Spain meets the Ukraine today (June 14) in a Group H encounter in Leipzig at 3:00 PM German time (9:00 PM EST)
Should be an exciting game. Spain is a perennial underachiever with some of the brightest talent in the World and one of the strongest soccer leagues in La Liga. But they come up against the Ukraine, a tough team that is playing some of its best soccer.
The Ukraine have the trio of Andriy’s that should cause Spain all sorts of problems. Andriy Husin at midfield and the striker duo of Andriy Shevchenko and Andriy Vorobei. In fact, there are 7 Andriy’s in the Ukraine team and they are all exceptional. Andriy Rusol and Andriy Nesmachny anchor the defence.
Spain will have to get excellent defence from captain Carlos Puyol, Asier De Horno, and Sergio Ramos. Iker Casillas is a great goalkeeper but he will have to be exceptionally sharp today. Cesc Fabregas will get a chance to prove that he is the great new talent at midfield as the holding midfielder. Arsene Wenger considers him the best midfielder in the world today.
Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta provide the attacking midfield. And Raul Gonzalez and Luis Garcia play up front.
Make no mistake, this is a litmus test for Spain. If they can beat Ukraine, then they are a step closer to exorcizing their reputation as a team that invariably disappoints, considering the top notch talent that they have.
Spain’s World Cup history: Their 8th appearance. Best showing, 4th in the World Cup in 1950. And in 2002 they exited the quarterfinals beaten by South Korea in a penalty shootout 5-3.
Ukraine: This is Ukraine’s first appearance in the World Cup although they did have some great players in the USSR team in Oleg Blokhin and Igor Belanov.