Oleksandr Zinchenko wants to make Ukrainians 'proud and happy' by reaching World Cup

Oleksandr Zinchenko broke down in tears as he expressed his dream of reaching the World Cup to give Ukrainians "incredible emotions" because they "deserve" some happiness amid the devastation of war.

On the eve of Ukraine's delayed play-off semi-final against Scotland, the Manchester City midfielder became emotional at a press briefing as he described what a win would mean for his team.

The match will be Ukraine's first since Russia invaded three months ago. It was delayed weeks after Vladimir Putin launched his attack to give the country a chance to qualify for the Qatar finals.

“Every Ukrainian wants one thing – to stop this war,” Zinchenko, 25, told reporters.

“I have spoken with people from all around the world, from different countries, and also some Ukrainian kids, who just don’t understand what is happening back in Ukraine. They only want the war to stop. They have one dream – to stop the war.

“When it comes to football, the Ukrainian team have their own dream: we want to go to the World Cup.

“We want to give incredible emotions to the Ukrainian people because Ukrainians deserve it so much at this very moment.”

A win against in Glasgow would secure a match with Wales for a spot at the World Cup in November.

Zinchenko, who scored against Sweden at Hampden in the European Championship finals less than 12 months ago, thanked his Scottish hosts when asked how he was feeling ahead of the game.

“I have spoken with some of the players and coaching staff before and they have expressed their feelings towards Ukraine, for which we are very grateful," he said.

“Our mood, I would describe as a fighting mood, because everyone understands what is going on in Ukraine these days, what the situation is like on the ground."

Zinchenko welcomed a scheme to help Scotland fans learn the Ukrainian national anthem so they can show their solidarity ahead of the match.

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“We have to defeat that evil,” he said. “So this is an amazing, amazing initiative.

“A lot of countries maybe don’t understand that today is Ukraine, tomorrow could be you. So that’s why we need to be united and defeat this Russian aggression all together."

Head coach Oleksandr Petrakov admitted he had been facing a major challenge to keep his players focused on football, but the players tell jokes to motivate each other.

“Clearly it’s a very difficult task to prepare your team for the game when every single player is thinking about mothers, fathers, close relatives, family back home in Ukraine,” Petrakov said.

“That will make their task even more difficult, working under a lot of stress. But we are trying to do our best and achieve results. The team is fully prepared,” he added.

The majority of his squad is based in the Ukrainian league, which halted for a winter break in December and did not resume after the Russian invasion on February 24.

He added: "What the players will be like, we will see on the football pitch.”