June 14, 2019

Ukraine set for U-20 World Cup final against South Korea

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PARSIPPANY, N.J. – Serhiy Buletsa’s shot in the 65th minute was the lone goal that sealed Ukraine’s 1-0 win against Italy on June 11 in the semifinal of the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Gdynia, Poland. With the win, Ukraine advanced to the final against South Korea on June 15 in Lodz.

Ukraine won 1-0 against Colombia in the quarterfinal on June 7 in Lodz. In the 11th minute, Danylo Sikan (Ukraine’s top goal-scorer for the tournament with four goals) scored a left-footed shot from outside the penalty area to the center of the goal.

Against Italy, Denys Popov, who has three goals for Ukraine in the tournament, was shown a red card after two consecutive yellow card fouls in the 55th and the 79th minutes.

Ukraine committed 16 fouls to Italy’s 20, and each squad was booked for one yellow card each. Italy had more set-piece opportunities with four corner kicks and 61 percent ball possession. Ukraine was more offensive on goal with 14 shots to Italy’s nine, and on-goal shots were three-to-one in favor of Ukraine.

The Ukraine-Colombia match also was foul-heavy with 18 for Colombia and 16 for Ukraine, with four yellow cards and one red card for Colombia, and three yellow cards for Ukraine. South Korea won 1-0 against Ecuador in the other semifinal match on June 11. Ecuador and Italy face off in the third place match on June 14.

 

UEFA European Championship qualifiers

Ukraine’s men’s national team is in first place in Group B of the UEFA European qualifiers with 10 points after four matches played. Ukraine won 5-0 against Serbia on June 7 and won 1-0 against Luxembourg on June 10. The lone goal on June 10 was scored by Roman Yaremchuk in the sixth minute.

Both Serbia and Luxembourg are tied for second place with four points each. Portugal (two points) and Lithuania (one point) are in fourth and fifth places, respectively.

Ukraine plays against Lithuania on September 7 and October 11, against Portugal on October 14 and against Serbia on November 17. If Ukraine maintains its success streak, the team will advance to the play-off stage.

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