UKRAINE QUALIFIED FOR Euro 2024 on Tuesday by beating Iceland 2-1, delivering an emotional boost to a country ravaged by war since the Russian invasion of February 2022.
Second-half strikes from Viktor Tsygankov and Mykhailo Mudryk turned around the game for Serhiy Rebrov’s side, who trailed at the break following Albert Gudmundsson’s opener.
“Thank you, guys! Thank you, team! For significant emotions for the entire country. For the important victory and making it to EURO. For proving once again: whenever Ukrainians face difficulties but do not give up and continue to fight, Ukrainians certainly win,” Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X.
“In times, when the enemy tries to destroy us, we demonstrate every day that Ukrainians are and will be. Ukraine is, and will be! Thank you for the victory! Glory to Ukraine!”
The hosts Ukraine, playing in the Polish city of Wroclaw due to the ongoing conflict, began the brighter of the two sides and dominated possession in the opening 10 minutes.
However, it was Iceland who nearly broke the deadlock in the 14th minute when a great run by Hakon Arnar Haraldsson gave Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson the chance to test Andriy Lunin in the Ukraine goal.
Rebrov’s men responded instantly at the other end but Vitaliy Mykolenko shanked his left-footed strike when in a good position inside the box.
Gudmundsson made the breakthrough on the half-hour mark with a sublime solo effort for his 10th goal in an Iceland shirt.
The 26-year-old slalomed away from two Ukrainian defenders before feeding a perfectly placed curling effort with his left foot beyond the reach of Lunin from 25 yards.
Six minutes later, 21-year-old Ukrainian playmaker Georgiy Sudakov stung the palms of Hakon Rafn Valdimarsson at the near post following a poor defensive clearance by Iceland.
The hosts then thought they were back on terms in the 39th minute when Roman Yaremchuk tucked home Tsygankov’s cross.
But after wild celebrations from the Ukraine fans, the goal was chalked off after VAR adjudged Tsygankov to have previously been offside from Sudakov’s clipped pass.
Ukraine were firmly on top for the remainder of the first half as play began to become more physical, with Ruslan Malinovskyi picking up a yellow card for an elbow on Haraldsson immediately after the decision to disallow Ukraine’s equaliser.
Tsygankov made amends for his earlier offside when he powered Ukraine level nine minutes into the second half.
Sudakov was again at the heart of things and his pinpoint crossfield ball found the winger, who drove in from the right flank and beat Valdimarsson with a left-footed strike inside the far post.
With just under 20 minutes to play, Ukraine nearly completed the turnaround, but Mykolenko again failed to make the most of a good position in the box and poked his finish wide of the post.
Real Madrid stopper Lunin produced a superb save to deny Thorsteinsson from close range on 77 minutes, before Gudmundsson dragged wide one minute later when in a dangerous position.
Iceland looked to be the more likely to score until Mudryk found space 18 yards out and swept Sudakov’s lay-off into the far corner of the goal with just six minutes remaining on the clock.
Ukraine will head to the European Championship in Germany this summer, where they will take on Belgium, Slovakia and Romania in Group E.
Poland win 5-4 on penalties
WALES SUFFERED HEARTBREAK in their first-ever penalty shoot-out as Poland booked their place at Euro 2024 after a goalless 120 minutes.
Spot-kicks were needed on a tense evening in which Ben Davies had a first-half header disallowed for offside but chances were scarce in this play-off final.
Wales were reduced to 10 in the final seconds as Chris Mepham was banished for a second yellow card and Cardiff City Stadium held its breath following an impromptu rendition of the national anthem.
Poland converted five perfect penalties with Robert Lewandowski, Sebastian Szymanski, Przemyslaw Frankowski, Nicola Zalewski and Krzysztof Piątek successful against Danny Ward.
Wales matched them as Ben Davies, Kieffer Moore – via the underside of the crossbar – Harry Wilson and Neco Williams scored.
But Daniel James saw his effort pushed out by Wojciech Szczesny as Wales lost 5-4 on penalties and wild Polish celebrations began.
It was a cruel end for the hosts who had given everything to qualify for a third consecutive European Championship.
Wales had beaten the visitors only once – a maiden meeting in 1974 World Cup qualifying – and suffered seven defeats in 10 games, including six successive losses.
They also had to nullify the threat of Lewandowski with the 35-year-old striker in rich scoring form for Barcelona and seeking to add to his record 82 Poland goals.
Wales made one alteration from Thursday’s 4-1 semi-final thumping of Finland, with Moore replacing David Brooks in the forward line.
Poland were unchanged from the side that put five past Estonia in their Warsaw semi-final but Aston Villa’s Matty Cash was missing from the substitutes’ bench after damaging a hamstring.
South Wales Police had promised a zero-tolerance approach to anyone attempting to take pyrotechnics into Cardiff City Stadium after Poland’s previous visit in September 2022.
But the Polish end was lit up with flares as the two teams gathered for the pre-match anthems.
Poland sought to take the sting out of a fever-pitched atmosphere by frustrating Wales with their ball possession.
Karol Swiderski narrowly failed to get on the end of a Bartosz Slisz cross and Jakub Piotrowski fired over from 25 yards as Poland settled quickly.
Wales’ best moments were from set-pieces: Davies heading over a Wilson corner and Moore planting another chance wide.
Moore also came close to being the beneficiary of Joe Rodon’s flick-on from a Connor Roberts long throw but ran out of room by the byline.
Wales had edged their way back into the contest as the interval approached and had the ball in the net in the final moments of the half.
Moore met Williams’ cross at the far post and Davies guided his knockdown beyond Szczesny in the Poland goal.
The assistant referee’s flag cut short Welsh joy and VAR showed it was a correct call with Davies offside by a matter of inches.
Wales did manage the first on-target effort four minutes after the restart when Szczesny superbly clawed away Moore’s header from under his crossbar.
It looked as if Poland were wobbling but composure was rediscovered and crosses began to be swung into the Wales penalty area with increasing regularity.
Jakub Kiwior cleared the crossbar from six yards and Swiderski sent Piotr Zielinski’s free-kick wide.
The tension was also palpable as Szczesny held headers from Moore and Mepham and Lewandowski almost prevented extra time by fizzing just wide from 25 yards.
Piotrowski and Szymanski had openings in an additional 30 minutes that Poland dominated, but Ward did not have a single save to make in the entire match.
Written by AFP and posted on the42.ie
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