For months after Russia invaded their nation in February, the members of Ukraine’s nationwide soccer crew had been unable to carry a lot as a apply collectively, not to mention play a recreation.
On Sunday, they are going to play for a spot within the World Cup.
That recreation, as soon as unthinkable for Ukraine’s crew, and by far the least of its considerations, will likely be in opposition to Wales at Cardiff Metropolis Stadium, a modest enviornment about 1,500 miles from Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, and a world away from the horrors and traumas and worries of struggle.
Right here’s what it’s worthwhile to know.
How can I watch?
The sport is being broadcast in america by ESPN and streamed on its ESPN Plus service. (Warning: You might even see listings saying the match is on ESPN2; it was, till Friday, when the community reassessed the curiosity within the recreation and moved it to ESPN.)
Broadcast protection on ESPN begins at 11:30 a.m. Jap. The sport kicks off at midday.
What’s at stake?
Sunday’s match is, within the strictest sense, a winner-take-all affair. The victor on Sunday will declare one of many remaining three locations within the World Cup in Qatar when it kicks off in November. The loser can strive once more in 4 years.
Ukraine hasn’t certified for the World Cup since 2006, its solely earlier journey to the event.
However Wales has waited even longer: Its final — and solely — World Cup look was in 1958, and the crew is raring to finish that drought, even when it means ending Ukraine’s desires on the identical time.
“It’s nonetheless lacking,” mentioned the Wales captain, Gareth Bale, who has 5 Champions League titles on his résumé however not a single minute within the World Cup. “We’ve got a recreation tomorrow to place that to mattress and qualify. Everybody needs to play at a World Cup. It’s no totally different for me.”
How did the groups get right here?
Sunday’s recreation is the ultimate match of a four-team playoff — two semifinals and a remaining — that didn’t go as anybody anticipated. The video games had been initially scheduled for March, however Ukraine’s semifinal in opposition to Scotland was postponed quickly after Russia’s invasion, whilst Wales went forward with a recreation in opposition to Austria, winning by 2-1.
In April, FIFA, soccer’s international governing physique and the organizer of the World Cup, introduced the Ukraine-Scotland match had been rescheduled for June 1, with the ultimate — already set for Wales — to be held a couple of days later.
Learn Extra on the World Cup
On Wednesday, Ukraine beat Scotland, 3-1, in a recreation charged with emotion at Hampden Park in Glasgow. It was the Ukrainians’ first official recreation since November.
Was Ukraine anticipated to be right here?
Till the Scotland recreation, it was exhausting to know what to anticipate from Ukraine. Rescheduling its World Cup playoff was one factor. Making ready for the sport was one other matter.
Like most of Europe’s nationwide groups, Ukraine has gamers who’re scattered throughout the continent: Oleksandr Zinchenko simply received a Premier League title with Manchester Metropolis, and Andriy Yarmolenko (West Ham), Ruslan Malinovskyi (Atalanta) and Roman Yaremchuk (Benfica) all play for giant European golf equipment. That meant the core of the crew was getting common coaching and video games, even when their minds had been continuously distracted by the struggle again house.
However the Ukrainian league shut down as quickly as Russia invaded, leaving the majority of Ukraine’s gamers with no place to play. The highest golf equipment Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kyiv managed to get their gamers in a foreign country and arrange camps overseas and a sequence of exhibition matches so their gamers might prepare.
On the identical time, Ukraine’s coach, Oleksandr Petrakov, arrange a training camp in Slovenia for his crew, and cycled in members of the squad as they turned obtainable. All of the whereas, messages poured in from Ukraine: from troopers, from members of the family, from mates preventing to defend Ukraine’s sovereignty from Russian troops.
“They make just one demand,” the veteran midfielder Taras Stepanenko told The Guardian of the messages he and his teammates obtain. “‘Please do every little thing you’ll be able to to go to the World Cup.’”
What are they saying?
Ukraine Coach Oleksandr Petrakov: “We’ve got a really tough state of affairs within the nation. Not everybody watches soccer. We’ve got grief, persons are dying …”
“We don’t give it some thought. We’re eager about make our followers glad, our armed forces, and targeted on the sport.”
Wales captain Gareth Bale: “We’ll be the most well-liked crew within the stadium, that’s the primary factor. We perceive the terrible issues happening in Ukraine. Our hearts exit to the children, households and folks of Ukraine. We’ve all felt terrible throughout this time and never been in a position to do an excessive amount of. However come tomorrow, it’s a recreation of soccer. We need to win.”
Ukraine defender Oleksandr Karavayev: “We perceive that an important recreation in our lives is forward.”
What’s subsequent for the winner?
For the reason that World Cup draw befell within the window between the unique dates of the playoff in March and Sunday’s playoff remaining, the winner of the sport in Cardiff will know its World Cup path instantly.
It can land in a bunch with England, Iran and america and open the World Cup on its first day, Nov. 21, in opposition to the Individuals.
