Ukraine's Fomenko puts faith in Zinchenko
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
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Olexandr Zinchenko – who became Ukraine's youngest goalscorer at the weekend – has been named in a UEFA EURO 2016 squad minus the experienced Oleh Gusev.
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Ukraine squad for UEFA EURO 2016
Goalkeepers: Denys Boyko (Beşiktaş), Andriy Pyatov (Shakhtar Donetsk), Nikita Shevchenko (Zorya Luhansk).
Defenders: Artem Fedetskiy (Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk), Yevhen Khacheridi (Dynamo Kyiv), Olexandr Kucher (Shakhtar Donetsk), Yaroslav Rakitskiy (Shakhtar Donetsk), Vyacheslav Shevchuk (Shakhtar Donetsk), Bohdan Butko (Amkar Perm).
Midfielders: Ruslan Rotan (Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk), Serhiy Rybalka (Dynamo Kyiv), Denys Garmash (Dynamo Kyiv), Serhiy Sydorchuk (Dynamo Kyiv), Andriy Yarmolenko (Dynamo Kyiv), Yevhen Konoplyanka (Sevilla), Anatoliy Tymoshchuk (Kairat Almaty), Taras Stepanenko (Shakhtar Donetsk), Viktor Kovalenko (Shakhtar Donetsk), Olexandr Zinchenko (Ufa), Oleksandr Karavayev (Zorya Luhansk).
Strikers: Roman Zozulya (Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk), Pylyp Budkivskiy (Zorya Luhansk), Yevhen Seleznyov (Shakhtar Donetsk).
Versatile midfielder Olexandr Zinchenko has been rewarded for his performance against Romania on Sunday with a place in Ukraine's UEFA EURO 2016 squad.
Zinchenko put Mykhaylo Fomenko's side 2-1 up in a Turin friendly they went on to win 4-3. In doing so the Ufa player, who was making only his second appearance for the national team, became Ukraine's youngest goalscorer at the age of 19 years and 214 days.
"We have been watching [right-back] Bohdan Butko and Olexandr Zinchenko for quite a while now," said Fomenko of his two headline inclusions. "The friendly against Romania proved they were worth our attention. They make the competition in the squad stronger, no doubt about it."
Midfielder Oleh Gusev, capped 98 times, and forward Artem Kravets have been omitted because of fitness issues. Zorya Luhansk pair Mykyta Kamenyuka and Ivan Petriak, as well as Maksym Malyshev and Yevhen Shakhov, have also been dropped from the provisional squad named on 19 May.
Ukraine's Group C fixtures
12/06: Germany v Ukraine (Lille)
16/06: Ukraine v Northern Ireland (Lyon)
21/06: Ukraine v Poland (Marseille)