Away from the horrors at home, Ukraine’s national team dream of qualifying for Doha so they can provide some joy
Brdo smells of spring. The air drifting down from the Slovenian Alps feels fresh and clean, the stillness interrupted only by birdsong and distant church bells. Dmytro Riznyk looks across at three immaculate pitches; directly behind him a small stand has been ingeniously embedded in a bright, grassy mound. Football environments rarely get more idyllic but, for those working here this week, the beauty is drowned out by a constant, silent scream.
“I’ll only find peace again when I return to my country and there is no war there,” says Riznyk, one of four goalkeepers in the initial phase of Ukraine’s first training camp since it was invaded. “We are here and my heart is there. We believe in the people who are defending it and believe we will win. When that happens, the fear will go away.”
