“This game is more than just a football game for us,” the Ukraine great Andriy Shevchenko told the Wembley crowd before kick-off. “People are fighting for the right to exist.”
The Ukraine team could feel their nation watching, a few thousand here, many more millions at home, dreaming of victory, a short respite from the suffering. They had the passion, the goodwill of everybody. England had Bukayo Saka.
Gareth Southgate had called upon his players to build on the 2-1 win against Italy in Naples last Thursday, to take a grip on this Euro 2024 qualifying group. Thanks to a sensational performance from Saka, they did so. The Arsenal winger set up the opening goal for Harry Kane. He scored the second himself.
Both were moments of breathtaking skill and precision and they embossed a display that was heavy on pace and menace. It was game over by half-time.
Kane was presented with a golden boot beforehand to mark his status as England’s record goalscorer thanks to his penalty in Naples which proved to be the winner and it was an occasion that he and his teammates dealt with well. As the captain would put it afterwards, they have made a tough start to the campaign appear straightforward.
The emotion had pulsed from the outset, the Ukraine players emerging from the tunnel with blue and yellow flags around their shoulders; the rendition of their anthem seeing eyes well up. It remained easy to wonder how on earth they could play at all, a quote from another Ukrainian legend, Igor Belanov, hitting hard.
“Our players spend more time hiding from missiles than training, the sessions are interrupted all the time,” Belanov said. “Every day, the enemy destroys infrastructure, fires missiles and kills people. This gets to your brain, to your soul and it doesn’t leave fast.”
On the other hand, how can they not play? Football has come to stand as one of the few things that can disconnect the Ukrainian nation, however briefly, from the horrors of the war.
The players, who arrived in London last Tuesday and trained at Brentford, are acutely aware of their responsibilities, their motivation pushing new extremes. (Guardian)