The people of Ukraine, who have suffered for a long time, but no less proud and stubborn, are now experiencing a new round of aggression against our country. Someone says that it is inappropriate to talk about football at such a difficult time, but the victory match of the Ukrainian national football team in the qualifying match against Scotland (3:1) proved otherwise.

Thanks to this success of the Blue-Yellows, we have not only added some endorphins to our daily diet of emotion, but Alexander Petrakov’s team also had the opportunity to play in the decisive match against Wales in Cardiff. They will represent their country at the World Cup in Qatar. The hospitable Cardiff City stadium, like all of Great Britain, happily welcomed the Ukrainian team, but we came for a certain result – to win, so there was no need to seek compromises.

And Ukraine got off to a really strong start, with a third-minute rebound from a defender and a heavy downpour prevented goalkeeper Hennessy from tackling Oleksandr Zinchenko’s long-range free kick in midfield. It is a pity that our players rushed to play the standard position without waiting for the referee’s permission, which is why the hit shot was cancelled. However, this did not prevent Petrakov’s team from putting more pressure on the opposing half and gave reasons for the opposing goalkeeper to enter the fight.

In contrast to the coldness towards Scotland, the moments at the gates of the representatives of the British Isles cost a dime a dozen. All that remains is that the “blue-yellows” faced such serious difficulties that they could only hold their heads each time Hennessy once again emerged from “dry” situations.

Yaremchuk, Tsygankov and Zinchenko took turns destroying the Welsh defenses with wide and fast attacks, but a single left-wing counterattack from James in the 34th minute had serious consequences for us. Ruslan Malinovsky knocked out his opponent on the outskirts of the penalty area, after which Andriy Yarmolenko unsuccessfully put his head under the surrender of Gareth Bale, which by the standard was not so difficult.

Given the actions of Petrakov’s team, we expected to see no such result in the first half, but nothing against the situation on the scoreboard. But regarding some of the decisions of the Spanish referee in Laos – this is welcome! A blatant penalty was somehow not seen by the VAR team after Allen accidentally fouled into Yarmolenko from the left flank of the free kick while attempting to kick the ball far away shortly before the break, which caused controversy. Fans during a short pause.

The second half of the match was quite predictable in terms of Wales’ defensive playing behaviour, but this was from the moment the hosts started things up. Ramsey forgave our team by failing to make the left wing cross from outside the penalty area. At times, the Red Dragons have had opportunities to harass Buschan, but the game is almost entirely controlled by Ukraine.

It was useless to talk about the opportunities in the Hennessy goal, as they had to be scored. But the opponents’ goalkeeper was as confident as possible in his own abilities, so even the fatal situations of Yarmolenko and Dovbik only resulted in our disappointment. And then the opponents were able to suddenly counterattack and jump the post with a finishing kick, just as Neko Williams did at the 75th minute, after which Buschan gave some more hope for success with a magical reflection from Bale at close range. But in the end, there was no surprising rescue – Petrakov’s team fought to the end, but luck was not on his side.

The final whistle of Spanish referee Antonio Miguel Mateu Laos passed the Wales team to the World Cup in Qatar. For the national team of Ukraine there was a stop, one step away from a dream.

2022 World Cup qualifying playoffs.

Wales – Ukraine – 1:0

Yarmolenko (34, own goal)

Allen (2), James (3) – Mikolenko (32), Mudryk (90+4)

Wales: Hennesy, N. Williams, Rodon, B. Davis (Norrington-Davis, 90+3), C. Roberts, James (Johnson, 71), Allen, Ramsey, Ampadu, Bale (Wilson, 83), Moore.

Ukraine: Bushchan, Mikolenko, Matvienko, Zabarny, Karavaev, Stepanenko (Sydorchuk, 70), Tsygankov (Mudrik, 77), Zinchenko, Malinovsky (Shaparenko, 70), Yarmolenko, Yaremchuk (Dovbik, 77).

Judge: Antonio Mateu Laos (Spain)

Cardiff City Stadium (Cardiff, Wales)

WALES – UKRAINE. TEXT BROADCAST OF THE MATCH