Berlin, June 23:

Andriy Shevchenko’s 70th minute penalty sent Ukraine to the Round of 16 as they beat Tunisia 1-0 in Berlin on Friday.

A win could have given Tunisia the second spot in Group H, but their task was made difficult when they had striker Zied Jaziri sent off for a second bookable offence at half time.

Ukraine went on attack immediately at the start and Andriy Voronin seized on a mistake from Radhi Jaidi, but instead of going directly for goal, the Bayer Leverkusen striker attempted to rope in Shevchenko and wasted the opportunity with a pass.

In the 16th minute Shevchenko was awarded a free kick on the left hand side of the penalty area. But he wasted it hitting the defender with a cross.

Three minutes later Tunisia had an opportunity Vyacheslav Sviderskyi dug into a reckless challenge, 35 yards from goal. The resultant free kick from Hamed Namouchi nearly made him pay but keeper Oleksandr Shovkovskyi did well to hold.

In the 22nd minute, the best chance of the opening half saw Shevchenko and Rebrov lead a counter that ended with Voronin passing to Anatoliy Tymoschuk. With the goal in sight, the Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder unleashed a powerful left-foot shot that Ali Boumnijel could barely punch out.

In the dying moments of first half it was disaster for Tunisia when Zied Jaziri was dismissed for a late challenge on Tymoschuk. It was Tunisian forward’s second bookable offence.

In the 56th minute Ukraine coach Oleg Blokhin, concerned by his side’s failure to score, made his first substitution, withdrawing Serhiy Rebrov and introducing the more dynamic Andriy Vorobey.

Tunisia, meanwhile, also did not press forward. They did, though, come agonisingly close to scoring direct from a Anis Ayari free-kick that deflected off the wall.

In the 70th minute a back-pass from Jaidi allowed Shevchenko to nip in ahead of the goalkeeper and, when Haggui’s attempts to prevent the Ukraine captain scoring sent him tumbling to the ground, referee Carlos Amarilla had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Shevchenko struck his penalty straight down the middle to set his team on the road to the last 16.

With their tails up, Ukraine kept possession, forcing Tunisia coach Roger Lemerre to go for a double substitution that saw two strikers, Santos and Chaouki Ben Saada, introduced to the match. It was a change that almost paid immediate dividends, with Hatem Trabelsi capitalising on confusion in the Ukraine defence to test Shovkovskyi with a close-range header.

In the closing moments of the match, one chance went begging for Tunisia, with Santos eluding the Ukrainian defence heading wide from six yards.

Painuly, an editorial consultant with The Himalayan Times, is writing exclusively for the paper from Germany.

Spain’s reserves beat S Arabia

KAISERSLAUTERN: Spain fielded a team of reserves on Friday and still beat Saudi Arabia 1-0 to top Group H at the World Cup.

Coach Luis Aragones told his fringe players to try and earn a spot on the team for the second round and several impressed. Central defender Juanito Gutierrez headed in Spain’s goal from a free-kick by Jose Antonio Reyes in the 36th minute.

Spain won the with a maximum nine points and extended its unbeaten streak under Aragones to 25 matches. It will play its second round game in Hanover on Tuesday against the runner-up from Group G, which contains 1998 champion France and 2002 semi-finalist South Korea.

With Spain already through to the knockout stage after wins against Ukraine and Tunisia, Aragones decided to rest his regular starters against the Saudis and give his backup players a chance. Seven had never played a World Cup match before.

Spain got its goal when Reyes sent a curling free kick from the left and Juanito, outsmarting his marker, connected with a perfectly timed header past goalkeeper Mabrouk Zayed. It was the Real Betis defender’s second goal for Spain.— AP