Oleksandr Zinchenko said Ukraine players "gave everything" to beat Wales in Sunday's play-off clash to determine World Cup qualification and urged his war-torn nation to "stay together" after their 1-0 defeat.
The Manchester City player has been one of his national squad's leading voices during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, breaking down in tears in a pre-match press conference while explaining how much it would mean to reach Qatar under the circumstances.
He appeared heartbroken following the narrow defeat but emphasised that the situation went far beyond football.
What did Zinchenko say after Ukraine's defeat?
"Every one of us gave everything today, we left everything on the pitch," Zinchenko told reporters. "In general I don't think we deserved to lose, but that's football, it happens.
"Football is about emotions, we can bring some great emotions to our fans, but unfortunately today we didn't get the result we wanted.
"Everyone needs to continue to fight, as footballers we need to represent our country as best we can.
"Everyone needs to live in peace and we need to stop the war altogether. Today it's Ukraine, but who knows tomorrow? We need to stay together."
Manager Oleksandr Petrakov also reflected on the result, saying: "I think we did everything we could, but I really want the people in Ukraine to remember our team, our efforts," said manager Petrakov.
"I want to say sorry we didn't score but this is sport."
How had he described emotions before the match?
"When it comes to football, the Ukrainian team have our own dream: we want to go to the World Cup, to give these incredible emotions to the people, because Ukrainians deserve it so much at this moment," Zinchenko said last week.
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