Soccer: World Cup

06:55 PM CDT on Friday, June 23, 2006

Associated Press

BERLIN – Ukraine doesn't care how it got to the second round. Tunisia was furious at the way it was knocked out.

Despite a lackluster performance, a disputed penalty shot by Andriy Shevchenko lifted Ukraine to a 1-0 victory over Tunisia on Friday, making the World Cup newcomers the first former-Soviet republic to reach the tournament's second round.

Ukraine needed only a draw to advance, barring a blowout by Saudi Arabia over Spain in the other Group H match. Tunisia needed to win to reach the second round, but had its hopes dented when its only fit striker, Ziad Jaziri, was sent off in the last minute of a scoreless first half with his second yellow card.

"The game was a bit difficult but I'm happy about the way we played because the result was so important," Shevchenko said. "We were only thinking about the result, not about the quality of play.

"It's a hugely important achievement for Ukrainian football that we have got into the next round."

The Tunisians were unsatisfied with the result, and even less happy about the quality of refereeing.

Shevchenko scored his second goal of the tournament, rifling home a penalty kick in the 70th minute after referee Carlos Amarilla of Paraguay ruled the striker had been brought down by Tunisian defender Karim Hagui. Video replays suggest the newly signed Chelsea striker tripped over his own feet.

"Just like when a team does not play well it has to go home, I hope the referee goes home, too," said Tunisian midfielder Mehdi Nafti, who was crying as he left the field. "I've never in my life spoken badly about a referee, but we just saw the (television) images in the locker room and it was a disgrace."

Nafti said Ukraine "played with 12 men" instead of 11, referring to the extra help they got from the referee.

Ukraine kept control, especially in the second half, but was not as convincing as in its 4-0 victory over Saudi Arabia on Monday.

Ukrainian midfielder Anatoly Tymoschuk said his team struggled with the heat and that coach Oleh Blokhin urged his players to close down the Tunisians quicker.

"It was a good thing we scored when we did," Tymoschuk said. "We didn't concentrate properly and should have scored more."

Tunisia's best scoring chance came in the 19th minute, when Hamed Namouchi curled a shot in but Ukraine goalkeeper Olexandr Shovkovskiy caught it comfortably under his crossbar.

Jaziri received his second yellow card for a late but unspectacular sliding tackle on Tymoschuk in injury time. Blokhin and several Ukraine players clapped when referee Carlos Amarilla pulled out the card. As the match went into halftime, Tunisian officials went onto the field to usher their furious players away from Amarilla and his assistants.

Ukraine joins Ghana as the only two of six newcomers in Germany to reach the second round. The Ukrainians will play second-round match on Monday in Cologne against the Group G winner Switzerland.

Ukraine, which bounced back with two wins after losing its opener 4-0 to Spain, also became just the third team since the tournament expanded to 32 teams in 1998 to make it to the second round after losing its first game. Ghana also did it this year, and Turkey went all the way to the semifinals after losing its opener in 2002.

Ukraine, which gained its independence in 1991, was the second former-Soviet republic to qualify for the tournament. Russia was knocked out in the group stage 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 Germany, losing only once in the preliminaries.

Ukraine is home to 1999 Champions League semifinalist Dynamo Kiev, but the country has been slow to make its mark internationally. Many of the key players in the Soviet national team hailed from Ukraine, but with the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union, they chose to play for Russia.

Since its independence, Ukraine had its hopes of entering the World Cup dashed twice at the last stage.

"Now I am satisfied and now you can expect more ... maybe," Blokhin said. "It's a game where everything can happen."

Elimination is nothing new for Tunisia, which has never reached the second round in four appearances and has not won a game since beating Mexico in its debut in 1978.

The Northern African nation gave up early leads and faded late in the game against Saudi Arabia and Spain. They drew 2-2 with the Saudis and lost 3-1 to Spain.

"The question is if we have progressed or regressed," coach Roger Lemerre said. "But even more importantly is what we need to do to get past the group stage."