England vs Ukraine: This picture of Zinchenko and Mykolenko remains poignant
The Telegraph Theres an overused expression in football about a team wanting it more. If that was the truest measure of success, England would face the world champions at Wembley on Sunday.
The harrowing backstories of many of Ukraines players make the notion of playing for your country more consequential than achieving Euro 2024 qualification, each international fixture a means to reassert freedom and independence.
No expression of Ukrainian solidarity, patriotism and defiance on English soil was more powerful than that two days after Russias invasion in February, 2022, when two of Ukraines most high profile international footballers playing for rival clubs embraced and shed tears before the Premier League fixture between Manchester City and Everton.
Over 35,000 spectators stood and applauded as Oleksandr Zinchenko and Vitaliy Mykolenko shared the witness testimonies of their terrified families as Russian bombs dropped on Kyiv. Millions were heartened by the images from Goodison Park as they accompanied those at West Hams London Stadium in a Stop the War video message delivered by the Ukraine squad. Here was a profound statement of how naive those who say sport and politics should not mix.
