Wayne Lumbasi
Ukraine kept alive their dream of reaching the World Cup finals, beating Scotland 3-1 in their playoff at Hampden Park on Wednesday in their first game since the Russian invasion of their country.
Veteran captain Andriy Yarmolenko lifted his nation by scoring a deft lobbed goal in the 33rd minute and then helped set up Roman Yaremchuk’s header in the 49th.
Ukraine dominated for much of a deserved win though had to resist a Scotland revival as risk-filled attacks brought a goal in the 79th by Callum McGregor, before Ukraine substitute Artem Dovbyk broke clear to score with the last kick of the game.
Ukraine will now face Wales on Sunday in Cardiff with the winner taking a place in November’s finals in Qatar. The loss means Scotland remain without an appearance at a World Cup since 1998.
The Ukrainians hadn’t played a competitive match since November. They’ve been training in Slovenia for the past month. Before kickoff, Ukraine’s players, coaches and fans let it all out during the national anthem.
The Ukrainians summoned the strength and composure to put together an impressive performance at Hampden Park. On that same pitch, they knocked Sweden out of Euro 2020 last summer and reached the quarterfinals, their best finish in the competition.
It’s a talented squad managed by Oleksandr Petrakov, who led Ukraine to a U-20 World Cup title in 2019 and earned some big results in European World Cup Group D qualifying, including a home draw vs. France and a win at eventual third-place finisher Finland.
