25 March 2023 , 22:30
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John Stones saw how the horror of Ukraine being plunged into a brutal war reduced Oleksandr Zinchenko to tears of anger and pain.
The England defender was Zinchenko’s team-mate at Manchester City when Russia’s invasion of his homeland even prompted the full-back to consider joining the Ukrainian army.
When Zinchenko lined up for City at Everton, the reaction of the Goodison fans to both him and countryman Vitalii Mykolenko saw their emotions pour out. And there were more tears when City retained the title on the final day of the season and he celebrated by draping himself in a Ukrainian flag.
Stones will be desperate to make sure that Zinchenko leaves Wembley a beaten man when England face Ukraine at Wembley. But while Zinchenko is now part of the Arsenal team trying to take the Premier League crown away from Stones’ City, the centre-back’s respect remains undiminished.
“I don’t know if shocked is the right word,” said Stones about Zinchenko’s demeanour when Russian troops marched into Ukraine 13 months ago. "But Zinner wasn’t himself at all. He was very sad. He is usually such a bubbly person, really happy.
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“It shocked us all. I never thought I would see this happen. I was so upset for Zinner. We all tried to speak to him and get him to vent his feelings. He was always looking for what his family, who were still over there, were doing and how he could help.
Oleksandr Zinchenko was distraught by the Russian invasion of Ukraine (Matt McNulty - Manchester City/Manchester City FC via Getty Images)“I know he was out there on the streets in Manchester with a lot of his fellow countrymen that he could be with and support at that time. I think it was also about the football family. People showed their hearts, putting their club and love for their team to one side and recognising there are bigger things than football. I can’t imagine what he went through.
“For him to go through it seamlessly and win another title is a huge credit to him and his whole support team, his wife, his mental strength and everything. I think he will probably have wanted to do that for them, succeed and not kind of let it get him down or stop him from achieving his goal.”
Stones added: “I have got a lot of love for Zinner and a lot of respect. We still speak. It’s not easy for someone to leave a club and still stay in contact, but he has done that and we still have a laugh. We will probably have a joke in the tunnel - but as soon as the whistle goes we want to beat each other.
Oleksandr Zinchenko draped the Premier League trophy with a Ukrainian flag (Stu Forster/Getty Images)“I definitely want to beat Zinner - because I know it will be the other way around with him. There will be a lot of respect there as well, but we want to keep moving forward and get three points.”
England kicked off their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign by beating reigning champions Italy in Naples on Thursday night. The Three Lions’ 2-1 victory was a touch of redemption after losing to Roberto Mancini’s men in the final of the tournament just over two years ago.
Stones, outstanding in the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium, said: “Now it’s about making sure we get the job done against Ukraine to make the Italy result count. On a personal note, there was a lot of satisfaction from that win after that Euro final against them.
“I think Italy have got so much quality and have been quite dominant for years in big games. Now we have to just concentrate on ourselves and look to get three points again, especially at Wembley.”