Andriy Yarmolenko scores with West Ham and thanks the support of the British fans for Ukraine

After his goal this Sunday, in his first game since the beginning of the Russian invasion in his country, The front West Ham’s Ukrainian Andriy Yarmolenko thanked his teammates, the fans and the “British people” for their support, at the microphone of SkySports.

Substitute at the start of the match, Yarmolenko came on in the 52nd minute instead of Michail Antonio, when the result was 0-0 against Aston Villa, in the matchday 29 of Premier League, and He opened the scoring in the 70th minute.

After a pass in the area of ​​the Algerian Said Benrahma, the Ukrainian international (106 caps, 44 goals) he controlled with the inside of his right foot, with his back to the goal, and finished off with the outside of his left foot, to place the ball out of reach of Argentine goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez. His club ended up finally winning 2-1.

“It was very exciting for me, due to the situation in my country. It is so difficult nowadays to think about football since, every day, the Russian army kills Ukrainians”, said the player after the game.

After his goal, knelt down, arms reaching to the sky, before raising her hands to her face and letting out a few tearscongratulated and comforted at the same time by his companions.

An emotion that did not leave after the final whistle. “Honestly, I do not know what to say. I just want to say thanks to my colleagues, who have supported me all the time, every day, to the West Ham fans, who also support me and the Ukrainian people, and also to the British people, as I feel their support. Thank you, really,” she launched.

Yarmolenko he hadn’t played for the Hammers since mid-January and had even been left out of the squad by the club and manager David Moyes in the last two games against Wolverhampton and Liverpool.

“I’m not 100% as the last two weeks I’ve only trained three or four times. Since February 24 (the date the invasion began), I had to rest for four days, since It was impossible for me to train, thinking all the time about my family and in my town”, he pointed out.

But as I entered the field, “I felt the support of the fans and I tried to give everything on the ground since I knew how important today’s match was for us”, he concluded. (D)