Oleksandr Zinchenko shows Man City what they would miss with position change

Kevin De Bruyne summed up how plenty of footballers likely feel about the UEFA Nations League this week.

"It is unimportant in my eyes, just glorified friendlies after a long and tough season," he said ahead of a quadruple-header of games for Belgium. "I'm not looking forward to it."

While most of Manchester City's players on international duty will be counting down the days until they can begin their summer vacations, one will spend the next few days preparing for arguably the biggest game of his season - maybe even his life. On Wednesday, Oleksandr Zinchenko put in a man-of-the-match performance as Ukraine defeated Scotland 3-1 in a World Cup play-off semi-final. Having won the match delayed by over two months due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, just 90 minutes stand between a suffering nation and a place at the 2022 World Cup.

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On Sunday, Zinchenko and his teammates will face off against Wales in Cardiff for a place in England's group. Given what has happened in Ukraine over the past three months, qualifying for the World Cup - while far from fixing anything - would bring some joy to a nation that desperately needs it.

And if Zinchenko plays in Cardiff as he did in Glasgow, Ukraine will have more than a good chance of winning. Playing as an attacking midfielder, the City left-back made a huge contribution to a superb Ukraine performance.

The 25-year-old assisted Artem Dovbyk's injury-time goal that sealed the win with an incisive through ball, one of many that he played over the course of the match. Zinchenko looked far better than any Scotland player on the pitch and even a level above any of his teammates, not just in his