Shevchenko sends Ukraine through

ANDRIY SHEVCHENKO has been hailed a Ukraine history-maker after a cool penalty gave his side a place in the last 16 of the World Cup.

Shevchenko scored from the spot in 70th minute of the match against Tunisia in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium after he had been tripped.

Anatoliy Tymoschuk, the Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder who was voted man of the match, said: “It’s an historic moment for us and it’s fantastic to be in the last 16, but that is not enough. Now we have to aim to keep it going and focus on the next match.

“Tunisia were tougher opponents than Saudi Arabia but we expected that — we had seen the videos and we knew they were mobile and had good pace in the side. They were certainly motivated and were going full tilt.

“We had an extra-man advantage for much of the match but they made it very difficult for us, and in the end Andriy Shevchenko’s penalty made history for Ukraine.”

There were doubts about the validity of the penalty decision, and whether Tunisia should have had a spot-kick of their own. Tunisia coach Roger Lemerre said there was “huge bitterness” among the players.

He said: “I will never throw the first stone towards referees. They are on the field to do their job and there is no changing their decisions, but I must admit the bitterness among the players is huge.

“When you have fought like that you have the impression your team has been beaten unjustly.”

UKRAINE: Shovkovskiy, Nesmachniy, Rusol, Sviderskiy, Tymoschuk, Shelayev, Gusev, Rebrov (Vorobey 54), Kalinichenko (Gusin 75), Shevchenko (Milevskiy 88), Voronin.

TUNISIA: Boumnijel, Haggui, Jaidi, Ayari, Trabelsi, Mnari, Bouazizi (Ben Saada 79), Chedli (Santos 79), Namouchi, Nafti (Ghodhbane 90), Jaziri.

Attendance: 72,000

Referee: Carlos Amarilla (Paraguay).