GLASGOW, Scotland — Oleksandr Zinchenko tried to hold back his emotions, but when the Ukraine midfielder attempted to describe the importance of his country’s World Cup play-off semifinal against Scotland in Glasgow on Wednesday (streaming LIVE, ESPN+, 2:30 p.m. ET), his lip began to tremble and the tears started to flow.
When Manchester City‘s Zinchenko and his Ukrainian teammates face Scotland at Hampden Park, it will be 99 days since Russia invaded their country and instigated a war that continues to rage, with towns and cities in the east of Europe’s largest nation still under siege and citizens enduring a daily battle for survival. Football matters, and qualifying for the World Cup matters even more, but for Zinchenko, his tears delivered perspective.
“Every Ukrainian wants one thing: to stop this war,” Zinchenko said during the news conference. “I have spoken with people from…
