Members of the Ukrainian forces follow the match between their national team and Scotland via a mobile phone in a shelter located in the city of Kharkiv. Photo: REUTERS / Vitalii Hnidyi.
Away from Russian battlefields and invaders, Ukrainian footballers exempt from military service seek to accomplish their mission of taking their country to the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
When preparing to face Welsh On Sunday, in a qualifying match, they will receive encouragement in their dressing room in Cardiff a flag sent by the soldiers to the front.
From Wednesday, when Ukraine beat Scotland in the semifinals, the players exchange messages with friends who defend their country in a war that has lasted 100 days.
“We all hope that very soon Ukraine will become free and become an independent country again,” said midfielder Oleksandr Karavaev through a translator in the Welsh capital.
“This is a great positive stimulus and it triggers positive emotions because everyone believes and sees how the whole world is united around us.”
Oleksandr Karavayev and his serious gesture during the press conference. His relatives are in Ukraine and will not be able to watch the game because they have no Internet. Photo: Reuters / John Sibley.
The Dynamo Kyiv player has relatives in the city of Kherson, which was captured by Russia at the start of the war.
“They can’t watch the game because there is no connection and there is no internet,” Karavaev said. “But they can write and read the news.”
Ukraine last qualified for a World Cup in 2006, but Wales had to wait even longer, since 1958.
“Sport is sport and we do not expect any gifts or an unfair victory,” said Karavaev. “We know how difficult it is and this is the most important game of our life. But we want to win and we will do everything possible to achieve it. ”
Zinchenko, the leader who is moved to tears
“Zinchenko is a very patriotic Ukrainian, also very sensitive, a true Ukrainian”, greeted the coach. Oleksandr Petrakov, 64 years old. Petrakov even offered to serve in the national army at the beginning of the war, before choosing to focus on the goal of a second participation in the World Cup, after 2006, due to the strong non-sporting value that would entail.
A moral leader, Zinchenko will also have to bring most of the team’s play to Cardiff. Six of the eleven starters in Glasgow play for Ukrainian clubs and hadn’t played a competitive match in months before that game in Scotland. Only Yarmolenko (West Ham), Yaremchuk (Benfica), Malinovskyi (Atalanta) and Mykolenko (Everton) managed to finish the season normally.
Oleksandr Petrakov wanted to fight offensively but ended up accepting his responsibility at the helm of a team looking to make history against Wales. Photo: Marco Bucco / LaPresse via AP.
Welsh defender Ben Davies acknowledged that this play-off final will be “an emotional event, in which many people expect good news for Ukraine, but we must try to stay focused on football for the full 90 minutes”.
The authorities gave 100 tickets to Ukrainian refugeesin addition to the 5% of the seats reserved for visiting supporters provided for by the regulations, in a venue with 33,000 seats, the Cardiff City Stadium, which will have full capacity.
Zinchenko’s tears in the middle of the conference
90 minutes from the World Cup, Zinchenko is disputing a sporting feat against Wales that would be a breath of fresh air for a people traumatized by the Russian invasion.
By winning the semi-finals of the European playoffs in Scotland on Wednesday (3-1), the yellow-blues have already covered half of the course, they, who play every game “as a final”, according to Zinchenko, who has become the figurehead of this selection.
This Sunday, added the Manchester City player, capable of playing well both in defense and in midfield, “we will have to have the best performance of our life”.
This former Shakhtar Donetsk player, who fled the war in Donbas in 2014 and who signed a contract with Russian club FC Ufa before joining the “Citizens” a year later, Now he talks about football with war-tinged words.
Manchester City’s Oleksandr Zinchenko from Ukraine gets excited every time he talks about the drama his country is going through. Andrew Milligan / PA via AP.
“We all understand that the match against Wales will not be a question of physical condition or tactics, but of survival. Everyone will fight for it and give everything,” explained the 25-year-old, as if to send forces to Ukrainian soldiers, for lack of being able to them. support fighting shoulder to shoulder.
“I am more useful to Ukraine by being in Manchester and by helping Ukrainians as much as possible, by sending material, money or by explaining to everyone who will listen to me what is currently happening in Ukraine,” he said.
Zinchenko dissolved in tears on several occasions during recent interviews and press conferences, such as last Tuesday, 24 hours before the game against Scotland.
Before bursting into tears, Oleksandr Zinchenko described the match against Wales as “the match of his life”. Photo: Andrew Milligan / PA via AP.
“Many countries do not understand that Ukraine is being attacked today, but that it could be them tomorrow,” he said a little more diplomatically than when he posted a message on the first day of the Russian invasion, February 24. on Instagram Vladimir Putin wishing him death.
Bale’s sincerity
Wales captain Gareth Bale has expressed a lot of sympathy for Ukraine, but also a relentless sporting desire to qualify.
Will Bale apologize to Ukraine for depriving him of his World Cup dream?
“Sounds awful, but no,” Bale replied.
· It is a football match and a competition that we want to achieve. Everyone sympathizes with Ukraine, but this match is a football match. It is sport, it unites everyone. We understand what it means for Ukraine, but we want to go to the World Cup. This doesn’t come from a horrible place, it comes from our country, from our hearts. We want to meet our fans. “
Gareth Bale sympathized with the Ukrainian people but made it clear that he is focused on Wales’ return to the World Cup. The last time was in 1958, 64 years ago. Photo: Reuters / John Sibley.
With information from Agencies
Source: Clarin
