At the Olympic Stadium, Greece drew 0-0 with Ukraine in the first leg of their World Cup playoff. Tomorrow night, the 2nd leg with take place at another Olympic Stadium, this time in Kyiv. It really should be a tough affair with it all to play for and a place in the tournament in South Africa. Sports retailers may favour a Greece win here, due to them being more likely to become a big seller for World Cup shirts. Before we look at the two teams in more depth, let’s take a look at their qualifying performance in the group stage.

Ukraine’s home record in World Cup qualifying was extremely impressive and it is something Greece should be concerned with. Ukraine won 4 out of their 5 home games in Group 6, beating Belarus, Kazakhstan, Andorra and England, and drew the other game 0-0 with Croatia. Greece will have to watch out for Ukraine captain Andriy Shevchenko, who has scored 43 goals in 93 international appearances.

Those in a Greece World Cup jersey have had a reasonable, but not very impressive away record in World Cup qualifying, winning 2 games, drawing 2 games and losing one to Switzerland. They will be relying on the same spirit and teamwork that helped them win Euro 2004 and with two prolific strikers in Angelos Charisteas and Theofanis Gekas. Both countries have only made it to the World Cup on one occasion, so both will be desperate to get another taste for the competition.

This is bound to be another close game between these two sides, however, with Ukraine having home field advantage and an very good home record, I expect them to qualify for the World Cup.

Written by Stephen Whiteford, a sports writer who blogs about the 2010 World Cup.