STARTING XI
REMAINING SQUAD MEMBERS
3 best players not in the squad:
Prior to the Ukraine national team, if a player was born in Ukraine and played only for the Soviet Union national team, then I considered them here. In 1988, the Soviet Union reached the final of the European Championships. They won it in 1960, but the '88 team was led by many Ukranian players from Dynamo Kiev, while the 1972 Euro runners-up also had several. 16 of the 23 players in the squad hence come from the 70's and 80's. As Ukraine, they reached the quarter-finals of the 2006 World Cup, but only Shevchenko makes it here from that team. The starting back 4 was quite simple to pick, while I think Zinchenko has earned his spot as the back-up left-back. He and the 3rd goalkeeper Maslachenko are the only players in this squad who haven't played for Dynamo Kiev. Yevhen Rudakov and Viktor Matviyenko take their places as the only players in the Dynamo Kiev team that aren't in this one. The club were regularly the top performing Ukrainian club in the original Soviet League during the strongest periods of the national team. Konkov be Voynov's back-up in holding midfield, while also acting as a 4th centre-back in the squad, so there was no need for Volodymyr Kaplychnyi. Kolotov, Buryak, Mykhaylychenko and Biba can then act as cover for the rest of the midfield diamond. Blokhin and Shevchenko start upfront as comfortably the two greatest Ukranian players of all-time - they were both generational forwards who won the Balon D'Or, as did Belanov behind them. Because Belanov can play further forward, I wasn't overloaded with the number of midfielders I chose. Protasov acts as another option upfront, while the final spot in the squad went to Onyshchenko, as there was previously no right-wing option in the squad. Players by Decade: 1980's (8), 1970's (8), 1960's (3), 2020's (1), 2000's (1), 1990's (1), 1950's (1) Top 10 Ukranian Players of All-Time (World Class Players in Bold - 6)
(& their all-time positional rank)
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