Tunisia have crashed out of the World Cup early after suffering a 1-0 defeat to Ukraine in the Group H match that took place in Berlin on Friday, while Spain beat Saudi Arabia 1-0 to qualify to the second round as group leaders. Ukraine star Andriy Shevchenko netted the winning goal from a spot-kick in the 70th minute to hand his side the second qualifying ticket in the group to the round of 16. With this result, Spain top the Group H standings with a tally of nine points and Ukraine finished their group games at second place with six points. Arab representatives Saudi Arabia and Tunisia exited the tournament with only one point each at third and fourth places. The decisive match witnessed a below-par performance from both sides who were fighting for the final qualification ticket in the group. Tunisia defender Radhi Jaidi takes the majority of the blame after pulling-off a series of extreme defensive blunders. Jaidi attempted to perform a back-flick in the third minute but instead ended up losing the ball to Ukraine's Andrei Voronin who sent a poor cross to Shevchenko that was cleared. Tunisia's Hamed Namouchi almost opened the score for his side in the 20th minute when he curled a free-kick into the hands of Ukrainian goalkeeper Alexander Shovkovsky.
Tunisia lost the services of striker Ziad Jaziri just before half-time after receiving his second booking to force his team to play with a 10 men for the rest of the game. Bolton Wanderers defender Jaidi caused Tunisia to concede their first goal when he sent a weak pass to goalkeeper Ali Boumnijel. Shevchenko scuffed the ball before tumbling down from a Karim Hagui tackle in the Tunisian area to be awarded a spot-kick in the 70th minute. Paraguayan referee Carlos Amarilla awarded Shevchenko the spot-kick even though television replays showed that the striker fell in the Tunisian area without being touched. The referee also didn't award the Tunisians a spot-kick in the 66th minute after Voronen committed an obvious handball offense. Tunisians substitutions in second-half saw a more aggressive side but Ukraine continued their field domination to grab the victory and qualify to the second round. Elsewhere, Spain beat Saudi Arabia 1-0 to advance to the second round as Group H leaders. Gutierrez Juanito scored Spain's winner in the 36th minute after heading in a Jose Antonio Reyes' free-kick. With these results, Ukraine will next play against the Group G winners in the second round, while Spain play the group's runners-up.
