Come on, you Ukraine

Published on Saturday 3 June 2006 23:58

AT THIS World Cup, I am especially keen to watch some of the 'emerging' football nations in action - the USA, as well as the various teams from Africa and Asia. Recent international tournaments have shown that big performances can come from unexpected sources.

Take Greece, for example, at Euro 2004, who won the tournament against all expectations. And then there was South Korea at the last World Cup, who have taken great strides.

Then there was the participation of Latvia at the 2004 European championships - a big surprise for everyone. Their performance against Germany was simply a joy, I'd happily watch it several times over. And they could have caused a major upset had their striker, Maris Verpakovskis been awarded the penalty he deserved. All of these teams showed us that having stars and money at your disposal are no longer the important decisive factor. It is about who wants it most.

In terms of the success of this World Cup, much will depend, as ever, on the quality of the refereeing. I watched the Champions League final the other week, and it was a very bad feeling to see such an important match being spoiled by some poor decisions.

We waited a whole year to find out who was the best team in Europe, and thanks to the referee, we still don't really know. Refereeing is an art, and one that is in need of a fundamental improvement. The first thing is that we need more advanced level of technical training for match officials. But that alone is not enough. I believe that it is also time to make more use of technology to cut out all the cases of human error and misinterpretation.

It's not a sin to make mistakes, but when the mistakes become entrenched in the actual system, when there is a lack of clarity in the interpretation of the rules, then it is time to make changes. Otherwise we are just undermining the game and turning it into a farce. I hope that this will not be the case in Germany.

I don't consider myself a football professional - I don't have the knowledge for that. All I have is my experiences, and my own vision of how football should develop.

The World Cup is like a beauty parade. There will be a lot of stunners on display, but luck will play its part in deciding who emerges victorious. Much to my wife's disgruntlement, I'm often right when it comes to picking the winners of beauty contests. As for the World Cup, I'll save any predictions until the tournament is under way. But, for me, seeing how the outsiders cope will make for much more interesting viewing than a clash between two of the big teams. I am always keen to try and spot which teams will do well in the future, to compare the various styles and tactics, and look out for new talents.

Increasingly, football is being governed by commercial interests. There will be lots of players purchased on the basis that they played in the World Cup. Once a player is in the national team, the competition for his signature becomes incredibly strong, and the prices rocket. The current transfer market system is outmoded. The notion that we can only buy a player if he is a regular for his national team and has played a certain number of games in two years is unfairly prohibitive. After all, there are plenty of players capable of representing their country who are never given that chance.

So much depends on the national team coach. And it makes for a double injustice. It means I am denied the chance to buy a player who is worthy of a move, and players are denied the chance to further their careers abroad. Take, for example, Brazil where there are some 6,000 registered players. Yet only a handful are eligible to move. This is a real problem in football. We need to remove the artificially strict restrictions on foreign players.

I'd be happy to see Ukraine do well at the World Cup. I have particularly fond memories of watching Shevchenko and Rebrov in partnership for Dynamo Kiev in the 1990s. They were such a terrific pair. Had I been in charge of AC Milan back in 1999 I would surely have wanted to keep them together as a pair. I'm looking forward to seeing how they get on in Germany. But you have to remember that Ukraine is still in the early stages of its development. It is a new country. And of course, sporting success is dependant on the development of the rest of the country's infrastructure. In that context, anything that Ukraine achieves in Germany will be worthy of the highest praise. But they have a strong footballing tradition and I'm certain that they will produce plenty more Shevchenkos in the future.

I saw some of England's game against Belarus the other night. It was a good chance for them to test out several new players and the coach made the most of it. He deserves praise for that. It's the right way to go.

Take Callum Elliot at Hearts for example. He's done brilliantly for the team since being given a chance last season and we now have new young star. I'm always pleased to see a coach taking risks and giving young players their chance to shine. If you don't you risk extinguishing their talent for good.

So it was very pleasing to see young Theo Walcott handed his chance. He's now had a confidence boost and that will, in turn, improve his chances of doing well in Germany. I'll be looking out for him.

Are there other young players that I'll be keeping an eye on at the World Cup? Maybe, but I'm not going to tell you who they are. Let's just say that's my commercial secret!"

Vladimir Romanov was talking to Dan Brennan