sport news Ukraine sent a message that they belong at a World Cup - but tears will only ... trends now
There were tears, but no tear gas. Not like in Paris at the weekend. In fact, there were very few police. They were not needed here, not for an occasion governed by respect and a collective longing for peace.
In the hours before kick-off, on a grass bank outside Hampden Park, supporters of Scotland and Ukraine gathered as one. For once, a half-and-half scarf did not feel at all crass or gimmicky.
That so few of those in yellow and blue spoke English, though, left you in no doubt as to this - they never intended to be here in the first place. In another world, a better world, they would be at home watching this game on TV. For them, home is Kyiv, Kharkiv or Donetsk. Not Glasgow, Edinburgh or Belfast.
Ukraine beat Scotland to set up showdown with Wales for a place at the World Cup
One elderly man was locked in conversation with a Scottish couple of similar vintage. He could offer little more than, ‘Thank you’ and ‘I love you’, but the gratitude was genuine and prolonged.
The feeling you were left with, however, was that very few Ukrainians felt particularly lucky to have a ticket. That may have changed a little come full-time, of course, given a victory that takes them one game away from the World Cup.
But this was no lads away day supping ale beneath the summer sun. For Ukraine, darkness pervades, life frozen on that winter’s day in February when Russian tanks crossed their border.
Anna Bushtruk, 28, was among a group made up predominantly of
