Ukraine captain sinks own goal, Wales head to World Cup

Ukraine is currently dealing with much more serious struggles than those on sports grounds. Even so, its football team was trying to qualify for the World Cup and at least make the embattled nation a little bit happier. After Friday’s win over Scotland, they had one last step to take to reach their goal.

The Ukrainians took on the deciding match in Cardiff, where they challenged hosts Wales. Both national teams were aiming for a historic second appearance at the World Cup. The Blues reached the quarter-finals at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, while the Dragons finished at the same stage of the tournament in Sweden in 1958.

In the final of the barrier for this year’s ‘mundial’ the Eastern European team had the first big chances, but neither Yaremchuk nor Karavaev scored. But the first goal was scored by a Ukrainian player.

But unfortunately for the visitors, captain Andriy Yarmolenko hit his own goal in the 34th minute, trying to head away a centre from a direct kick. The unlucky player could have then arranged a penalty at the other end, but after consulting the video referee, head referee Lahoz eventually failed to award it.

In the second half, Welsh midfielder Aaron Ramsey came close to scoring first, narrowly missing the target in the 49th minute. But otherwise, the Ukrainian players dominated the pitch. Fifteen shots and possession of the ball 66% of the time in the second half were proof of that.

Tsygankov and again Yaremchuk failed to convert their chances. Wales also created their chances, but Johnson and Bale were unsuccessful. Yarmolenko could have made amends for his own goal but failed to do so. Dovbyk also had an interesting chance.

Although the set-up lasted seven minutes, the Ukrainians did not get the desired equaliser. A total of 24 shot attempts were not enough compared to the opponent’s nine. Captain Gareth Bale’s team will travel to Qatar.

The Welsh will be rewarded for their victorious fight with a place in an interesting Group B. First they will face the USA, then an island derby with England and finally they will play against the Asian football representative from Iran.

Two of the 32 participants in the championship have not yet been named. The remaining spots will be contested by Peru against the winner of the UAE-Australia clash, and also by Costa Rica in their clash with New Zealand.

Source: FIFA, Livesport