Wales’ Ben Davies praises Oleksandr Zinchenko for conduct amid Ukraine conflict

Wales defender Ben Davies has praised Ukraine star Oleksandr Zinchenko as “a stand-out man” for the way he has conducted himself in the media ahead of Sunday’s emotionally-charged World Cup play-off final.

The eyes of the world will be on Cardiff City Stadium to see if Ukraine’s national football team can pull off a win that would lift a country that has been at war since Russia’s invasion in February.

A tearful Zinchenko spoke from the heart ahead of Ukraine’s 3-1 play-off semi-final victory over Scotland on Wednesday, detailing what it would mean for his country if they qualify for the World Cup in Qatar later this year.

Davies acknowledged the difficulty of the situation for Ukraine’s players and paid tribute to the way they have approached these fixtures.

“We are well aware of the situation that Ukraine is in right now, and it must be incredibly tough to be in their shoes,” said Davies.

“We know it will be an emotional event and a lot of people will be wanting some good news for Ukraine, but we have to try and stay out of that and focus on 90 minutes of football.

“Football can kind of seem a bit insignificant in these times and moments, and it is very difficult to try and rationalise that a game is so important when you’ve got such major events going on in the world.

“You have to just credit their players for the way they have handled it so far.

What a night for