Ukraine, who lost 4-0 to Spain in their opener, showed their attacking intent against a toothless Saudi team from the start.

The match represented a personal triumph for Shevchenko, Chelsea's new record signing leading the way with a fine individual performance and combining fantastically with attacking teammates Maksym Kalinichenko, Serhiy Rebrov and Oleg Rusov.

It was pressure from Shevchenko that forced Saudi Arabia into conceding the corner from which Andriy Rusol scored the opening the goal in the fourth minute.

The former AC Milan striker then opened his own account one minute into the second-half, rising above defender Hamad al-Montashari to head a home a Kalinichenko freekick.

He turned provider for the fourth goal, setting up Kalinichenko with a beautifully-weighted cross past a despairing Mabrouk Zaid in goal and three defenders.

"I'm happy for the whole of Ukraine," Shevchenko said after the match. "We can be proud of ourselves again after the bitterness of our defeat to Spain. We had to do well on Monday and we didn't let ourselves down."

"It's not just the result that's important," added the Ukraine captain. "The main thing is that the people can see we're playing for them, and that they can believe in us again."

Shevchenko said there was a huge psychological difference between the Spain game and that against Saudi Arabia.

"During the first game we were overawed by the occasion," he said. "We let in two goals from free-kicks, then came the sending off, but Monday was a completely different story.

"We went ahead almost immediately and played aggressive, flowing football."

Confidence restored, Ukraine now know that the incentive could not be any greater when they face Tunisia in Berlin, and Shevchenko made no attempt to downplay the game's significance.

"The match against Tunisia will be decisive," he admitted. "Everything now hinges on Friday's result.