Shevchenko a threat to France

A partisan home crowd isn't the only thing France has to keep quiet when it plays Ukraine at EURO 2012.



A resurgent Andriy Shevchenko has shrugged off a combination of back pain and criticism to steal the spotlight at the tournament, scoring two superb headers to give Ukraine a 2-1 win over Sweden in its opening Group D match.



The 35-year-old Shevchenko's time on the international stage is almost up because he will retire from international duty at the end of the tournament.



Yet a win for the co-host will guarantee it a spot in the quarter-finals and extend the striker's international career by at least one more match.



"We really have a good chance to make it out of this group," said Shevchenko, who has scored 48 goals for Ukraine.



"That's why we cannot fall victim to the euphoria."



Try telling that to the fervent fans who will turn the Donbass Arena in Donetsk into a blue-and-yellow wall of noise.



The fact that Shevchenko plays for Donetsk's arch-rival, Dynamo Kiev, will melt into insignificance, much the same way as the 1,000 French fans expected to turn up will hardly be noticed. They were barely audible against England.



"It's going to be hard against Ukraine. They will be very motivated and have the crowd on their side," France right-back Mathieu Debuchy said.



"But we were already prepared for that."



France had better be ready, because a loss will leave the team perilously close to a third straight first-round elimination at a major competition after early exits at the 2010 FIFA World Cup and EURO 2008.



Ukraine was the team tipped to struggle in Group D.



Reports before the tournament started were of a team in disarray, and coach Oleg Blokhin was heavily criticised for standing by the ageing Shevchenko, who scored 127 goals in 226 Serie A matches for AC Milan from 1999-2006 before his career started to fade.



"I was not surprised at all by his performance (against Sweden)," Blokhin said through a translator.



"I couldn't understand why he was written off before the tournament."



The early win hasn't fooled Shevchenko or any of his team-mates into dismissing the French threat.



Laurent Blanc's team is unbeaten in 22 matches and is far more technically assured than Sweden.



"The French team plays football differently and does more with the ball than the Swedish team," veteran Ukraine striker Andriy Voronin said.



"One chance could decide the game."