Eliminated squad Ukraine (0-2-0, 0 points) will finish their 2016 UEFA European Championship campaign with a Group C round three match against tough team Poland (1-0-1, 4 points) at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille on Tuesday, June 21.
Ukraine failed to earn any wins in the first two rounds of group competitions as they bowed to powerhouse Germany in their opener and then succumbed again to Northern Ireland in their second game.
Head coach Mykhaylo Fomenko’s boys officially made themselves ineligible in the next round after they surrendered a 0-2 decision versus the Green and White Army at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais in Lyon last Thursday, The Guardian reported.
After holding their opponents to a goalless first half, the Yellow-Blue’s defense was finally broken through four minutes into the restart when West Brom defender Gareth McAuley found the back of Andriy Pyatov’s net.
The Team tried to mount a comeback late in the game, controlling the ball and attacking at every opportunity, but their attempts were all quelled especially after the Irishmen scored again in injury time to double the lead, courtesy of an individual move by midfielder Niall McGinn.
Meanwhile, Poland was able to hold tournament-favorite Germany to a 0-0 draw at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis also in their second round group stage fixture last Thursday, as per ESPN.
The stalemate came even when the two teams had displayed “significant quality” on the pitch throughout the match, according to the report. With their tie and share of a point in the standings, both teams are now on top of Group C with four points each.
Head coach Adam Nawalka’s team successfully fended off the German attacks led by Bayern Munich’s Thomas Müller and Mario Götze even as their club teammate, striker Robert Lewandowski, was leading the Polish side.
Lewandowski actually came closest to scoring a goal during the contest, but his other Bayern teammate, defender Jerome Boateng, made denied him near the goal post.
Poland is expected to close out their group stage run with a win over the much-weaker Ukraine eleven.
The predicted result is a 2-0 romp for Poland.
Ukraine starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Pyatov; Fedetskiy, Khacheridi, Rakitskiy, Shevchuk; Stepanenko, Sydorchuk; Yarmolenko, Kovalenko, Konoplyanka; Seleznyov
Poland starting lineup (4-4-2 formation): Fabianski; Piszczek, Glik, Pazdan, Jedrzejczyk; Blaszczykowski, Krychowiak, Maczynski, Grosicki; Milik, Lewandowski
