the future 2006 World Cup champions. 2006–2012 After the World Cup, Ukraine were placed in UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group B, along with Italy and France; Ukraine had also performed poorly against Scotland, Georgia and Lithuania, ultimately finishing in fourth place. Due to the bleak performance of the national team Oleg Blokhin resigned and surprisingly signed with the recently established FC Moscow. With another Soviet football star player Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko as the new head coach, 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification saw Ukraine in Group 6, drawing Croatia and winning against England, sending Ukraine to the playoff. Greece, which had been eliminated by Ukraine in the qualifiers four years earlier, would eventually get revenge. Following failure to qualify, the Federation decided not to renew contract with Mykhaylychenko. As co-hosts, Ukraine qualified automatically for Euro 2012, marking their debut in the UEFA European Championship. The Federation decided to appoint Myron Markevych to prepare and lead the national team in the Euro finals. However, following few friendlies Markevych resigned due to the off-pitch politics and having holding coaching office of both national team and Metalist Kharkiv. For the next several games in 2010-11 the national team was led by a caretaker Yuriy Kalitvintsev who starred for Ukraine back in its first qualification campaign for the Euro 1996. On 21 April 2011 Blokhin was again appointed head coach of the Ukraine national team signing a four-year contract. With Blokhin at helm in their opening game against Sweden, Ukraine won 2–1 in Kyiv. In Donetsk, Ukraine was eliminated after a 2–0 loss to France and a 1–0 defeat to England. 2014–present Seeded at the UEFA Group H Ukraine qualified for yet another playoff, after two wins over Poland and two draws over England, where they would play against France. Ukraine beat France at home 2–0, but suffered a 3–0 loss away, thus being eliminated from the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Blokhin who remained a head coach following the home Euro 2012 had to stepped down due to health concerns in autumn of 2012 soon after the first home game against England and was replaced by Andriy Bal and later Oleksandr Zavarov. While considering hiring a first foreign specialist, the Federation finally appointed Mykhailo Fomenko as a head coach by end of 2012. Even though Fomenko did not manage to qualify for the World Cup, the Federation decided to retain his services until end of 2015.