Oleksandr Zinchenko urged Ukraine to raise their levels once more against Wales after his side booked their place in the World Cup play-off final.
Many in an Ukrainian shirt against were playing their first competitive match of 2022, with Russia’s invasion of the country bringing a halt to domestic football, but the visitors were brilliant in a a 3-1 win at Hampden Park to move one win away from earning their place in Qatar.
Ukraine now travel to Cardiff on Sunday to play Wales, where the winner will qualify for the World Cup later this year.
Against Scotland Zinchenko produced a man-of-the-match display but he has warned his teammates their efforts will count for nothing unless they complete the job against Wales.
“To be fair, obviously everyone knows the situation in Ukraine, and every single game for us is like a final game,” Zinchenko told Sky Sports.
“But we dream like a team to be at the World Cup, and we have one more game, one more final, and we need to win it, we need to take it, otherwise this game is not going to mean anything.
“We played quite well, apart from maybe 20 minutes in the second half. Scotland is a great team. They play an open game, not our style, but we did well, scoring three goals and we could have scored another.
“Wales is going to be a massive game for us. We need to show the best performance in our lives, and we’ll see what will happen.”
