, 46), Lemeshko, Zinchenko, Apanaschenko.
Match 2: Samson; Lishafai, Hodyreva (Masalska, 46), Mazurenko, Vashchenko, Djatel, Zinchenko (Vanyushkina, 46), Soukhoroukova, Boychenko, Apanaschenko, Frisco.