FYR Macedonia v Ukraine background
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Article summary
Ukraine will look to cling onto their slender hopes of qualifying directly for the finals of UEFA EURO 2016 as they seek a second Group C win against FYR Macedonia.
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Article body
FYR Macedonia will try to lift themselves off the foot of UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying Group C, with visitors Ukraine eager to retain their hopes of an automatic finals slot.
• FYR Macedonia can no longer qualify for the finals.
• Third-placed Ukraine are sure of at least a play-off spot, but have an inferior head-to-head record against second-ranked Slovakia, whom they trail by three points.
• Ukraine host current leaders Spain in their final game; they can only overhaul the European champions if Vicente del Bosque's side fail to defeat Luxembourg on 9 October.
Previous meetings
• Serhiy Sydorchuk scored the only goal, while Andriy Yarmolenko missed a penalty in Ukraine's 1-0 victory in the sides' Group C encounter in Lviv last October.
• The teams' only two previous meetings were friendly matches: a 0-0 draw in Kyiv in 2003 and a 1-0 win for FYR Macedonia in Skopje in March 2004, in which Goran Stavrevski (26) got the goal.
Form guide
• The hosts are on a six-game losing streak in Group C since a 3-2 success against Luxembourg on 9 October 2014 – and failed to score in their two September qualifiers.
• Ukraine have not scored in their last two competitive away fixtures – a 1-0 loss in Spain followed by a 0-0 draw in Slovakia.
Disciplinary
• Denys Garmash is available after a one-game ban; Yevhen Khacheridi, Olexandr Kucher, Ruslan Rotan, Taras Stepanenko and Serhiy Sydorchuk will incur a suspension with their next bookings.
• Besart Abdurahimi and Stefan Ristovski are available after one-game suspensions; Vance Sikov and Aleksandar Trajkovski are a yellow card away from a ban.
Trivia and links
• In four encounters between the nations' clubs in UEFA competition, Ukrainian sides have won three games to the Macedonian clubs' one.
• These countries have met twice in UEFA age-group tournaments: Ukraine's Under-19s won the first instalment 3-0 in 2011, but the Macedonian U21s struck back in September this year, Marjan Radeski netting the late winner in a 1-0 victory in Skopje.
