Ukraine, Shevchenko announce their arrival

The eastern Europeans dominated throughout, with coach Oleg Blokhin8217;s change to a 3-5-2 formation offering plenty of width to generate a series of crosses which troubled a nervous Saudi defence.

The Saudis showed promise going forward in patches, but created little by the way of clearcut scoring chances.

Ukraine coach Oleg Blokhin was delighted after the win. 8220;We knew it was a decisive match for us and we turned things around and did a great job,8221; said Blokhin.

Victory puts Ukraine level on three points with Spain, who play Tunisia later on Monday. Tunisia and Saudi Arabia both have one point after an opening 2-2 draw.

Determined to recover their self-respect after being outclassed by Spain, the Ukrainians played with energy and patience on a slippery pitch.

Saudi keeper Mabrouk Zaid fell victim to the pitch in the 36th minute, slipping as he tried to block a dipping long-range drive from Rebrov which made it 2-0.

Striker Andriy Voronin said the victory made amends for the heavy defeat in their opening game. 8220;After the 4-0 defeat against Spain, when the way we played was embarrassing, we wanted to show we can play,8221; said Voronin. 8220;Our goal is to survive the group phase. Hopefully we8217;ll go further and then we8217;ll see who we8217;re up against.8221; Patrick Graham