Ukraine failed to qualify for this year’s FIFA World Cup, the most prestigious football tournament, after a 1-0 defeat to Wales, but when your country is at war do not care. The bloodshed continues, lives are still being lost.
However, for 90 minutes on a rainy night in Wales, this match mattered, because there was hope, an opportunity to dream and cheer.
When Ukrainian players gathered in the locker room before their playoff finals to qualify for this year’s World Cup, they did so with a national flag sent from the front line hanging on one of the walls.
This was a game where war and football intertwined. He did not forget why the heart of the neutrals was with Ukraine.
It was after Ukraine’s thrilling 3-1 win over Scotland earlier in the week in the playoff semi-finals that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the team for “two hours of happiness”.
Qualifying for the World Cup would have given the Ukrainians much more than that, but a deflected free kick by Gareth Bale ensured that Wales would occupy the last European qualifying spot for Qatar in November.
‘human friendship’
The importance of a match can be measured by the atmosphere outside the stadium during the hours before the start. This was the kind of game that had both sets of fans queuing up to get in and queuing a few hours earlier. The winner would take everything and, in the case of Wales, make history.
The Ukrainian fans, almost all dressed in national colors, kindly mingled with the local fans and talked about the warmth given to them by the Welsh fans.
“It’s human friendship,” said Nelya Sushereba, who had traveled from west London. “We feel the support, even from the Welsh people.”
Ukrainian fans had come mainly from London, and among them were football novices.
For Essex resident Andriy Grabar and his wife, Mary, the Scottish party earlier this week was the first to attend.
The couple talked about the willingness to support the team, given what is happening in their homeland.
“Our people in Ukraine are waiting for a happy emotion,” Andriy said, while Mariia summed up her pre-party feelings. [would be] a small victory for a bigger purpose “.
On a thrilling night, the Ukrainian players took to the field with their national flags on their shoulders.
Moments before the players lined up for the anthems, Welsh folk singer Dafydd Iwan sang “Yma or Hyd”, a song adopted by Welsh fans as an unofficial anthem. His moving lyrics – the heart, translated into English, is “in spite of everything, we’re still here” – could also have resonated among visiting fans.
For much of the match, Ukraine had more reasons to cheer, although the pockets of some 1,000 Ukrainians inside the stadium could hardly be heard, as was the uproar created by the local fans.
First World Cup in Wales in 64 years
Wales has the heroism of goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey to thank for his place in Qatar. In the first half, Roman Yaremchuk and Viktor Tsygankov kept the Welshman busy, who then missed the best opportunity of the half when he finished in goal, but did not reach the goal.
And later, a brilliant stop from Hennessey – with substitute Artem Dovbyk heading out of danger – kept his team in the lead.
In addition to Hennessey, the other key player in Wales, as is usually the case, was Bale, and it was his free kick that was headed into the net by captain Andriy Yarmolenko.
Although Bale’s star has been declining in recent years at Real Madrid, the striker remains the most powerful player in Wales, having scored two outstanding goals earlier this year against Austria to oust Wales. them to this final.
Despite all the pre-match benevolence (Welsh fans even applauded Ukraine’s national anthem), this was a match that would allow Wales to wipe out their demons from the World Cup.
The man had not stepped on the moon the last time Wales qualified for the biggest football tournament, and a teenager Pelé scored the winning goal that eliminated Wales from the quarter-finals. of 1958. It has been a long wait, with many classification errors.
Undoubtedly, this would be the last chance for the country’s “Golden Generation” – including Bale and Aaron Ramsay – to qualify for the sporting event.
The locals had to deepen and sometimes the men in red took their luck, but in the final whistle was Bale, replaced after the break, who sprinted on the field to celebrate with his teammates. when the Ukrainian players fell to their knees desperate.
The visitors had given it their all, and the two teams were right in the lead.