TEAMMATES: Martin Ødegaard and Oleksandr Zintchenko, here from a game last season. Photo: Kin Cheung / AP / NTB
LONDON (VG) Arsenal star Oleksandr Zintchenko (26) is experiencing great success in the club team. But it will be nothing compared to what he can experience with the national team in just over a week – for a Ukraine that is at war.
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When VG asks Zintsjenko – shortly after he put the nail in the Burnley coffin with a superb strike in the 3-1 victory on Saturday – about what it is like to be a professional footballer, at the same time as the war is in full swing in his home country, he answers as follows:
– To be honest and to answer that question… What you are asking is whether it is tough or not. But let me turn it around and ask you: Is it tough for those who are on the front lines and give their lives for our independence and our freedom. Which of the parts is the toughest? That’s my answer.
CHEERED FOR SCORING AND VICTORY: Oleksandr Zintchenko, here after his lovely 3-1 goal against Burnley on Saturday. Photo: Nigel French / Pa Photos / NTB
For Zintchenko, the interview session went from smiles after a good performance, victory and goal, to far more seriousness when it was pointed out that a far more important match than Burnley in the Premier League is just around the corner.
On 20 November, Ukraine can qualify for the EC in Germany next year. Zintsjenko & co. are three points ahead of Italy in the group. But they will meet the Italians at the BayArena in Germany in just over a week’s time. But in the dramatic rush into the group, Italy also has one less game played than Ukraine. Probably nothing but victory is good enough for Ukraine.
– It will be a massive battle. I’m not really ready to talk about it yet. But it will be the fight of our lives, for sure. Especially now, in the toughest time for our country, I would say. To be able to create something positive for the Ukrainian people, that is so important.
A few months after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared full-scale war against Ukraine, Zintchenko spoke out about the situation.
He admitted that he struggled to concentrate on football and stated that he wanted people to talk more about the war. Not to forget the brutality that was going on and is still going on in his country.
Zintchenko spent most of his teenage years at the big club Shakhtar from Donetsk, a city occupied by the Russians. When the war started there in 2014, he moved with his parents to Russia.
Arsenal and captain Martin Ødegaard have also done what they can to support him. It became visible to all an Arsenal match the day after the first anniversary of the war in February this year.
Ødegaard spoke to people at the club and wanted Zintchenko to wear the captain’s armband in that match.
– It was a nice thing to do, to show him support. A year has passed now, too long, and a very difficult and emotional situation for him, Ødegaard said of the situation.
Manager Mikel Arteta stated the following:
– He, his family and everyone in his country have suffered a lot. It is a very nice gesture from the club and from the team. Especially Martin who gives him the captain’s armband on this day.
Zintchenko was then asked what it would mean for him to have the national team – which was qualified in both 2016 and 2020 – back in the EC.
– It is so important, playing in the EC is in itself an incredible achievement, regardless. But especially now. When we put on the Ukrainian uniform then is the the proudest moment of your life. You have dreamed of playing for the national team since you were little.
– But especially now, with the war in our country, it doesn’t matter what kind of match, whether it’s a friendly match or not. You understand that if you win the battle, it is another positive thing for our people.
PS: Zintchenko is an ambassador for a Ukrainian aid organization – together with, among others, the Norwegian Nobel Prize winners May-Britt and Edvard Moser and the football legend Andrij Shevtjenko.
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Published: 13.11.23 at 01:33
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2023-11-13 00:33:20
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