Ukraine’s Georgiy Sudakov: ‘I have friends who are fighting. It is hard to focus on football’

‘Every game for the national team is an incredible chance to show the whole world what our country is capable of,’ says Ukraine’s Georgiy Sudakov. Photograph: Pat Elmont/Uefa/Getty Images

The compact surroundings of Arena Livyi Bereh in Kyiv’s Osokorky district is not Camp Nou or any of Europe’s other historic arenas, but it didn’t matter to Georgiy Sudakov on Sunday. The 21‑year‑old playmaker, who more than two years earlier had been forced to take cover from falling Russian bombs in a makeshift bomb shelter with his pregnant wife, was named captain of Shakhtar Donetsk for their second league game of the new campaign.

“2012, this boy dreams of playing for Shakhtar Donetsk …” Sudakov wrote on Instagram after the 1-0 victory against the team they will share their 4,700-capacity stadium with this season. “It’s 2024, this guy is wearing the captain’s armband for Shakhtar Donetsk! Dream, work, believe. After all, dreaming is not harmful. Dreaming is so important. Everything in life is possible!”