Stepanenko’s town, Velyka Novosilka, was bombed. The city where Bondar grew up, Kharkov, was destroyed. Karavaev’s city, Kherson, was invaded. Matvienko’s birthplace, Saky, had previously been annexed as it belonged to the Crimean peninsula. And then there was the example of Zinchenko, who after being born in Radomyshl fled with his family from Donetsk due to the Donbass war in 2014. In one way or another, every player on the national team has suffered in the last almost 100 days. for more than one occasion, from the invasion of the country as a whole and the impact it has had on millions of people to what is happening in the places where they are most connected. Since February 24 nothing has been the same, since February 24 nothing will be the same again. in glasgow, “Abnormal” normalcy returned at 90 minutes.
“For those who are starving and trying to survive for my country. Proud to be Ukrainian”: Zinchenko’s emotion after the title
“This is the most important game in our history. It’s not even about football anymore, it’s about offering hope to the people of Ukraine. It will be a sign that the war has not broken us,” Iryna Koziupa, a Ukrainian journalist, told AFP. The president of the country, Volidimir Zelensky, thought the same as on so many other more mediatic occasions: it was an opportunity to show the world that there is hope in the midst of war and that the Ukrainian people deserve to be supported. However, the atmosphere experienced in the selection did not go beyond reality. far from there And Zinchenko, who a week and a half ago could not stand the tears of emotion after winning the Premier League against Manchester City, again “broke” in the conference when talking about the situation in Ukraine.
“Russian players, are you going to sit like idiots and say nothing?” Yarmolenko and Mykolenko urge Russian colleagues to act
“We have to stop this. Today it’s Ukraine, tomorrow it could be you. It’s impossible to describe what’s happening. It’s unacceptable, that’s why we have to end this. We have to win.” Ukraine is the land of freedom. Every Ukrainian and the whole world wants to end the war, that’s the dream, but when it comes to football, the dream is to qualify for the World Cup. Let’s try to do that, let’s try to make them happy. Our motivation is above 100%”, commented the left-back, who explained that he considers himself more useful for the country by staying in Manchester because of the “exposure” it offers to what is happening.
Yarmolenko shares family drama and rejects World Cup place “offered” to Ukraine: “We have arms, legs and field, we decide within”
In this context, the position of Oleksandr Petrakov, the coach who replaced Andriy Shevchenko as coach after the last European Championship, was a paradigmatic example of what the entire Ukrainian team went through. “I’m at an age where I don’t want anything. I don’t want a house, I don’t want a car… But if I take the national team to Qatar, my life will have meaning.” took charge in an interview with The Guardian three weeks ago. Petrakov, who since 2006 has been linked to the Federation as coach of youth teams with the 2019 U-20 World Cup, also wanted to join the Ukrainian army to defend the city of kyiv, but the authorities made him see that his role was as much or more relevance than that. He agreed to have another “war”: prepare the main team without the minimum of conditions.
Ukraine coach Oleksandr Petrakov: ‘I’m from Kyiv, I can’t leave. I didn’t think it would be right as people have to defend and I can’t run. I thought, if they come to Kyiv, I will take a weapon and defend my city’ https://t.co/iTSdAbT0gG
— Guardian Sport (@guardian_sport) April 1, 2022
In addition to the many players who have not played for a long time due to the break in competitions, to which was added the few chances of playing many games (only three friendlies with Empoli, B. Mönchengladbach and Rijeka, the last official match having been in November), the coach did not know how the team would react to the return to competition at Hampden Park against a Scotland that was also in the last European Championship and that, respecting the situation in Ukraine as much as possible, wanted to qualify for the decisive match for access to the World Cup that would then be played on Sunday against the Wales team. is that Ukrainian ambition to reach Qatar He was just 90 minutes away from a 3-1 victory.
A moment for Ukraine. A national anthem full of passion ????????pic.twitter.com/rZBsmwdxO1
– Sky Sports (@SkySports) June 1, 2022
With more ball, more ability to stretch the game and more technical arguments to make a difference when it came to the last third, Ukraine was adding several opportunities blocked by Craig Gordon. For Tsygankov, for Yarmolenko, for Yaremchuk (who received the first yellow card of the match in the first few minutes). Scotland managed to leave signs of danger on the dead ball or when playing more directly, but it would be the Ukrainians who opened the scoring by Yarmolenko, in a big hat outside the local goalkeeper after a great long pass from Malinovskyi (33 ‘). The 2,000 or so Ukrainians who flocked to Glasgow were celebrating ahead of a match where the team had a great response.
THE PASS❗ THE RECEPTION❗ THE GOAL❗#sporttvportugal #MUNDIALnaSPORTTV #UEFA #FIFA #World Cup #Qatar2022 #WCQ #Play off #Scotland #Ukraine #Yarmolenko pic.twitter.com/DjPm31uHMI
— SPORT TV (@SPORTTVPortugal) June 1, 2022
???? INTERVAL | ???????????????????????????????????? Scotland 0-1 Ukraine ???????
???? Yarmolenko is giving Ukraine the deserved advantage and has even missed a glaring opportunity (just like the #SL Benfica Yaremchuk)#WCQ2022 #SCOUKR pic.twitter.com/yoe4TXW4Rs
— GoalPoint.pt (@_Goalpoint) June 1, 2022
The first half had been good, the return to the second half was even better, with Yaremchuk taking just four minutes to increase Ukraine’s lead: Yarmolenko combined from the right with Karavaev, the cross went wide to the far post and the Benfica striker appeared higher to avoid his head and run towards the area of the bench where the Ukrainian crowd was concentrated in delight. The match seemed resolved but the good reaction of Scotland, combined with the physical exhaustion of several units of the visiting team, contributed to an exciting ending where McGregor still managed to reduce the deficit in a confusing play in the area, there were opportunities. for the tie but it was Ukraine who scored in the fifth minute of added time when the match was completely broken by Dovbyk (90+5′), with a lot of emotion was mixed in the celebrations for the triumph of the bench on the pitch.
Benfica player Roman Yaremchuk extends Ukraine’s lead ?????????#sporttvportugal #MUNDIALnaSPORTTV #UEFA #FIFA #World Cup #Qatar2022 #WCQ #Play off #Scotland #Ukraine #Yaremchuk pic.twitter.com/iKVYMGDL2A
— SPORT TV (@SPORTTVPortugal) June 1, 2022
???????????????????????????????????? Scotland ???? Ukraine ?????????
???? #SlavaUkraine: A #UKR go ahead and talk about his presence at the World Cup against Wales on the 5th
???? Yarmolenko was the MVP and Yaremchuk also “wet the soup”#WCQ2022 #SCOOKR #WCQ pic.twitter.com/CVPx999oRK— GoalPoint.pt (@_Goalpoint) June 1, 2022
Source: Observadora
