Ukraine hit Andorra for six

Three late goals put some shine on Ukraine’s performance as they hammered Andorra 6-0 tonight to finish as runners-up to England in World Cup qualifying Group Six.

Andriy Shevchenko, Oleg Gusev, Yevgen Khacherdi, Yaroslav Rakitskyy, Yevgen Seleznov and Andriy Yarmolenko shared the goals in Andorra La Vella to earn Ukraine a place in the play-offs next month.

The victory maintained their one-point advantage in the group over Croatia, who were 2-1 winners in Kazakhstan.

Ukraine finish the qualifying campaign with six wins from 10 matches, while hapless Andorra failed to pick up a single point, conceding 39 goals.

Croatia were left to count the cost of their two defeats to England as they finished third in the pool despite tonight’s victory.

Tottenham winger Niko Kranjcar grabbed a late headed winner in Astana, after Ognjen Vukojevic’s earlier goal had been cancelled out by Sergey Khizhnichenko’s shock equaliser.

But it was the 4-1 drubbing by England in September 2008, and the 5-1 defeat they suffered against Fabio Capello’s men last month in London which hurt Croatia the most during their campaign.

The only other points which coach Slaven Bilic’s side dropped were in the two draws they managed against Ukraine, who of course beat England on Saturday to effectively seal their place in the European play-offs.