Shust thrust into limelight

Teenage goalkeeper Bohdan Shust has received his first senior call-up for FIFA World Cup qualifiers Ukraine in Oleh Blokhin's squad to take on Azerbaijan in Baku on 28 February.

Goalkeeping changes
The 19-year-old Shust, who this winter joined FC Shakhtar Donetsk from FC Karpaty Lviv, comes in along with fellow keeper Vyacheslav Kernozenko, 30, who was last capped in 2000. First-choice goalkeeper Olexandr Shovkovskiy has a broken collarbone and his usual understudy Maxym Startsev is recovering from groin surgery. R. Charleroi SC midfielder Serhiy Serebrennikov, who missed the World Cup qualifying campaign, is included along with Maxym Kalinichenko and uncapped defender Olexandr Kucher. Ukraine will play further friendlies against Italy and Luxembourg in June before contesting World Cup Group H along with Spain, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia.

Ukraine squad
Goalkeepers: Bohdan Shust (FC Shakhtar Donetsk), Vyacheslav Kernozenko (FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk).

Defenders: Vladyslav Vaschuk (FC Dynamo Kyiv), Serhiy Fedorov (FC Dynamo Kyiv), Andriy Nesmachniy (FC Dynamo Kyiv), Viacheslav Sviderskiy (FC Arsenal Kyiv), Andriy Rusol (FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk), Volodymyr Yezerskiy (FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk), Olexandr Kucher (FC Metalist Kharkiv).

Midfielders: Oleh Gusev (FC Dynamo Kyiv), Ruslan Rotan (FC Dynamo Kyiv), Anatoliy Tymoschuk (FC Shakhtar Donetsk), Maxym Kalinichenko (FC Spartak Moskva), Andriy Husin (FC Krylya Sovetov Samara), Oleh Shelaev (FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk), Serhiy Nazarenko (FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk), Serhiy Serebrennikov (R. Charleroi SC).

Strikers: Serhiy Rebrov (FC Dynamo Kyiv), Olexiy Bielik (FC Shakhtar Donetsk), Andriy Vorobey (FC Shakhtar Donetsk), Andriy Voronin (Bayer 04 Leverkusen), Andriy Shevchenko (AC Milan).