Before the start of the last play-offs in Europe for the right to go to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, few people bet that the Ukrainian team would succeed.
It was assumed that she was not in the best shape, because the players playing in the local national championship had not yet entered the field in official meetings this year and were deprived of normal training.
However, in fact, the wards of Alexander Petrakov in Glasgow easily beat Scotland (3:1) and could well secure a more comfortable score difference.
A more serious test awaited them in the face of Wales, led by Gareth Bale, who dreams of bringing his team to the world championship for the first time since 1958.
And the attitude of the Welsh was as serious as possible.
The same Bale stressed that he sympathizes with Ukraine, but also wants to go to the World Cup.
The neighbors were also willing to do anything for success.
For example, the mentor of the “zhovto-Blakyt” Petrakov emphasized before the game: the whole country is worried about them.
“The guys wrote a lot of messages with words of support... Our president brought the flag of Ukraine.
We'll hang him in the dressing room before the game.
We are thinking about how to make our fans happy, ”Tribuna quotes a specialist.
However, if you study the statistics of the team in the qualifying rounds of the World Cup, then he had little chance.
Prior to that, he took part in the joints four times and invariably suffered defeats.
Meanwhile, in the RFU, just a couple of hours before the decisive match, they sent a protest to FIFA in connection with the image of the neighbors of the Crimean Peninsula on the uniform and the statements of representatives of the Ukrainian federation, inciting hatred against Russian citizens.
The first half turned out to be extremely controversial.
On the one hand, Petrakov's wards had a clear advantage.
On the other hand, Rob Page's team managed to open an account thanks to a curious draw of the standard.
"Zhovto-Blakitnye" actively started the meeting and already in the third minute they managed to distinguish themselves.
Oleksandr Zinchenko scored a direct free-kick.
However, referee Mateu Laos canceled the goal, as he asked to play it exclusively on the whistle.
The initiative then briefly passed to the Welsh.
However, they acted quite straightforwardly: passes along the flanks and throws into the penalty area on the tall Kieffer Moore.
Opponents calmly coped with this threat.
Not too noticeable on the right side was Bale, who was closely looked after by Vitaliy Mikolenko.
But the quick attacks of the Ukrainians looked much more interesting.
Getting space on someone else's half, they weaved beautiful combinations in one or two touches and tried to penetrate into the penalty area.
Zinchenko, Roman Yaremchuk, Andrey Yarmolenko and Viktor Tsygankov caused a lot of problems for their counterparts.
But Wayne Hennessy acted above all praise.
Before the break, he parried two nasty long shots from Zinchenko.
He also promptly ran out to meet Tsygankov in the one-on-one episode and forced him to miss.
True, the referee on the line recorded an offside position.
And in the 34th minute, the ball was scored by the hosts, absolutely not following from the logic of the game.
They hit a dangerous standard and Bale attempted to serve.
However, Yarmolenko's head was in the way of the projectile, who, to the horror of his partners, sent him into the net.
True, the captain soon almost rehabilitated himself, almost earning a penalty, but Laos, along with his assistants at VAR, considered that Allen did not knock down the midfielder in the penalty area, but acted according to the rules.
In the second half, Ukraine had no choice but to go forward in full force.
Wales, on the other hand, were completely satisfied with this style of play.
The British defended themselves reliably and, at every opportunity, carried out their favorite branded counterattacks.
So, during one of them, Aaron Ramsey, after a neat pass by Moore, miraculously missed the target.
The pressure of the guests became more and more serious.
They weaved combinations on someone else's half and tried to find gaps in the opponent's defense.
Often this was possible, but Hennessy continued to act beyond praise.
For example, he miraculously parried Tsygankov's shot at point-blank range, while Yaremchuk missed the target while finishing.
After a couple of minutes, Bogdan almost brought Yarmolenko one on one, but Ben Davis secured his partners at the last moment.
Page's team responded with a rebounding shot from Daniel James from outside the box, after which the ball nearly glided into the net.
It would be logical for Petrakov to make substitutions as early as possible in order to maintain a high pace in the opponent's half, but he updated the squad only 20 minutes before the final whistle.
The specialist completely rotated the support zone, instead of Taras Stepanenko and Malinovsky, he threw Sergei Sidorchuk and Nikolai Shaparenko into battle.
And a little later, Mikhail Mudrik and Artyom Dovbik, the author of the winning goal in the 1/8 finals of Euro 2020 with Sweden, appeared on the field.
But the hosts had more chances to excel.
What is worth at least a moment of Brennan Johnson.
The young midfielder had just appeared on the field when, after a cross from the right flank, he hit the near post.
Immediately, Bale could put an end to it, but after his powerful shot at close range, Georgy Bushchan miraculously managed to take shape.
The Welsh also continued to rescue Hennessy, who spent the match of life.
In the 84th minute, he miraculously coped with a shot from a fresh Dovbik from a few meters away.
In the end, the Ukrainian national team switched to bulk, but failed to upset the goalkeeper who caught the courage.
Thus, even on the fifth attempt, she could not break through the joints at the World Cup.
But for the first time since 1958, Wales qualified for the world championship thanks to a curious own goal and will play in the same group with England, Iran and the United States.