Ukraine Vs. France: Menez, Cabaye Score In 2-0 Win

The suspension of play and long delay was not kind to Andriy Voronin, who was ineffective in the first half. He was replaced at halftime by Marko Devic, who helped Ukraine to look a bit more lively in the second half’s opening minutes. It was up and down with chances on both sides in the first few minutes of the half, with Menez testing Pyatov again in the 49th minute, which was quickly countered by a wonderful effort by Shevchenko one minute later. On a counter attack, he took the ball inside onto his right foot from the left flank and curled a spectacular shot towards the top corner at the near post from 25 yards, but his strike missed by less than a foot.

Benzema would eventually be substituted while France were comfortably in the lead, with Laurent Blanc opting to give Olivier Giroud some game time while Benzema got some rest. Benzema looked unhappy to come off without a goal for the second straight game, but he was integral in setting up both goals -- especially the second -- and put in a fantastic performance.

It’s all a little bit sad for Ukraine, who’d been looking very dangerous early in the second half. Andriy Shevchenko has come very close to scoring on more than one occasion, with the most recent a vicious effort that miss the top corner by about six inches, but now they’ve got a mountain to climb. If they do manage a comeback, though...

France have looked more likely to score, of course - they are the better side after all - and they did manage to get the ball in the net via Menez’s low shot, but he was several yards offside and barely bothered to celebrate before the referee waved it off. The longer this stays 0-0 the more likely Ukraine are to make one of their attacks count. They’re generating chances and causing havoc, so you’d have to imagine that they’re pretty happy with their performance so far. That’s less true for Laurent Blanc’s side, who probably should have scored by now.

Brooks over at The Dirty Tackle posted an animated GIF on his Twitter of a gentleman who decided to remain in his seat as the storm rolled through. A camera found him and he showed his joy by doing what everyone does when their on live television, he gets really excited.

Good for this Ukraine fan...despite the fact he’s a sizable gentlemen, sitting in the rain in a white shirt.

We had an inkling that this match might be in trouble when Ukraine’s national anthem was greeted by a flash of lightning and a peal of thunder, but it wasn’t entirely clear if that was the sky’s salute to Andriy Shevchenko or something more... rainy.

And then it got really, really, really wet. Lightning knifed through the sky, water poured down - we’re talking biblical rainfall here - and the players were looking like miserable, half-drowned rodents. Nobody could do anything with the ball, the play was sloppy and the conditions were looking frankly dangerous even without the terrifying prospect of a lightning strike. Thankfully, play has now been suspended, with referee Björn Kuipers making the wholly sensible decision to order the players off the pitch and start building an ark or something. Hopefully the Donbass Arena can float, because this storm is absolutely ridiculous.

Lines: Ukraine, +1/2 (-115). France, -1/2 (-105).

Odds: Ukraine, +290. France, -105. Draw, +235.

Ukraine opened Euro 2012 by delighting the home fans with a 2-1 comeback victory. Both goals were scored by Andriy Shevchenko, who can barely walk and who has not been a good striker since 2006. This result doesn’t feel like one that can be easily repeated.

Of course, they might pull it off anyway. It’s actually reasonable to guess that Shevchenko has received a massive boost of energy due to intangible factors. Anyone who claims he’s fighting his heart out for his country and that he’s going to continue to play above and beyond what anyone thought he was capable of is really just guessing, but based on his performance against Sweden and his strike rate for Ukraine, it’s not exactly a stupid guess.