Vlada ZINCHENKO: “We literally have something to fight for”

Journalist Vlada Sedan, wife of the football player of the Ukraine national team Oleksandr Zinchenko, shared his impressions after Oleksandr Petrakov’s team lost to Wales (0:1) in the 2022 World Cup qualifying playoff final.

– We only heard about Zinchenko and Petrakov, why didn’t the others come? What’s going on in the locker room?
– I wasn’t in the dressing room and I don’t know what’s going on there, I can only guess. I think we understand what happened in the locker room. The head coach’s post-match commentary vividly describes this situation and the prevailing mood at the moment. I realized that not everyone can comment anymore. It’s raining heavily like tears from Ukrainian fans and fans who are in Cardiff right now. Watching this game from the stands and experiencing all the emotions, yes, in an unlucky place, luck turned, you can look for many reasons. I speak now not as an expert, but as a fan. We are proud of the fact that our men fought to the end.

-The Ukrainian national team is starting a new tournament in three days, won’t the team morale collapse? What is the role of leaders in this situation? Andrey Yarmolenko, who received such a moral injury?

– I hope our guys pack their will into one fist and continue to prove it on the football field and do what they do best in life – that is playing football. It is quite logical that there will be a large-scale rotation of the composition, and you do not need to be a big expert. After all, very few people can withstand two such intense matches. Newcomers and newcomers to society can give the national team a boost. For many, this is a chance to prove themselves at the European football level. This is not the time when Ukrainians should lower their heads. Today we are defeated, but we literally have something to fight for.

– What emotions prevail in the stadium?

“There is madness going on in Cardiff City in a good way. Fans are unrealistically happy, fans started running onto the pitch, turned on the music, LED lights. For Welsh this is truly a holiday. For a long time they did not participate in the final part of the World Championship and it is a success for them. They go crazy to the end, ”said Vlada.