 Sheva ready for former team-mates
06/29/2006
Ukraine and Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko has said that he and his team are prepared to face Italy on Friday and are comfortable in their role as underdogs.
The team managed by Oleg Blokhin are heavily fancied to go out this Friday, with odds of 5/1 to win the game compared to Italy's 4/7.
Shevchenko may be in a unique position to approach playing against such men as Alberto Gilardino, Andrea Pirlo and Alessandro Nesta, having played with them at AC Milan before sealing his move to Chelsea.
"The Italy team is full of talent and some of them are my former comrades," the centre-forward said.
"I spent seven marvellous years in Italy and I owe the country a lot, but now we are playing against them in what is the most important fixture in the history of Ukraine."
While the former Milan player and his team-mates are well aware of the difficult game that is ahead of them, Shevchenko insists that there are strengths in the team which must be utilised.
"Italy must be favourites, but what we have to do is stick together as a team and as a unit and play with all our hearts to compensate for our weaknesses," he said.
Despite his proven pedigree in front of goal, the difficult match facing his team has placed Chelsea's new striker way down the list of possible top scorers in the World Cup at 33/1.
Not much more is expected of Italy's strikers, however – Luca Toni is the player to feature highest in the list of favourites for the Azzurri, at a distant 66/1.
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