Ukraine beat Tunisia 1-0

Berlin:

Andriy Shevchenko scored from the penalty spot in the 70th minute on Friday to give Ukraine a 1-0 win over Tunisia and a spot in the second round of the World Cup. Shevchenko scored his second goal of the tournament after he was knocked down while running between Tunisia goalkeeper Ali Boumnijel and defender Karim Hagui. The win was enough to give Ukraine second place in Group H behind Spain. Ukraine is the first former-Soviet republic to advance to the second round of the World Cup. Tunisia finished the match with 10 men after striker Ziad Jaziri was sent off in the last minute of the first half. Ukraine joins Ghana as the only two of the six newcomers in Germany to reach the second round. Angola, Ivory Coast, Togo and Trinidad and Tobago have all been eliminated. Ukraine, which gained its independence in 1991, was the first former-Soviet republic to qualify for the tournament since Russia. Russia was knocked out in the group stage in its only appearances in 1994 and 2002. Ukraine had already proved it was a threat to challenge for the title when it became the first European team to qualify for the tournament in a tough group with Greece, Turkey and Denmark. (AP)