10 Ukraine players hit by food poisoning

European Championship co-host Ukraine has concerns over 10 players who are struggling with food poisoning before its opening game against Sweden on Monday.

The main concern is over Ukraine's most-capped player, midfielder Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, who has been on a drip.

"We have to bring the guys out of this condition," coach Oleg Blokhin said. "It's good that the poisoning didn't happen on June 11. For me, the most important thing is healthy footballers."

Team doctor Leonid Mironov told reporters Wednesday that Tuesday's match against Turkey, which Ukraine lost 2-0, was almost cancelled after the players had come down with the bug that was causing some of them to vomit. Blokhin said that fullback Bohdan Butko and midfielder Denys Harmash played against Turkey despite being ill.

Ukraine's 2-0 loss to Turkey was its second in a row after losing to Austria 3-2 on Friday. The two defeats broke a run of six games without loss.

Ukraine, playing at its first European Championship, is in a tough Group D, which also features England and France.

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