OLEKSANDR Zinchenko’s withdrawal from the Ukraine squad on Friday was a major blow for his country ahead of their Nations League matches with Scotland and Armenia.
Zinchenko has been in outstanding form for Arsenal, who he joined from Manchester City in a £30m transfer during the summer, in the Premier League in the 2022/23 season.
Defender cum midfielder “Sashka”, who suffered a minor knee injury in training, will be badly missed by his national team in their forthcoming Group B1 games.
But Oleksandr Petrakov’s players will take to the field at Hampden on Wednesday night to play the first fixture of their triple header in buoyant mood despite the loss of their talisman according to one of their celebrated compatriots.
Sergei Baltacha, the former Soviet Union internationalist who ended his playing career in Scotland with St Johnstone before going on to manage Inverness Caledonian and Inverness Caledonian Thistle, believes the territorial gains which his country have made in the war with Russia this month will have lifted their spirits.
Ukraine have retaken 8,000 square miles in decisive offensives in September. They have reclaimed the cities of Izyum and Kupiansk, key supply hubs. They have inflicted “major operational defeats” on their enemy.
“All the information coming out of the Ukraine is suggesting that the war is going well for them,” said Baltacha. “Their forces are reclaiming a lot of areas which were under Russian occupation. The news will have definitely given the players a lift.
“You can see the emotion for them when they play for Ukraine. They have a lot of family, a lot of friends, who have suffered and are suffering back in their country. It is difficult for the boys to handle this. Football is secondary for them. But playing well for the national team and giving people something to cheer is definitely a big motivation for them.”
However, Baltacha, the ex-Dynamo Kyiv defender who won 48 caps and played in the Euro ’88 final in Germany, would expect Andriy Yarmolenko and his team mates to perform at a high level regardless of the situation in their beloved homeland.
He was certainly unsurprised at the remarkable display which Ukraine produced in their Qatar 2022 play-off semi-final against Scotland in Glasgow back in June.
The rescheduled encounter, which was pushed back from March following the Russian invasion, was the first competitive match they had played since November. Their home-based professionals had not been involved in club football in the preceding months. But they were superb and ran out deserved 3-1 winners.
“In Ukraine there is a saying,” said Baltacha. “Don’t talk, just do. That is what the president and the military are doing in the war. This is the mentality of the players as well. They do not say much, they just do their job properly.”
The Ukrainian Premier League, which was terminated in April after martial law was declared by the government, resumed last month. Matches have been taking place in Kyiv and the surrounding regions. Meanwhile, Dnipro-1, Dynamo Kyiv, Shakhtar Donetsk, Vorksla Poltava and Zorya Luhansk have played their European matches in Poland, Slovakia and Sweden this season.
Baltacha, who is now an academy coach with Charlton Athletic, is encouraged that football is being played once again. But he feels the build-up for the national team to their games against Scotland, who they will play again in Krakow on Tuesday week, has been far from ideal.
“It is a very difficult situation for them still,” he said. “They only started to play the league a few weeks ago and they have only played three or four matches. They also play their European games abroad.
“They are travelling a lot by bus, by train. They have been playing in Poland, Slovakia and Sweden. It is even hard for the players who are at foreign clubs. They have not been at home for the last five or six months. It is a very challenging for the boys and for the coach.”
Baltacha has been impressed by how Zinchenko has performed for Arsenal at left back this season. He knows the 52-times capped 25-year-old is a huge loss for Ukraine. But he has also been impressed at the youngsters who have forced their way into the national set-up in the past season.
He thinks the continued presence of experienced campaigners like Tara Stepanenko, Serhiy Sydorchuk and Yarmalenko will enable the likes of Vitaliy Mykolenko, Mykhaylo Mudryk and Illya Zabarnyi to flourish on the international stage.
“I would say that Sashka has been Mikel Arteta’s best player this season,” he said. “He is a big player for Ukraine on and off the park. But they are not just a one man team. They have a lot of quality players, even in the circumstances they are in now.
“Mykhaylo Mudryk of Shakhtar Donetsk is a very good young player. I have heard a lot about him and there is great excitement about him in Ukraine. But he is not the only one. The clubs are producing a lot of good footballers who can go far in the game.
“Yes, Zinchenko will be missed. But they still have Yarmalenko who was very good in the last game against Scotland in June. They have a lot of good experienced players who are at foreign clubs in England, Italy, France, Belgium and Spain. It is a good blend”
The 64-year-old has experienced the goodwill towards the Ukrainian people since the Russian invasion in February personally. He knows there will be huge backing for the Group B1 leaders in Glasgow, Yerevan and Krakow in the coming days as they attempt to top their section and secure a Euro 2024 play-off place.
“I live in London now and I have met a lot of Ukrainian people here who have been displaced by the war,” he said. “I have had many of them over to my house, including some who were in the military. I try to help how I can.
“I know there will be a lot of support from the Ukrainian people living in Scotland, Armenia and Poland. I had tickets for the game at Hampden in June, but unfortunately I could not get away. Now my work has started and I am busy. But I will definitely watch the game and hope to see another victory.”
