Ukraine beats Saudi Arabia

HAMBURG, Germany — It took just four minutes for Ukraine to get its World Cup bid back on track.

Following a corrosive tongue-lashing by coach Oleh Blokhin for their embarrassing 4-0 loss to Spain in opening Group H play, the World Cup newcomers got it together to beat outsider Saudi Arabia 4-0 in a rain-swept match Monday evening.

Though Ukraine's prize striker Andriy Shevchenko was expected to lead his nation on the German grass, it was defender Andriy Rusol who opened the scoring. Off a corner kick by Maxim Kalinichenko in the fourth minute, Rusol's one-timer off his left knee found its way through the legs of Saudi goalkeeper Mabrouk Zayed.

The goal, Ukraine's first of the tournament, prompted an emotional Blokhin to scream in approval and violently whip the grass with his towel.

Serhiy Rebrov scored one of the best goals of the tournament with a 35-yard shot in the 36th minute. Zayed might have reached it on time but slipped on the wet grass, letting the ball go into the top corner.

Barely 30 seconds into the second half, Shevchenko got his goal with a header from Kalinichenko's long free kick. And Kalinichenko got his own, scoring on a pass from Shevchenko to close the scoring.

Ukraine and Spain lead the group with three points apiece, while Tunisia and Saudi Arabia each have one. Spain played Tunisia later Monday and Ukraine would be helped by a Spanish win.