The prospect of facing the sack holds no fear for Saudi Arabia coach Marcos Paqueta despite his employers' record for hiring and firing managers with startling regularity.

Paqueta is the 15th man to lead the Saudi team in the last 12 years and Monday's 4-0 loss to Ukraine will have increased the pressure on the former Al Hilal coach as the nation's chances of progressing to the second round receded.

The Saudis retain merely a mathematical chance of progressing ahead of their final group game against Spain, a match they must win to have any hope of reaching the knockout phase for the first time since their debut appearance at the tournament in 1994.

Despite the gravity of his team's position, Paqueta, who signed a contract through until next year's Asian Cup in South East Asia, is relishing the task at hand, both at the World Cup and beyond.

"A problem for me is a challenge," said the man who took over from Gabriel Calderon in December.

"Problems are for men, challenges are for warriors so I look at life as a challenge.

"The future is for God, so I have to prepare myself for the future. I try to look the players in the eyes and I have total peace of mind because my players did their utmost. The team didn't give up, they fought to the end."

Paqueta was confident his team would battle on until there was no chance of success and that, despite the loss to Ukraine, they had erased the memories of the country's dismal performance in Japan four years ago, when they lost 8-0 to Germany.

"In life we have to have hope," he said.

"Everything ends if we have no hope. We have to be positive to the end and do the best we can and that's what we are going to do until the last minute of the last game.

"The players showed they are committed and they fought hard and they eliminated the negative image that was left from the participation of Saudi Arabia in the last World Cup."

While Paqueta is left clutching at straws, Ukraine coach Oleg Blokhin is concerned his team's margin of victory may have an adverse effect on his team ahead of their vital final group game against Tunisia, guided by former France boss Roger Lemerre, where victory will guarantee them a place in the knockout phase of their first World Cup.

"This game has used up a lot of psychological energy," said Blokhin. "After winning 4-0 we have to recover our mental strength and that will be more difficult because we won.

"The score was good but it is not the most important thing and we want to win the next game to go into the last 16.

"Other teams are coached by great coaches and the team we face next are coached by a great coach and do well against European teams."

Playmaker Maksym Kalinichenko, whose performance played a significant role in consigning the Saudis to the comprehensive defeat, agreed.

"Hopefully we can advance," he said.

"We don't have a lot of experience at this level so today's experience is really important. We are on a real high now and it's important to manage this position correctly."