Unheralded Kalinichenko key to Ukraine's second chance

Maxim Kalinichenko is not widely recognized. He's played just eight games this year for his Russian club Spartak Moscow. He featured in none of Ukraine's World Cup qualifying matches.

Photo: Unheralded Kalinichenko key to Ukraine's second chance

On Monday, he was a playmaker, key in securing Ukraine a crucial 4-0 victory over Saudi Arabia to erase the debilitating goal difference suffered against Spain, and bolster the World Cup newcomer's chances of advancing to the second round.

Outshining even Andriy Shevchenko, Kalinichenko was voted Man of the Match.

"He is a great player. I've always said it. He is a good passer of the ball," said teammate Serhiy Rebrov, who also scored on Monday evening. "Of course last season he didn't play a lot for Spartak. I don't know why.

"But he's a good friend of mine. And especially (Monday) he showed what he can do."

Kalinichenko has a reputation as a mercurial player, but against the Saudis he was torrid, scoring once and providing a string of free kicks, corners and crosses that were the key to victory.

The slight, blond midfielder didn't start in Ukraine's opening loss to Spain, and wasn't going to squander his chance against the Saudis. In the early minutes of the match, twice he served perfectly placed corners to Shevchenko, but to no avail.

However, Kalinichenko's efforts yielded results soon enough.

At the four-minute mark, Andriy Rusol beat the Saudi defense on Kalinichenko's corner from the right, knocking the ball past Saudi keeper Mabrouk Zaid with his knee to give the Ukrainians the lift they needed and put their 4-0 loss to Spain behind them.

Rebrov added another to make it 2-0 just before halftime.

Barely 30 seconds into the restart, Shevchenko got his goal with a header from Kalinichenko's long free kick.

With only six minutes left, Kalinichenko's generosity paid off. Shevchenko returned the favor, racing down the left before feeding the ball back to Kalinichenko, who finally got his own name on the score board.

The victory moved Ukraine into second place in the Group H standings with three points. Tunisia and Saudi Arabia each have one point. Spain already had locked up its spot in the second round, reports AP.

O.Ch.