Ralph Hasenhuttl ‘struggling’ to focus on Southampton’s FA Cup match due to Ukraine crisis
UEFA and FIFA suspend Russia from all competitions
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Emotional Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl admits he has been struggling to get on with his job – because of the tragedy unfolding in the Ukraine. Saints Brazilian defender Lyanco’s sister Lyarah, who is married to Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Maycon, was at one point stranded in the war-torn Eastern European country, but has managed to get out and back to her homeland.
Austrian Hasenhuttl, whose side face West Ham in the fifth round of the FA Cup tomorrow at St Mary’s, admits right now that concentrating on football is “ridiculous.”
The Saints manager, whose team have only lost one of their last dozen games, said: “There is nobody (in the squad) who is not talking about because it affects us all. It’s a human catastrophe what is happening there.
“Every team has players that are affected. We have Lyanco, his sister who was in Ukraine, but has made it back to Brazil.
“But you can see what it does with players, and with everybody.
“I have been really struggling in the last week to concentrate on my job. To concentrate on ridiculous football at the moment.
“The only good thing is that you have two or three hours during the game when you’re not thinking about it. The rest of the day is affected by worrying about children, women, people – dying in a needless war.
“It’s really tough in the moment to find the right mindset for what we’re doing. But in the end, we all have to function, and that’s what we’re doing.”
Hasenhuttl agrees with Fifa’s decision to ban Russia from the World Cup after their invasion of the Ukraine.
He said: “It’s absolutely the logical decision. Everybody expected that this would happen if the people there affected directly have nothing to do with this war. In the end it’s a very logical decision they have to take.”
Saints will be wearing their traditional yellow and blue away kit (which is the same as Ukraine’s national colours) in their league game at Aston Villa on Saturday.
They were due to wear that anyway, but it can now become a gesture of support for the Ukraine. The club cannot switch their kit for tomorrow’s game as their colours had already been confirmed.
Hasenhuttl said: “I spoke about it with the club. I’m not sure it is always possible because of other things you have to be aware of. We will play with yellow and blue against Villa at the weekend.”
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