Man City ace Zinchenko breaks down in tears over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Oleksandr Zinchenko fought back tears ahead of Ukraine's World Cup qualifying clash with Scotland and declared that he and his team-mates are determined to book a spot at the showpiece tournament for their fans.

Zinchenko and the national team will play their first official match since Russia invaded Ukraine back in February, with a spot in the final of the World Cup play-off against Wales on offer at Hampden Park.

The Manchester City ace has spoken eloquently on numerous occasions in recent months about the devastating war in his homeland – and speaking again on Tuesday, the full-back revealed how he and his compatriots 'dream' of stopping the war.

An emotional Zinchenko said: “Every Ukrainian wants one thing, to stop this war. I’ve spoken with people from all round the world, and also spoken to Ukrainian kids who just don’t understand what’s happening. They only have one dream: to stop the war.

“When it comes to football, the Ukrainian team have our own dream: we want to go to the World Cup, to give these incredible emotions to the people, because Ukrainians deserve it so much at this moment.”

And the 25-year-old revealed that he and his team-mates will be driven on by the situation back in Ukraine, insisting that they were in a "fighting mood". He added: “Everyone understands what is going on in Ukraine these days, what the situation is on the ground, and that’s why our motivation is definitely 100% to win."

Wales will play the winner of Wednesday night's clash for one of the final spots at the showpiece tournament, which is due to take place in Qatar later this year.

Ukraine head coach Oleksandr Petrakov also opened up on the challenges of preparing for such a huge game in the most challenging of circumstances. Petrakov added: "Clearly it's a very difficult task to prepare your team for the game when every single player is thinking about mothers, fathers, close relatives, family back home in Ukraine.

"We use all sorts of methods, even jokes. We motivate people in a light manner. But clearly every player understands how huge the task is. That will make their task even more difficult, working under a lot of stress. But we are trying to do our best and achieve results. The team is fully prepared."

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