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Ukrainian players form a circle during training in the Cardiff City stadium in Cardiff, Wales.
Far from the battlefields and Russian invaders, Ukrainian players exempted from military service try to complete their mission of They will take their country to the World Cup.
As they prepare to face Wales on Sunday in a qualifier, they will have as encouragement in their locker room in Cardiff a flag sent by soldiers in the front.
Since Wednesday, when Ukraine won against Scotland in the semi-final, the players exchange messages with friends defending their country in a war that has exceeded 100 days.
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“We all hope that very soon Ukraine will be liberated and become an independent country again”, midfielder Oleksandr Karavayev said through a translator in the Welsh capital.
“This is a great positive stimulus and it provokes positive emotions because everyone believes and see how the whole world is united around us”.
The Dynamo kyiv player has relatives in the city of Kherson, which was captured by Russia at the start of the war.
“They cannot watch the game because there is no connection or internet” Karavayev said. “But they can text and read the news.” for the last time at a World Cup in 2006, but Wales have had an even longer wait, since 1958.
“Sport is sport and we do not expect gifts or an unfair victory,” Karavayev said. “We know how difficult it is and this is the most important game of our lives. But we want to win and we will do everything to achieve it.”
The captain of Wales, Gareth Bale, has expressed a lot of sympathy for Ukraine, but also a relentless sporting will to qualify.< /p>
Will it ask? Can Bale forgive Ukraine for taking away the dream of the World Cup?
“It sounds horrible, but no” Bale.
·It is a football match and a competition that we want to reach. Everyone sympathizes with Ukraine, but this match is a football match. It’s sport, it unites everyone. We understand what it means for Ukraine, but we want to go to the World Cup. This is not coming from a horrible place, but it is coming from our country, from our hearts. We want to meet our fans”.