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World Cup Qualifying — In just a few hours away, the playoff match of UEFA in World Cup Qualifying 2010 between Ukraine and Greece is about to kick-off, with live streams possible for online viewers to watch.
For this particular match coming tonight, Ukraine are confident they can nullify the counter-attacking threat of Greece and claim a place at the World Cup by defeating Otto Rehhagel’s team in the second leg of their qualifying play-off.
Alexei Mikhailichenko’s men are in the driving seat ahead of the crunch match in Donetsk having kept the Greeks at bay in Saturday’s goalless stalemate in Athens.
Although the omens favour his team – Ukraine defeated Greece to secure qualification for the 2006 World Cup ahead of their rivals – Mikhailichenko is aware of the danger posed by Rehhagel’s troops.
”If you analyse the Greek national team matches for as long as Rehhagel is coach you can say they play with the same characteristics every time,” said Mikhailichenko
”Greece bet on having a disciplined defence and looking for a chance to counter attack. They are quite right in playing like this and we need to be mindful of this.
”I believe that after the first-leg game away, we are closer to South Africa. However, our chances remain 50-50.”
Mikhailichenko has intimated he expects his team to play more attacking football than in the first leg in order to try to win the match in normal time – and avoid the lottery of penalties.
Greece arrived in Donetsk yesterday wearing special masks as part of precautions as the swine flu health scare escalates across the country and Europe.
Ukraine shut schools, banned public meetings and restricted travel earlier this month in an attempt to combat the H1N1 flu epidemic, which has claimed 17 lives so far while 189 people have died in total from the flu outbreak.
All but three of Rehhagel’s 22-man squad received a basic flu vaccination ahead of the trip.
Ukraine have not conceded a goal at home since June when Kazakhstan netted in a 2-1 defeat and Greece must score or win the game on penalties to secure qualification.
Kickoff time for this match is at 18:00 UK time. Live streaming may be available at your favorite live stream sites. You may check out ESPN Soccernet for the game availability.
Source: ESPN
