Ukraine midfielder Sergei Rebrov is finally beginning to believe he and his team-mates could become World Cup winners on July 9.

Rebrov, speaking after Ukraine had won a penalty shoot-out to eliminate Switzerland at the last-16 stage, admitted he did not rate his side's chances at the start of the tournament which started for Oleg Blokhin's men with a 4-0 thrashing by Spain.

However, the former Tottenham and West Ham man now believes the tide is turning for his country who are competing in their first World Cup since seceding from the Soviet Union.

Asked whether Ukraine could win the World Cup, Rebrov, a substitute against the Swiss, said: "I don't know. I didn't think so before but now I am beginning to think maybe we can. Everything is possible now."

Rebrov, a 32-year-old who now plays for Dynamo Kyiv, was delighted with the way the team managed to grind out the result against Swiss who have the bizarre distinction of being eliminated from the World Cup without conceding a goal - aside from in last night's shoot-out.

"I feel so proud of my team-mates and so proud of my country," said Rebrov. "We are playing in the final tournament of the World Cup and I hope that we can continue like this.

"We want to make our people happy and we are pleased with our game today. The Swiss have played well but we were very determined and this team knows how to battle."

Next up for the Ukraine is a last-eight match in Hamburg against Italy who edged past Australia in Kaiserslautern, where Francesco Totti converted a match-winning penalty with the last kick of the match.

"It will be a difficult match of course," said Rebrov.

"We know how good the Italians are and we don't need to know anything more about them.

"But we have the spirit to battle and this team has not yet shown its true potential."

Ukraine were the first team to qualify for the World Cup after an excellent preliminary campaign which saw them easily win a group including European champions Greece, 2002 World Cup bronze medalists Turkey and Denmark.

Their tournament started badly with the humbling at the hands of Spain, although victories over Saudi Arabia (4-0) and Tunisia (1-0) saw them into the last 16.

The win over Switzerland was not pretty - Ukraine's Andriy Shevchenko and Switzerland's Alexander Frei both hit the bar in an otherwise dire game.

However, Blokhin will be able to bolster his defence against Italy by recalling three defenders who missed the Swiss match - Vyacheslav Sviderskyi and Andriy Rusol were suspended while Vladimir Yezerskyi was injured.

Blokhin, the 1975 European Footballer of the Year during the Soviet era, warned: "We are getting better with every game we play."

Hailing the role of Andriy Shevchenko, despite a penalty miss in the shoot-out, Blokhin said of the man who has also been a European Footballer of the Year: "I was satisfied with his game. He was a leader for us."