England v Ukraine: Previous
by David Barber
Wednesday, 15 June, 2011
England meet Ukraine for only the second time at Under-21 level.
England and Ukraine have only met once before at Under-21 level, Peter Taylor’s side winning a friendly 3-1 at Middlesbrough in 2004.
Carlton Cole, then a Chelsea striker on loan at Aston Villa, scored his first goals for the Under-21s as the new Taylor era started with a victory at the Riverside Stadium. Sven-Goran Eriksson and his coaching team were there to see the England youngsters turn in an impressive performance in advance of their UEFA Championship qualifying campaign.
Cole thumped in a great right-foot shot after the speedy Jermaine Pennant had stretched the Ukraine defence on 13 minutes. He netted again before the break, hooking the ball in from close range, and although the visitors pulled a goal back in the 88th minute through Aliyev, substitute Darren Bent restored England’s two-goal advantage with a late tap-in.
Taylor’s attacking line-up had promised thrills and the Teesside crowd gave local hero Stewart Downing a particularly loud welcome before the kick-off. The Ukraine squad included nine players from their most famous club, Dynamo Kiev, whose renowned strike force a few years earlier had been Shevchenko and Rebrov.
Ukraine proved to be a well-organised team with good technical ability but it was England who did all the pressing and they could actually have rattled in a few more goals.
England team for the game: Carson, Hunt (Hoyte), Richards (Harding), Ferdinand, Kilgallon, Milner (Bent), Pennant, O’Neil, Cole (Ashton), Stead (Whittingham), Downing (Reo-Coker).
Two years ago, in the U19s Finals, England met Ukraine twice in a tournament hosted by their opponents. Five of this Under-21s squad played in those games; Henri Lansbury, Nathan Delfouneso, Kyle Walker, Jason Steele and Danny Welbeck>
Lansbury hit a penalty in their 2-2 group stage draw in Donetsk, but a tired Three Lions, who had beaten France in the semis, went down 2-0 in the Final. Denys Garmash, who'll be in the Ukraine squad for Wednesday's meeting in Herning, scored the opener to help his side lift the silverware.
England's U19s returned to Ukraine in May last year for their Elite Round Qualifying, again with Delfouneso in the line-up, but also Phil Jones making his fourth and final appearance at that level. Dean Parrett scored the Three Lions goal in a 1-1 draw