KIEV - Ten players on Ukraines national football team were stricken with food poisoning less than a week before the side is scheduled to play their first Euro 2012 match, coach Oleg Blokhin said on Wednesday.
This situation is not funny. (Midfielder Anatoliy) Tymoshchuk had to be given an intravenous drip, Blokhin said.
It was not clear what the players ate to make them ill, nor was it possible to say, yet, whether the mass illness would affect the sides chances at the European championship, Blokhin said.
The only good thing is this didnt take place on June 11, he said in reference to the teams first Euro game against Sweden. If it did, I would not have been able to field 11 players.
The incident occurred in Germany where Ukraine played and lost their final tune-up match 2-0 against Turkey on Tuesday night in Ingolstadt.
Blokhin spoke early on Wednesday after the teams arrival in Kiev for the tournament the nation co-hosts with Poland June 8-July 1.
Blokhin said he and his players accepted responsibility for the defeat at Turkeys hands, despite the mass illness.
Our team lost, the players did not perform adequately, and the coach did not perform adequately, he said.