A well-placed penalty from Andriy Shevchenko's right foot gave Ukraine victory against Tunisia and with it a ticket to the knock-out stages. But while Ukraine's fans celebrated with gusto at the end of the match they had little to cheer during a lifeless 90 minutes in which both teams failed to play skillful football. Tunisian fans booed loudly on the final whistle and though they were clearly disappointed at their team's premature exit from the tournament, the jeers were more a reflection of the dour nature of the game.

Coming into this match, both sides knew a victory would likely be enough to see themselves through to the second round. Ukraine, having suffered a 4-0 drubbing in its opening game against Spain, then reversing that score with an emphatic victory against Saudi Arabia, looked to have the more powerful strike force with Schevchenko, Voronin and Rebrov up front. But Tunisia had its own ambitions. Having sneaked a point in its first game, the Tunisians led for much of its match against Spain before three late goals denied the team a famous victory. Both sides could name an unchanged line-up when the game kicked off.

Ukraine began the game looking like it would be happy to prod and defend for ninety minutes, with a point probably good enough for it to progress to the knock-out stages. The game was played at a snail's pace with little action in either penalty area as nerves prompted mistakes and missed passes from both teams. At times it seemed like players from both sides were out for a Sunday stroll rather than competing for a place in the World Cup second round.

Jaidi almost instantly gave away a goal when he tried a clever back-heel only to see the ball fall to Ukrainian striker Voronin. At the other end Jaziri was booked for a blatant dive in the Ukrainian penalty box. On 21 minutes Voronin was again put through showing the first real spurt of pace but he shot straight at Boumnijel. The effort at least livened up a stagnant game and Ukraine began to appear the more imposing force. Soon after Shevchenko failed to connect with an outstanding long ball from Nesmachniy. Ukraine's star striker had another good chance on 30 minutes but he prevaricated instead of shooting on goal and the chance was gone.

The game began to revert to its hitherto pedestrian pace with the Tunisians no doubt hoping to sneak a goal in the second half. Then just as both teams were looking to the referee to put an end to the torpor, Ziad Jaziri was given his marching orders by referee Carlos Amarilla after a clumsy challenge from behind on Tymoschuk. It was the Tunisian's second bookable offense and with two yellow cards to his name, Jaziri left the field.

With only ten men on the pitch and 45 minutes in which to tease out a victory, Tunisia looked to have set itself a difficult challenge. Ukrainian coach Oleg Blokhin substituted the ineffectual Rebrov ten minutes into the second half, replacing him with striker Andriy Vorobyey but the change failed to lift the sullen tone of the match. The referee often appeared to be the most motivated man on the field, handing out yellow cards freely thoughout the game for some fairly innocuous challenges.