| Venue: Hampden Park, Glasgow Date: Wednesday, 1 June Time: 19:45 BST |
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It would have taken a cold heart not to be moved by the sight of Roman Yaremchuk struggling to keep himself together as he came on to the pitch with his Benfica team easing to a win against Vitoria Guimaraes in the Portuguese Primeira League in late February.
The Ukraine forward was given a standing ovation when he came on as a substitute. His team-mate gave him the captain's armband. He had tears in his eyes and a quivering bottom lip.
His country had been invaded. His friends and family were at war.
I need to fight here because my friends and people in Ukraine fight there.
Yaremchuk and his team-mates will face Scotland in the World Cup play-off semifinals on Wednesday.
The abandonment of domestic football in Ukraine came after the invasion.
The league season ended in late April after 18 games with the big two and the defending champion. The title will never be awarded.
Half of Oleksandr Petrakov's squad play for the big two. It was a problem for the head coach of the Ukranian team.
The home-based players were given special permission to leave the country to train with their clubs and then set up camp in the country's capital.
They have remained there as a group since the beginning of May, with three friendly games played against club sides in Germany, Italy and Croatia.
Others who play elsewhere in Europe, including Yaremchuk, Vitaliy Mykolenko, Oleksandr Zinchenko, and Yarmolenko, have joined them.
At the weekend, the Ukraine squad held a match that they described as a sparring match with one team playing in the style of the Scottish national team.
They cheered on Real Madrid and kept an eye on Scotland captain Andy Robertson while watching the final. Lunin will be the last to arrive with the group before they leave for Glasgow.
With so many having been without competitive action since December, it could be seen as an advantage for the Scots. They insist they are ready.
The Ukrainians have qualified for the World Cup and European Championship in recent years, while Scotland is trying to reach back-to-back major finals for the first time since 1998.
They were knocked out of the Euro 2020 quarter-finals by England in Rome.
Yarmolenko seems to be made for international football. He has scored 44 times in 106 caps.
Manchester City have been celebrating another title victory. A half-time substitute on a dramatic final day, the 25-year-old helped them turn things back their way. He is an obvious dangerman.
Shakhtar's Taras Stepanenko tends to anchor the center of the field with the likes of Zinchenko, Atalanta's Ruslan Malinovskyi and Dynamo Kyiv's Mykola Shaparenko given more freedom to support the front three
In their qualification group, Ukraine finished second to France, but did not lose a single game, with their only defeat coming against the World Cup holders and their club-mate, Shaparenko. Both matches ended in a draw.
They won two of their eight matches, but drew the other six, including two to the bottom side.
They are a tough nut to crack, as they have threats all over the pitch.
Around 150 displaced Ukrainian children presented drawings and paintings to the Blue and Yellow players last week.
They watched the squad train, but they were reminded that this is only a game of football.
We know that our countrymen want to return home, but in Ukraine it is still dangerous, especially for children and women, according to the coach.
I wish our Ukrainians patience. Our armed forces will bring peace to our land. The guys will do everything to get to the World Cup and we are going to play in Glasgow.
The future of Ukraine is uncertain.
The ambition of the football team to reach the finals in the most traumatic of years, at the end of the most traumatic of years, could not be clearer.
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