Scorer, Sunday, for his first match since the beginning of the Russian invasion in his country, the Ukrainian striker of West Ham, Andriy Yarmolenkothanked his teammates, supporters and the “british people” for their support, at the microphone of Sky Sports.
Substitute at kick-off, Yarmolenko came on in the 52nd minute for Michail Antonio, when it was still 0-0 against Aston Villa in this game of the 29th day of the Premier League, and he opened the score at the 70th.
On a given ball in the area by Said Benrahmathe Ukrainian international (106 caps, 44 goals) controlled from inside the right, back to goal, and chained by turning around a recovery from outside the left just out of reach ofEmiliano Martinez. His club eventually won 2-1.
“It was so emotional for me because of the situation in my country. It’s so hard to think about football right now because the Russian army kills Ukrainians every day“, said the player after the match.
After his goal, he knelt down, arms raised in the sky, before taking his face in his hands and letting a few tears flow, congratulated and comforted at the same time by his teammates.
An emotion that did not leave him after the final whistle.
“Honestly, I don’t know what to say. I just want to say thank you to my teammates who have supported me all the time, every day, to the West Ham supporters, who also support me and the Ukrainian people, and also to the British people, because we feel your support. Thank you really“, he let go.
Yarmolenko had not played with the Hammers since mid-January and had even been dropped from the pro squad by the club and manager David Moyes for the last two meetings against Wolverhampton and Liverpool.
“I’m not 100% because in the last two weeks I trained maybe three or four times. Since February 26 (date of the beginning of the invasion), I had to rest 4 days because it was impossible for me to train, I was only thinking about my family and my people“he said.
But on returning,I felt the support from the fans and tried to give my all on the pitch because I knew how important the game was for us today“, he concluded.
