Saudi Arabia coach Marcos Paqueta is hoping Ukraine striker Andriy Shevchenko continues to search in vain for his match sharpness.

The Chelsea superstar's return from a month out with a knee injury ended only in bitter disappointment in Ukraine's first World Cup final game as Spain strolled to a 4-0 victory in Leipzig, with not a single chance coming Shevchenko's way.

Now the eastern Europeans are hoping to fare better in Hamburg against Paqueta's side, who began their own Group H campaign with a 2-2 draw against Tunisia in Munich.

But Paqueta, the former Brazil Under-20 coach, was confident his defenders could take advantage of Shevchenko's plight.

He said: "Poor Shevchenko. He is under a lot of pressure. I always say the big players have to maintain their form and always be good.

"In our case, we wish his levels will keep being lower than normal. We know he has been out for a month and is making a big effort to help the national team. He has been sacrificing himself.

"But he is a player who deserves a lot of respect and a lot of attention too. It is important to mark and close down Ukraine's dangerous players and Shevchenko is certainly one."

Oleg Blokhin's side struggled to cope with the intense heat of their early afternoon clash with Spain and Paqueta, whose players are all based in Saudi, was hoping the sun would shine again in Hamburg.

He said: "The temperature has changed a lot. It was 30 degrees in Munich but when we arrived here it was only 15. Thank God the sun has been shining today."

With such a poor goal difference tally, Ukraine know nothing short of victory will do tomorrow but Paqueta was planning to use that to his advantage.

He said: "Ukraine will go for as many goals as they can to reduce their goal difference but this can be dangerous also so we will try to profit from that."

The Saudis will be without midfielder Mohammed Al-Shalhoub, who is flying back home following the death of his mother.

Paqueta said: "It is a very sad situation and our thoughts are with him. We will be missing not only a good player but a big personality. He is a very friendly guy and his friends like him so much. They have been with him today."