Ukraine ties Cameroon ahead of June 7 World Cup qualifier

Ukraine and Cameroon played to a goalless draw in their June 2 friendly match at Kyiv’s Olympic Stadium as both depleted sides had crucial starters missing.

Ukraine’s captain Anatoliy Tymoshchuk
and striker Andriy Yarmolenko were notably absent as was center forward Marko
Devic.

Cameroon’s big-time players Samuel
Eto’o, Alex Song, Allan Nyom, captain Charles Itandje, and Benoit Assou-Ekotto
were unavailable.

Both sides had plenty of scoring
chances but failed to execute. Cameroon’s experienced defensive line thwarted
Ukraine’s numerous attacks on the ground and in the air. And keeper Andriy
Pyatov had to make several key saves to keep the Indomitable Lions from scoring,
including on several corner kick opportunities.

“It was a good game for us before the
(June 7 World Cup qualifying) match with Montenegro,” said Ukraine coach
Mykhailo Fomenko. “We received a lot of information. There’s still stuff to add
and omit from our game. From the very beginning in the first half the players
didn’t execute that which was asked of them. In the second half the footballers
played a little better after making some changes. In terms of fixtures (corner
and spot kicks), we weren’t that successful today.”

The match against Cameroon was a
warm-up before Ukraine takes on World Cup qualifying group leader Montenegro in
Podgorica on June 7. Ukraine is currently in fourth place in the group, six
points behind unbeaten Montenegro, and must win every remaining qualifying
match to salvage chances of booking a ticket to Brazil next year.

Following the Montenegro fixture, three important home qualifying games will follow, two of which with
teams ranked higher in the group: San Marino on Sept. 6, England on Sept. 10
and Poland on Oct. 11.

Cameroon leads its qualifying group
on the African continent and will play Togo in Lome on June 9 and DR Congo on
June 16.

Source: www.fifa.com

Kyiv Post editor Mark Rachkevych can be reached
at [email protected].