WARSAW, Poland — Co-host Ukraine plays France in Donetsk, Ukraine, in their second Group D match at the European Championship.
Here is a running account of Friday’s action. All times are local to Poland.
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2008:
Finally, Menez gets his goal! The Paris Saint-Germain winger cuts
inside from the right and shoots left-footed inside the near post. The
Donbass Arena is silenced. Hold on, another goal for France…
GOAL! Ukraine 0, France 2 (Cabaye)
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2005: GOAL! Ukraine 0, France 1 (Menez)
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1958:
Second half is under way. Marko Devic replaces Andriy Voronin for
Ukraine. The English Football Association says the Sweden-England match
in Kiev has been put back 15 minutes because of the rain delay in
Donetsk. So the games will no longer clash.
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1943: HALFTIME: Ukraine 0, France 0.
There
continues to be opportunities at both ends. Mexes rises at the back
post and powers a header at goal which is saved well by Myatov. That was
the last chance of a bright and breezy half.
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1935: And
now a chance for Shevchenko. The striker chests down a high ball over
the top of the France defense and strikes a half-volley that Lloris bats
away. That’s Ukraine’s best chance so far. Five minutes until halftime.
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1929:
What a chance for Menez! An overhit pass to Gusev at right back is
stolen by Ribery, who cuts inside and crosses for Benzema in the middle
of the area. The ball goes behind the Real Madrid striker but finds
Menez, whose first-time shot is blocked by the legs of Myatov.
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1923:
The pitch is holding up well after such an unbelievable downpour only
an hour ago. Andriy Yarmolenko goes close for Ukraine, coming in from
the right before hitting a low left-foot shot that goes just the wrong
side of the post.
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1915: France has the ball in the back
of the net but it’s disallowed for offside, correctly so. Franck Ribery
played in Jeremy Menez, who slotted home a neat finish, but the Ukraine
defense had stepped up very quickly. That’s good defending. Still 0-0.
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1910:
France’s players are enjoying more possession in the early stages and
seem to be coping better on the wet turf since the match has resumed.
Benzema had a slight opening in the area, but delayed on the ball and
was eventually crowded out by defenders.
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1902: The match has restarted and, almost straightaway, Benzema smashes in a fierce shot that is parried by goalkeeper Pyatov.
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1858: The stadium announcer says the match will shortly resume. Good news. The match will restart at 4:20 minutes.
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1854:
France coach Laurent Blanc has been walking out on the pitch with
tournament director Martin Kallen, surveying the state of the pitch. It
is much better than it was, but still very, very wet out there. Referee
Kuipers has also come out and is seeing how the ball rolls in the
worst-affected area of the pitch. There’s not much bounce there. The
fans in the stadium are cheering — they want this game to restart!
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1845:
The groundsmen are out in force, prodding the sodden areas of the
pitch. It’s stopped raining, so the situation looks a lot roser.
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1835:
It’s ironic that the chorus of the song being played in the stadium is,
“Let It Rain Over Me” by Pitbull ft. Marc Anthony. Nice choice! It’s
still raining…
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1830: Patches of the pitch are
completely waterlogged. Ukraine coach Oleg Blokhin is standing in the
tunnel, looking concerned and with a towel wrapped around his shoulders.
UEFA says play will not resume before 2000 local time (1900 Polish
time). So, the two matches will definitely overlap if Ukraine-France
resumes. Not sure television companies will be happy with that!
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1825:
There’s a danger that if the players do get back on, the game will run
over into the group’s match — Sweden vs. England in Kiev. By the way, 4
minutes, 20 seconds were played before the match was suspended.
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1817:
(at)mattekaren Incredible images of the lightning over the stadium in
Donetsk. That pitch doesn’t look like it will be playable any time soon.
(via Twitter)
There will be a pitch inspection before the players
are allowed back on, but there is no sign of the rain abating. France’s
Franck Ribery and Ukraine’s Anatoliy Tymoshcuk — teammates at Bayern
Munich — are chatting in the tunnel.
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1813: UEFA rules
state that if play is postponed for the rest of the day, the players
will come back to complete the remaining minutes tomorrow. There are, of
course, some crazy fans in the stands — both French and Ukrainian — who
are taking their clothes off and dancing in the rain. One French fan is
rolling around like a fish on the steps in the stand. These scenes are
incredible.
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1808: There is thunder and lightning in
Donetsk and the players have been taken off by the referee for their own
safety. Only around four minutes had been played. No idea how long the
break will be. The rain was so strong that the fans in the front row had
fled to the back of the stands to avoid getting a soaking!
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1805: MATCH SUSPENDED BECAUSE OF A THUNDERSTORM!
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1800: And we’re off. There was a huge roar from the crowd as the French kicked off. It really is pouring down out there.
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1756:
It’s raining in Donetsk as the players sing the national anthems. Bjorn
Kuipers of the Netherlands is the referee for the match.
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1748:
Ukraine is unchanged so veteran striker Andriy Shevchenko starts on his
own again up front after his double in the 2-1 win over Sweden in their
first game. He is retiring from international football after the
tournament so there aren’t many more chances to see the former AC Milan
and Chelsea player on this stage.
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1743:(at)jeromepugmire
French paradox: 22 games unbeaten;8 games without a win at a major
tournament. Both trends could still continue with a draw. (via Twitter)
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1738:
France coach Laurent Blanc has made two changes, dropping defender
Patrice Evra and midfielder Florent Malouda for Gael Clichy and Jeremy
Menez. Evra losing his place is a surprising one — he captained
Manchester United for the second half of this season and was France
captain at the 2010 World Cup. Ukraine will qualify for the
quarterfinals with a win at the Donbass Arena.
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1730: Here are the lineups for Ukraine vs. France:
Ukraine:
Andriy Pyatov, Yevhen Selin, Oleh Gusev, Taras Michalik, Yevhen
Khacheridi, Anatoliy Tymoshcuk, Andriy Voronin, Yevhen Konoplyanka,
Serhiy Nazarenko, Andriy Yarmolenko, Andriy Shevchenko.
France:
Hugo Lloris, Mathieu Debuchy, Adil Rami, Philippe Mexes, Gael Clichy,
Yohan Cabaye, Alou Diarra, Franck Ribery, Samir Nasri, Jeremy Menez,
Karim Benzema.
Substitutes:
Ukraine: Maxym Koval, Oleksandr
Goryainov, Olexandr Kucher, Denys Garmash, Olexandr Aliyev, Vyacheslav
Shevchuk, Ruslan Rotan, Artem Milevsky, Yevhen Seleznyov, Yaroslav
Rakitskiy, Bohdan Butko, Marko Devic.
France: Steve Mandanda,
Cedric Carrasso, Patrice Evra, Mathieu Valbuena, Olivier Giroud, Blaise
Matuidi, Anthony Reveillere, Florent Malouda, Yann M’Vila, Marvin
Martin, Hatem Ben Arfa, Laurent Koscielny.
