As a result of COVID-19, makes the European nation was forced into an emergency selection members for their list.
UKRAINE was forced to select 45-year-old assistant coach Oleksandr Shovkovskiy in their squad to play against France on Wednesday after Covid-19 tore through the team.
The reason is that three goalkeepers for the national team are confirmed to be positive for Covid-19, including Andriy Pyatov, Andriy Lunin, and Yuriy Pankiv, with Georgiy Bushchan the only available stopper.
So, with a need for a goalkeeper to sit on the substitutes bench, Ukraine enlisted the services of ex-Dynamo Kiev keeper Shovkovskiy.
Shovkovskiy, retired in 2016 started his coaching career and was part of the squad for Ukraine team manager Andriy Shevchenko.
A statement from Ukraine’s FA wrote, that Oleksandr Shovkovskiy ended his professional career as a player in December 2016, but keeps himself in good physical shape, constantly conducting individual training.
But, Shovkovskiy would only play if Bushchan was incapacitated because of the virus or injury during the match.
The international friendly, however, saw Ukraine beaten 7-1 by France.
The French youth, Eduardo Camavinga, opened the scoring since the 9th minute of the match.
Other goals followed through Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann, Olivier Giroud and Corentin Tolisso.
Meanwhile, the only goal for Ukraine was scored by Viktor Tsigankov in the 53rd minute.
