Ukraine national football team

The Ukraine national football team is the national team of Ukraine and is controlled by the Football Federation of Ukraine. After the split of Soviet Union, they played their first match against Hungary on April 29, 1992.

Related Topics:
Ukraine - Football Federation of Ukraine - Soviet Union - Hungary - April 29 - 1992

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Before that, Ukrainian players played for the USSR national football team, with Dynamo Kyiv players often forming its backbone ({{Wc|1986}}, {{Ec|88}}). Some of the best Ukrainian players of the beginning of 1990's (including Andrei Kanchelskis, Viktor Onopko and Oleg Salenko) chose to play for Russia as it was named the official successor of the USSR, while Ukraine was prohibited from participating in major international competitions until 1994.

Related Topics:
USSR national football team - Dynamo Kyiv - Andrei Kanchelskis - Viktor Onopko - Oleg Salenko - Russia

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Despite having one of the best players in the world, Andriy Shevchenko, Ukraine failed to qualify for any major championship before 2005, three times failing at the last stage, the playoffs. It lost to Croatia, failing to get to the {{Wc|1998}}, Slovenia prevented Ukraine from going to {{Ec2|2000}}, and Germany stopped them prior to the {{Wc|2002}}.

Related Topics:
Andriy Shevchenko - 2005 - Croatia - Slovenia - Germany

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After an unsuccesful {{Ec2|2004}} campaign, Ukraine appointed Oleg Blokhin as the national team's head coach. This would eventually prove to be a right move, as Ukraine went on to qualify for their first-ever FIFA World Cup on September 3, 2005 by drawing their match with Georgia, 1-1, in T'bilisi.

Related Topics:
Oleg Blokhin - FIFA World Cup - September 3 - 2005 - Georgia - T'bilisi

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