Picture Credit: Premier League
West Ham winger Andriy Yarmolenko broke down in tears as he scored his first goal since Russia’s invasion of his home country Ukraine. The 32-year-old received Benrahma’s cross with an incredible first touch and then hit the ball from outside of the boot straight into the goal.
Yarmolenko was emotional and expressed his feelings regarding the invasion of Ukraine. He said, “It was so emotional for me because of the situation in my country. It is so difficult for me right now at this moment thinking about football because every day, the Russian army is killing Ukrainian people.”
He further added, “To be honest, I don't know what to say. I just want to say thank you to my teammates, who support me all the time, every day. To West Ham fans, they also support me and Ukrainian people and also to all British people, because we feel you support us. Thank you really.”
“I felt the support from the fans and I tried to give everything on the pitch because I know how important the game was for us today. I'm not ready for 100% because the last two weeks I train maybe three or four times. Since 26 February, 1 had to rest for four days because it was impossible to train, I was just thinking about my family and my people. I just tried to give everything on the pitch," he said.
Watch Yarmolenko's goal against Aston Villa:
He also was elated with his goal as he expressed, "Saïd gave me the ball. In the box, you don’t have a lot of time and you need to do everything really quick and I was quick enough.
"For me, it is really important to feel the support from the manager and my teammates and the fans. When I feel it, I give everything for the fans and the club."