Ukraine vs. Scotland: Zinchenko broke down in tears before the European playoff match.

"All Ukrainians want one thing, for this war to end," said the Manchester City player at a press conference.

"The Ukrainian national team also has its own dream, to go to the World Cup. They want to give incredible emotions to Ukrainians as they deserve it at this moment," Zinchenko added, on the eve of his national team's first official match since the invasion of his country by Russian troops.

The match between Scotland and Ukraine in Glasgow was initially scheduled to take place in March, but was postponed after the start of the conflict. The winner of the match will face Wales in Cardiff on June 5 to secure a ticket to the World Cup organized in Qatar at the end of the year.

"It is impossible to describe what we feel. What is happening in our country is unacceptable. We must stop this aggression, all together. Ukraine is a country of freedom, I will never abandon it," added the City player, who said he had considered joining the Ukrainian army to defend his country.

Zinchenko traveled to Slovenia to prepare for this playoff, along with players from Ukrainian clubs authorized to leave the country and other expatriate players, such as Andriy Yarmolenko (West Ham) and Roman Yaremchuk (Benfica).

But "it is clearly difficult to motivate the team for a match when all the players are thinking of their families in Ukraine," said coach Oleksandr Petrakov.

"We use all kinds of methods, we even make jokes to maintain morale, but each player feels how enormous the task we have ahead of us on Wednesday is. There is a lot of stress, but we will do our best to achieve the goal," added Petrakov. AFP