Ukraine's heroes in waiting

The Ukrainian side playing at the UEFA European Under-19 Championship finals in Switzerland is rated by many as the finest generation of players the country has produced since the emergence of Andriy Shevchenko and Serhiy Rebrov.

No illusions
And coach Pavlo Yakovenko is under no illusions that much will be expected of the generation who were mostly born in 1985 - both at the finals and in the years to come. At the very least, Ukraine expect to win a place in the finals of the FIFA World Youth Championship with a good performance in Switzerland, but they would dearly love to take the European U19 title as well.

Winning team
"We did not just create this team to participate in tournaments," said Yakovenko. "The footballers are only good if they're winning. Of course we're under no illusion about the quality of our opponents in Switzerland, but with all due respect to them, we will be playing for victory in every game."

Mylevskiy eligible
Ukraine's lust for competition has only grown with the news that FC Dynamo Kyiv striker Artyom Mylevskiy is to be allowed to play at the final tournament after a successful plea to FIFA's appeals committee. Belarus had claimed that they had the right to field the player but FIFA have ruled that Ukraine's neighbours have no claim to the striker and have ruled him eligible to play for Ukraine.

Competitive games
The striker joined a 20-man party in Switzerland, which was due to be cropped down to the regulation-sized squad of 18 later on Monday. The following day they start their finals campaign against Belgium - a side they beat 3-2 in October 2001. Their next game is against Italy, whom they also faced in qualifying for the UEFA European Under-17 Championship, a game which Ukraine won 2-1.

Secret preparations
Yakovenko's men come into the finals fresh from two games each against Moldova and Turkey. Ukraine won all four matches, beating Moldova 4-1 and 2-1 and overcoming Turkey 4-0 and 2-0. However, the games were played behind closed doors, but rumour of Ukraine's power managed to escape. Olexandr Gladkiy in particular showed impressive form with two goals in one game against Moldova and a hat-trick against Turkey.

Goalscorers galore
In addition to that, Konstantin Kravchenko showed his prowess, scoring both the goals in the 2-1 win against Moldova, and Olexandr Aliyev also made his case with three goals spread over the four matches. For the class of 1985, it seems goalscoring will not be a problem.

Next target
The question now is whether they can match up to the 1981 vintage of players. In 2000, Ukraine's U19s fought their way to the final of the European U19 Championship, only to lose out 1-0 against France. Should Yakovenko's young bucks match or exceed that achievement, the 1985 Ukrainian side might yet be on the road to proving worthy successors to Shevchenko and Rebrov.