FK Kharkiv defender Olexander Yatsenko has been added to Ukraine's World Cup squad, the country's soccer federation (FFU) said yesterday.

The 21-year-old replaces injured Serhiy Fyodorov in the 23-man squad for the month-long tournament in Germany.

Yatsenko is playing for Ukraine at the European U-21 champion-ship in Portugal and will not be available for the senior team at least until Friday.

Ukraine have been hit by a rash of injuries in recent weeks, and Yatsenko joins three other players from the U-21 team, Andriy Piatov, Dmytro Chigrinsky and Artyom Milevsky, drafted into their World Cup squad.

Ukraine captain Andriy Shev-chenko, who has been nursing a knee injury, has been given the go-ahead by team doctors to resume training.

Veteran striker Serhiy Rebrov missed practice yesterday although doctors did not consider his condition serious.

Ukraine, who crushed Costa Rica 4-0 on Sunday in a friendly, leave for their final training camp in Switzerland tomorrow.

They have three more tune-up matches - against Italy, Libya and Luxembourg - before taking on Spain in their World Cup opener on June 14.

Ukraine, playing in their first World Cup finals, also face Saudi Arabia and Tunisia in Group H.

¤ Ukraine's players have been promised quality time with their wives if they reach the World Cup semi-finals. Asked if he would allow his players to have sex with their wives and girlfriends during the month-long tournament, Ukraine coach Oleg Blokhin said: "I would personally send my players to see their wives if we reach the (World Cup) semis. Those who don't feel like it, I'll just drag to their wives. Take my word for it," Blokhin told Russian daily Sport-Express yesterday.