Ukraine find form

Ukraine coach Oleg Blokhin was beaming as his side were on the right end, this time, of a 4-0 trouncing on Monday afternoon in Hamburg. The Saudi Arabians were just no match for the pace and strength of a transformed Ukrainian side, following the Eastern Europeans' heavy defeat to Spain last week.

"It's a little bit like Cinderella, the pumpkin turned into a beautiful coach and the other animals turned into wonderful horses," Blokhin told reporters.

The game couldn't have started better, as the Ukrainians took an early lead due to some poor defending. A Maksim Kalinichenko corner found Andriy Rusol's header at the near post. The ball went in between keeper Mabrouk Zaid's legs and into the net.

Ukraine had been pushing since kick-off and the goal came at a perfect time to enable them to take control of the game, as the Saudis were forced to come out their shells and chase the equalizer early on.

This gave Ukraine more space in which to operate and they created numerous chances in the first half hour, Andriy Shevchenko's header getting cleared off the line and Andrei Voronin's long range effort coming close.

Blokhin's men doubled their lead when Sergei Rebrov fired a cracking shot in to Zaid's top corner, the unfortunate Saudi goalkeeper slipping on that occasion, as rain started to pour over the AOL Arena in Hamburg.

The Saudis were working hard and giving it their all but it was obviously not enough. They were lucky to go in at half-time with only a two-goal deficit as Voronin's shot went inches away from the post.

The third goal came instants after half-time, as Shevchenko latched onto another Kalinichenko delivery to header the ball past Zaid and score his first ever World Cup goal.

Such an early goal destroyed any hopes the Saudis had of a possible comeback. They spent the entire second half chasing after the ball, as the Ukrainians kept plugging away, trying to get that fourth goal which would cancel the 4-0 rout they suffered against Spain.

They eventually got that goal minutes from time, and it seemed only fair that the man of the match got on the scoresheet, after an outstanding performance. Shevchenko bursted down the left wing and squared it to an unmarked Kalinichenko, who tapped the ball in the net to make it four.

Saudi Arabia had a justified penalty claim in the dying moments but referee Graham Poll deemed that veteran Sami Al Jaber had slipped.

Saudi Arabia coach Marcos Paqueta was proud his players, as he believes they gave everything:

"They tried and tried the whole way" he said, "When you give all your effort, you're satisfied with what you have done."

Ukraine have finally found their form but are not in the second stage yet. They will face Tunisia on Friday and will have to win to make sure they go through to the knockout stages.