Reaction: Ukraine World Cup squad announced

The Ukraine are another debuting team this year. Their players mostly are sourced from the biggest Ukrainian teams, with two players from Russia, one from Germany and one from... Chelsea. Nobody knows which nationality they are these days. Three of their players are as yet uncapped, though their midfield and defence contain a couple of old warhorses.

Oleksandr Shovkovskiy is the main goalkeeper for the Ukrainian team, and top goalkeeper for Vyscha Liha side Dynamo Kyiv. When the Ukrainians became only the second team to reach the draw for the finals back in September 2005, Shovchovskiy excelled. During this time Shovkovskiy assured six consecutive shut-outs for the Ukrainian side, dating from October 2004 and September 2005.

Andriy Nesmachniy is a former Ukrainian Under-21 international, and made his debut during a 2000 friendly against Bulgaria. The skilful defender is within the top of the ranks at Dynamo Kyiv, and starred extensively in the qualifying stages for this tournament.

Oleksandr Iatsenko previously captained his FIFA Under-20 World Cup side, in which the Ukraine reached the Last 16. He had previously been a junior player for Dynamo Kyiv, and his senior debut came on October 12, 2005. He now plays for FC Kharkiv.

Anatoliy Tymoschuk played his debut season with Volyn Lutsk, but, after a year out from the game, decided to plump for Shakhtar Donetsk. Two years later, in 2000, he made his international debut, and is now considered the main force within the Ukrainian midfield. He has played for Shakhtar in the UEFA Cup and the Champions League.

Vladimir Yezerskiy is now a certainty for first-team action having seen 10 of 12 World Cup games. His physical style of play creates the image of a feared opponent, although it also leaves him vulnerable to picking up yellow cards.

Andriy Rusol has made 23 caps since his first two years ago, but his first apparently came as a shock to him while he was reading his national newspaper. Gaining the coach's trust, he was one of a very small number of Ukrainians not to miss a minute of the Qualifying stage. His positive critics include England's star John Terry, who claims Rusol is the best defender in the world.

Until recently, it would have seemed that Andriy Shevchenko would become one of the best players in the world never to appear at the World Cup, however, with his selection coming in the same year that the Ukraine make it for the first time, this has thankfully changed. Shevchenko's ability has become famous as he has played all over Europe, for Dynamo Kyiv and AC Milan.

Oleg Shelayev has thirteen seasons of football behind him, and he won his first cap in 2004. He became an integral part of the national side after several friendlies, and is one of the first-team players for the Ukraine in this World Cup.

Oleg Gusev's first cap came in the middle of 2003, and his performances for his country in the qualifying stages were crucial to the World Cup this time around. The midfielder, who is highly rated outside of his home country, is one of the top players for Dynamo Kyiv.

It can't yet be said that Andriy Voronin possesses Shevchenko's elegance, but with his goalscoring knack, this doesn't matter. Without the chance to shine in his home country, he signed for German side Borussia Mönchengladbach before signing for Mainz and Cologne. His turns of pace and dribbling ability, along with his vision landed him a place at Bayer Leverkusen.

Serhiy Rebrov has enjoyed refinding his form, after a series of poor transfer deals took him from Tottenham Hotspur to Fenerbahçe to West Ham United, and back to Dynamo Kyiv. An attacking midfielder, who found himself dissatisfied with Ukrainian defences, he decided to move to England where he earned plaudits from none other than Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson.

Second goalkeeper, wunderkind Andriy Pyatov originally intended to play in the UEFA Under-21 European Championships, but ended up playing in the World Cup instead. After seeing Oleksandr Shovkovski suffer from an injury part of the way through the season, this young keeper took the reins and has significant enough stature to deputise if necessary.

Despite having started only twenty games at club level, Dmytro Chigrynskiy has already shown to have more than enough talent under his belt to perform at the World Cup. A tall defender, this young player is effective at either end of the pitch, as able to score goals as he is at preventing them.

Former forward, now taking his place in a more midfield role, Andriy Gusin helped Dynamo Kyiv to seven national championships in his time at the club, before moving to a Russian team, Krylya, in 2005. "Goose" scored on his international debut in 1993 when he played against Croatia.

Artem Milevskiy is one of those rare players, a combination of supreme power and beautiful elegance. Tall, but effortlessly pacy, he formed one half of a striker partnership with teammate Oleksandr Alilev in the FIFA World Youth Championships of 2005.

Andriy Vorobey first played in the Ukrainians' match against England in May 2000, and during the 2001/02 season, finished up with the Ukrainian Golden Boot. Nicknamed "The Swallow", he scored 21 goals in 24 matches in the highest Ukrainian league.

Vladislav Vashchuk, a defender who has most recently had a vast array of injuries, now finally looks to be putting his previous troubles behind him. Having made his international debut more than ten years ago, Vashchuk is now a veteran of two World Cups.

Serhiy Nazarenko has most recently impressed with two goals during the 2005/06 UEFA Cup, and is therefore back in the reckoning having struggled to hold his place within the national side. He only appeared in three of the Ukraine’s qualifiers.

Maksim Kalinichenko is a young winger who plays for Spartak Moscow. Though he went unused in qualifying for the World Cup, he saw action in some of the Ukraine’s pre-tournament friendlies. He has got extensive experience of the UEFA Cup and the Champions League.

Oleksiy Byelik first came to national attention during the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship, and since then has never looked back, representing his club in the UEFA Cup and the Champions League, and scoring on his international debut within minutes, against Kazakhstan in September 2004.

Ruslan Rotan was one of the biggest revelations for the Ukrainian team during the 2006 World Cup Qualifying rounds as the midfielder scored three times in seven matches. He performs exceptionally at his club Dynamo Kyiv, partnering Serhiy Rebrov.

Tough-tackling Arsenal Kyiv defender Vyacheslav Sviderskiy made his debut in March last year, after transferring from Saturn Moscow. He is an expert man-marker whose skill at international level has already been exploited.

Bogdan Shust plays for Shakhtar and received his first cap in February against Azerbaijan. The Ukrainians’ third goalkeeper came into the squad having already experienced medal success in his first championship season.

In their first campaign, they look for success, but whether it will be forthcoming is entirely up to the strength of their defence.

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