The Ukrainian team repeated the same ritual in Cardiff as in Glasgow. The footballers entered the field each wrapped in their Ukrainian flag as a cape. With it on their neck, they listened to the anthem. Then everyone was photographed with one. After the snapshot of the lineup, Zinchenko carefully folded the banner and joined the crowd of starters, where Yarmolenko made a short speech.
However, the spell did not work this time to eliminate Wales. Ukraine deserved it. He did almost everything right. He played with pride, with pride, with a great sense of responsibility and made his country dream, at war, of forgetting for a few hours (if it is possible) the war due to the Russian invasion. The Ukrainians came very close to completing their great epic, centimeters, 90 minutes, despite having several players inactive since February. On several occasions, Hennessey blocked them from scoring. They lost but fell with great honor.
At the final whistle, many collapsed on the grass. Others met him with composure. With a lot of integrity. With the same that the soldiers of his country defend. Yaremchuk could not hold back the tears. Bale, who will have to find a team, went to comfort the Ukrainian footballers one by one. Wales celebrated after 64 years of waiting. But his footballers found a moment among the party to also applaud the stands of Ukrainian fans.
Petrakov’s team took the initiative from the start. Two minutes hadn’t passed and Mateu Lahoz had already shown two yellow cards, one to Allen for a foul and the other to James for protesting. Zinchenko took that free kick quickly and shot from far away. The ball surprised Hennessey and ended up in the net. But Mateu had not whistled after scoring the cards and it could not be drawn.
It was the only time that Ukraine could with the veteran Welsh goalkeeper. Although he has only played three games this season for Burnley, Hennessey was one of the great architects of the Dragons’ qualification.
The slogan on the Ukrainian side was to finish the plays and they fulfilled that commandment well. Every time they reached the area, the attack ended with a kick. What they didn’t count on was the extraordinary performance of the giant Hennessey, who put his fists to shots from Yaremchuk, Karavaev and Zinchenko in the first half hour.
When Ukraine squeezed the most, the way was clear for the locals despite the intense rain that fell. James forced a free kick on the edge of the area and Bale was responsible for screwing it up. Yarmolenko, in his attempt to clear the danger at the near post, put his head in and deflected the ball into the goal of a misplaced Bushchan.
The first half ended with Yarmolenko himself asking for a penalty from Allen, who kicked his foot when the West Ham striker had gotten ahead of him. The VAR with Martínez Munuera reviewed the play but Mateu’s decision prevailed, considering that it was not enough to cause the fall.
The second half increased the visiting domain. And Hennessey shone again by kicking a shot off the ground from Tsygankov. Yaremchuk was unable to direct the rebound. And Ben Davies was thrown to prevent Yarmolenko from charging his leg. But as the minutes passed, a certain anguish took hold of the Ukraine.
Wales took advantage of those nerves, that rush and that desire not to fail his people. As soon as he left, the young Johnson hit the post on a counterattack and in the next it was Bale who forced Bushchan to avoid the 2-0.
But the Welsh hero was to be Hennessey, as he was throughout the match, when he flew in for a left-handed header from Dovbyk who had everything to go in. Ukraine was left out of the World Cup and Wales, which in 1958 only lost to Pelé in Ullevi, will make its second appearance, drawn in group B along with England, the United States and Iran.
