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Ukraine, which has been ravaged by war since Russia's invasion
in February, face Scotland at Hampden Park on Wednesday and if
they win that game they will go on to take on Wales in Cardiff
on Sunday for a place in the finals in Qatar in November.
But Zinchenko, who plays for Premier League champions Manchester
City, said the prospect of World Cup qualification was secondary
to the main hope of his countrymen.
"Every Ukrainian wants one thing -- to stop this war. I spoke to
people from different countries, all over the world and I spoke
to some Ukrainian kids who just don't understand what's
happening back in Ukraine. They only want the war to stop they
have one dream to stop the war," he said.
"When it comes to football, the team, we have our own dream. We
want to go to the World Cup, want to give these incredible
emotions to the Ukrainians because they deserve it so much at
this very moment," he said.
Zinchenko has shown his emotions on and off the field since the
war began and, sat in an auditorium with his coach Oleksandr
Petrakov, it was clear it continues to impact on him.
"It's impossible to describe these feelings until you are not in
this position. The things which are happening now in our
country, it's not acceptable. It's something which I cannot even
describe," he said.
"So that's why we need to stop this aggression altogether and we
need to win because Ukraine is a country of freedom. Ukraine is
never going to give up," he added.
"But the thing is, which I would like to say as well that a lot
of countries maybe don't understand that -- today it is Ukraine
but tomorrow it can be you. So that's why we need to be united
and need to defeat aggression altogether," he added.
Zinchenko praised the welcome the team has received in Scotland
and said he appreciated an attempt to provide Scotland fans with
phonetic lyric sheets to sing along with the Ukrainian national
anthem, calling it an "amazing initiative".
Ukraine have not played a competitive game since Russia's
invasion but have played three friendly matches against club
sides and trained together in Slovenia.
The meeting with Scotland was postponed from its scheduled date
in March and Zinchenko is sure that there will be huge interest
at home.
"I am sure that the whole of Ukraine will be watching us. We
will feel the support. We can talk a lot, but we need to prove
everything on the field. We will try to make our people happy
and proud," he said.
(Reporting by Simon Evans; Editing by Toby Davis)
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