Gladkiy to step up for Ukraine

Oleh Blokhin has called up Ukrainian sensation Olexandr Gladkiy for the friendly against Uzbekistan a week on Wednesday in Kiev.

Prolific form
The inclusion of the FC Shakhtar Donetsk striker, who turns 20 two days after the match against the Asian Cup quarter-finalists, was widely expected as he has started the season impressively after scoring 13 goals for FC Kharkiv last term. Another potential debutant is defensive midfielder Serhiy Danilovskiy while a third new face is the versatile Olexandr Grytsay. Ukraine, fourth in Group B, are preparing for their 8 September qualifier in Georgia and the visit of Italy four days later.

Ukraine squad
Goalkeepers: Andriy Pyatov (FC Vorskla Poltava), Olexandr Shovkovskiy (FC Dynamo Kyiv), Maxym Startsev (FC Dnipro Dnepropetrovsk).

Defenders: Olexandr Grytsay (FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk), Andriy Nesmachniy (FC Dynamo Kyiv), Olexandr Kucher (FC Shakhtar Donetsk), Andriy Rusol (FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk), Volodymyr Yezerskiy (FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk).

Midfielders: Oleh Gusev (FC Dynamo Kyiv), Ruslan Rotan (FC Dynamo Kyiv), Taras Mikhalik (FC Dynamo Kyiv), Maxym Kalynychenko (FC Spartak Moskva), Anatoliy Tymoschuk (FC Zenit St. Petersburg), Serhiy Nazarenko (FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk), Oleh Shelayev (FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk), Serhiy Danilovskiy (FC Metalurh Donetsk).

Forwards: Andriy Shevchenko (Chelsea FC), Andriy Vorobey (FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk), Andriy Voronin (Liverpool FC), Olexandr Gladkiy (FC Shakhtar Donetsk).