The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Inspired Ukrainians one win from advancing to Cup finals
Ukraine’s soccer players feel a duty to represent their nation’s identity on a global stage and give pride to people back home during Russia’s war on their homeland. Mission fulfilled so far.
With Ukraine now just one win away from a morale-boosting spot in the World Cup finals, its players have been encouraged by messages from Ukrainians fighting the war back home. The messages — from people facing daily risks to defend Ukraine — lifted the team before and after an inspirational first win in the World Cup qualifying playoffs on Wednesday.
“They text before the game,” Ukraine midfielder Ruslan Malinovskyi said in the afterglow of Ukraine beating Scotland 3-1 in Glasgow. “‘Guys, we are with you, do your job on the pitch, we do our job to protect our country.’”
The hugely impressive Ukraine team moved on Thursday to Wales, where victory would secure its place at the World Cup finals in Qatar starting in November.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted thanks to the team on social media for “two hours of happiness.”
The team’s performance and unity with people at home came “from our soul, from our heart,” said midfielder Taras Stepanenko, who has spent the past eight years playing for a Shakhtar Donetsk club exiled from its home city by Russian-backed conflict.
“I have maybe 100 messages from my friends, from my family, from our army who serve now in a very difficult situation,” Stepanenko said after the game.
Stepanenko acknowledged he “wanted to cry” during the Ukraine anthem played minutes before kickoff.
Bars in Kyiv stayed open behind locked doors through a curfew and during air-raid alerts.
“We did everything for the people we played for,” coach Oleksandr Petrakov said at the stadium. “For the armed forces in the trenches and in the hospitals, who give their last drop of blood, (for) those in Ukraine who suffer every day. They will thank us and we will give them our gratitude.
“Women and children (are) being killed by the Russians on a daily basis,” said the coach, whose team has put Ukraine, and its famous blue-and-yellow colors, on a globally broadcast stage.
Petrakov’s purpose chimed with those who came to Glasgow to share the moment among 3,000 Ukraine fans in a near-50,000 crowd at Hampden Park.
“The more Ukraine you see on TV and news everywhere, it’s better for us,” said Yaroslav Grygorenko, who lives in Amsterdam with his wife and their three children. “It’s more important than usual to be there (at the World Cup).”
Ukraine’s quest to qualify for the finals tournament — where its first game would be against the United States on Nov. 21 — continues in Cardiff on Sunday.
A victory against Wales would give the Ukrainians five months to prepare for the World Cup finals in Qatar, joining Iran and England in Group B along with the United States.