Team: Ukraine

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Coach: Oleg Blokhin
Captain: Andriy Shevchenko
Winners: Never - first appearance in the finals
Pitted against: Spain, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia
Prospects: Expect Ukraine to ease through the group stage and, despite their long odds, to trouble some of the favourites
Odds: 50-1

Having narrowly failed to qualify for previous finals, Ukraine have, at last, successfully beaten a path to the premier competition. Impressively too, you might say, as Oleg Blokhin's side brushed aside a group containing Turkey, Denmark and Greece, amongst others, to become the first European side with ticket in hand, writes Paul O'Hehir

Ukraine, of course, fell under the old USSR cloak but when the Soviet Union broke up in 1991, the Football Federation of Ukraine was founded. Since then, Ukraine have come agonisingly close to qualifying for France 98 and Japan & Korea 2002, coming undone at the play-off stages on both occasions.

After also failing to qualify for Euro 2004, Leonid Buryak stepped aside and handed control to Blokhin and, in no way diminishing the former's gallant attempts, the latter took the bull by the horns and transformed the nation into a more ruthless, clinical and classy outfit.

The transition from player to manager is, more often than not, a difficult one but Blokhin made the switch seamlessly. A former star player, he was named 1975 World Player of the Year and is generally regarded as the USSR's greatest ever winger, scoring some 42 goals in 112 appearances.

Of course, managers don't necessarily win games and Blokhin is suitably aided in that process by team captain Andriy Shevchenko, the Chelsea striker. Shevchenko, himself, was voted World Player of the Year just two seasons ago and spearheads a lethal forward line with Shakhtar Donetsk hitman Andriy Vorobey and Andrey Voronin of Bayer Leverkusen.

With the quartet - not to mention former Tottenham striker Sergei Rebrov, whom Blokhin appears to have roused from his slumber - firing Ukraine to the forefront during qualification, there seemed little to derail the operation with Germany looming large on the horizon.

However, disaster did strike, albeit temporarily, with supporters fearing the worst. Blokhin, who in 2003 became a communist leader of the Ukrainian parliament, fell foul with political rivals who, last year, claimed it illegal for any one person to fulfil two official titles simultaneously. Blokhin was forced to resign.

But leading Ukrainian FA officials were desperate to reinstate their manager who had brought the country to the brink of its first ever World Cup appearance. A subsequent court ruling paved the way for Blokhin's return and this allowed him continue in both roles, but, he was forced to forgo his coaching salary.

"Many people said I was living in cuckoo land when I promised to take Ukraine to the World Cup," Blokhin said recently. "I know they’re going to scream with derision again, but I believe we’re capable of winning it."

Fighting talk indeed, but if Ukraine can overcome the fact they've a weak midfield and ensure their strike force plays off the front foot, then this side could well be raising eyebrows.

World Cup Squad

Goalkeepers: Oleksander Shovkovsky (Dynamo Kiev), Andriy Pyatov (Vorskla Poltava), Bogdan Shust (Shakhtar Donetsk)
Defenders: Andriy Nesmachny (Dynamo Kiev), Vladyslav Vashchyuk (Dynamo Kiev), Serhiy Fyodorov (Dynamo Kiev), Volodymyr Yesersky (Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk), Andriy Rusol (Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk), Dmytro Chigrinsky (Shakhtar Donetsk), Vyacheslav Svidersky (Arsenal Kiev)
Midfielders: Anatoly Tymoshchyuk (Shakhtar Donetsk), Oleg Gusiev (Dynamo Kiev), Ruslan Rotan (Dynamo Kiev), Serhiy Nazarenko (Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk), Oleg Shelayev (Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk), Andriy Husin (Krylya Sovietov Samara), Maxim Kalinichenko (Spartak Moscow)
Forwards: Andriy Shevchenko (AC Milan), Andriy Voronin (Bayer Leverkusen), Serhiy Rebrov (Dynamo Kiev), Artyom Milevsky (Dynamo Kiev), Andriy Vorobei (Shakhtar Donetsk), Olexiy Belik (Shakhtar Donetsk)