Oleksandr Zinchenko promises Ukraine will send a message to the world vs England
Oleksandr Zinchenko says Ukraine plan to send a message to the world - but nothing will ever compare to playing in their own country.
Ukraine will host England for their Euro 2024 qualifier in the Polish city of Wroclaw and hope to produce a memorable image of yellow and blue in the 42,000 capacity stadium. But it is still another game away from their homeland because of the ongoing conflict with Russia and Zinchenko says the team feel it is their duty to play their own part through football.
Ukraine captain Zinchenko said: “I'm expecting a full stadium of blue and yellow because I know a lot of Ukrainians are living here, of course it will be an amazing atmosphere and I'm expecting a good game as well, both teams play good football.
“But it is impossible to say that it is going to be the same atmosphere as when we play in Ukraine, because when you play in Ukraine even the air is different. It doesn't matter where you are on the planet, everyone knows what football is.
"It is an amazing opportunity to talk out, to speak out, and personally I feel this is my duty, using all the opportunity I have to speak out. We need to speak out.
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"The first message, the most important and which I have to say every single time is that I must say a massive thanks to the Ukraine army to have this chance to play for the national team. We are representing our country.
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“When I first started with the national team, Under-15s, Under-16s my coaches used to say ‘we are representing our country’ - so any rubbish on the streets (of Ukraine), that is our face, so they tell us to show the rest of the world who we really are.
“I need to show to the rest of the world what is happening in my country at the moment because unfortunately now there is a lot of propaganda everywhere and people need to know the truth.”
Arsenal defender Zinchenko has become a huge powerful voice through sport in the conflict and he also captains his national team. It could be a hugely important game for Ukraine’s qualification hopes because if they beat England on Saturday and then Italy next Tuesday it will give them a big chance.
Zinchenko admitted that it is sometimes difficult to control his emotions and not let his sense of patriotism take over and detract from his performance on the pitch.
He added: “In the beginning it was hard to combine these feelings, it was hard. But at the same time you are just thinking about people who are risking their lives, fighting for our independence, staying on the front line, having families and kids. You can't complain, you can't complain as simple as that.”
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