Tymoshchuk joins Shevchenko in 100 club

Ukrainian football has another milestone to celebrate after Anatoliy Tymoshchuk reached a century of international appearances.

Three days after Andriy Shevchenko opened Ukraine's 100 club, the midfielder became the second to achieve the feat, captaining the UEFA EURO 2012 co-hosts in their 2-0 defeat by Brazil in a friendly played in England on Monday night.

"I asked Sheva to miss the Canada match on Friday so we could play our 100th game together against Brazil," said the 31-year-old from FC Bayern München. "Obviously, he decided not to leave it any longer.

"I am delighted to have reached this landmark with the national team. The number 100 is something special when you're talking about appearances for your country. I needed ten long years to get my century. I think it's very important for any footballer because there are very few players in the world who get so many caps."

It was the second such landmark for Tymoshchuk, who also hit three figures in UEFA club competition on Matchday 2 of the UEFA Champions League, during Bayern's win at FC Basel 1893. His second ton inspired slightly different emotions at Derby County FC's Pride Park, however, as Ukraine suffered their first loss of 2010 against the five-time world champions, Daniel Alves and Pato the scorers.

"Of course I would have preferred to win. I cared about winning, much more than about my century," the former FC Zenit St. Petersburg player said. "Every international is very important for me, it's always a new opponent and a new challenge. I love to be in the national team. I don't care who we are playing. The only important thing is that I play for Ukraine."

Tymoshchuk was plying his trade for FC Shakhtar Donetsk when he received his first call-up in 2000 from Valeriy Lobanovskiy for a friendly against Bulgaria in Sofia, where fellow centurion Shevchenko got the only goal.