The aim was to distract Ukrainians from their war-torn daily life for 90 minutes.
The selection achieved its goal on Thursday evening in Glasgow, logically dominating Scotland (1-3), in the semi-final of the play-offs for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
“I no longer have any emotions, all my emotions remained on the ground, reacted coach Olexandr Petrakov at a press conference.
This victory was not for me, or for the team members, it was for our country, so it was a huge victory.
“The armed forces, in the trenches or in the hospital, they say thank you to us but we also say thank you to them, continued the 64-year-old technician.
We played for those who fight in the trenches until the last drop of their blood.
We played for the Ukrainians who suffer every day.
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The mission of the Zbirna (the nickname of the selection) is not yet complete, however.
To hope to see the World Cup, she must now win in Cardiff on Sunday.
"We took a very small step towards our goal," said Petrakov.
There is still Wales on our way.
We will do everything to make Ukrainians proud.
My team and I are proud to be Ukrainians.
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Scotland – Ukraine: Winners, the Ukrainians offer their bruised country the right to dream of the World Cup… Relive this play-off match with us
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World Cup 2022: "Show that Ukraine is standing" ... In Scotland, the selection will play for a whole people
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War in Ukraine
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World Cup 2022