WE DON’T ASK FOR AN EASY KAR RIDE
OLEKSANDR KARAVAEV insists he and his Ukraine pals wouldn’t want a “gimme” against Wales today even if Gareth Bale and Co had been willing to give them one.
In the wake of Russia’s invasion, many people called for Ukraine to be awarded the 32nd and final place that was up for grabs in Qatar without the need for a play-off.
But Karavaev wants to get there on merit, not pity, and along with Englandbased players Oleksandr Zinchenko, Andriy Yarmolenko and Vitaliy Mykolenko, will be going all out to achieve his dream.
The Dynamo Kyiv midfielder said: “Sport is sport and we don’t expect presents or an unfair win.
“We know how hard it is and this is the most important game in our lives. But we wish to win and we will do everything possible to do that.”
Ukraine had huge support at Hampden Park for their 3-1 victory over Scotland – but will be faced with a sea of red at the Cardiff
City Stadium today.
Karavaev said: “We are very comfortable together on the field. The game against Scotland was very emotional for us and we had very strong support, even from Scottish fans.
“We felt that and it helped us. In the last two or three years, we had no full stadiums – and it’s good to have such support.”
Manager Oleksandr Petrakov has revealed that a Ukrainian flag from the battleground will hang in their dressing room today.
“Our team wrote to soldiers and received a flag from the war, which they promised to hang in the dressing room,” said Petrakov.
“It’s a really hard situation in Ukraine and not everyone can watch football but we will try to concentrate and play well.’’