Ukrainian winger Vitaliy Mykolenko did not play on Saturday in the Premier League match that Everton lost at Goodison Park against Manchester City (0-1). Just three days earlier, Russia had begun to invade his country.
Today, as his coach Frank Lampard advanced in the preview, Mykolenko will play with Everton the round of 16 match against Boreham Wood, in the Fifth Division. But the big news is that he will do it as captain of the ‘toffees’ in a gesture of support from his teammates in the face of the terrible moment he is going through due to the war in Ukraine.
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Mykolenko and some other player carried out the pre-match warm-up in a white jersey with the Ukrainian flag on the chest.
Later the Everton players, with Mykolenko in the lead, jumped onto the Goodison Park pitch each carrying a Ukrainian flag to the applause of the fans.
emotional prolegomena
The two teams posed on the pitch with a banner calling for peace in the world while John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ was played through the speakers. More than one spectator could not repress the emotion.
This initiative comes after Fernandinho handed over the captaincy to fellow Ukrainian winger Oleksandr Zinchenko in Peterborough-Manchester City on Tuesday in the FA Cup (0-2).