Photo by the UAF press service

The Cardiff City Stadium, opened in 2009, accommodates slightly more than 33,000 spectators. This stadium is also home to the club of the same name, which this season managed to avoid relegation from the English Championship. Additionally, it serves as the home ground for the national football team. That's why the Football Association of Wales decided to play the final playoff match for World Cup qualification here rather than at the more famous and twice larger (almost 74,000 seats) Millennium Stadium. Because the Millennium Stadium, or (since 2016) Principality Stadium — is the home ground of the national rugby team, although it occasionally hosts football matches as well. Clearly, decisive games are always more comfortable to play on a field and in front of stands that you truly consider your own.

Photo by the UAF press service

The Welsh sold tickets for the match very quickly, and Ukrainians received a small quota of 1,500 standing places, which was also immediately sold out. Of course, if the game had taken place at a 70,000-seat arena, more Ukrainians would have had the chance to buy tickets. But judging by everything, that's precisely what the hosts wanted to avoid.

Photo by the UAF press service

Many blue and yellow fans will arrive in Wales' capital tomorrow to support their national team.

Official training at the Cardiff City Stadium began with a traditional warm-up and preparatory exercises, which the boys completed in good spirits. The usual routine for the rest of the session became the first for newcomer Danil Ignotenko, who today conducted his first training session with the national team.

Photo by the UAF press service

Together with other players, he also participated in game series that served as a final workout of tactical schemes for tomorrow's match. All 27 players are in good spirits and condition, so Oleksandr Petrakov has a pleasant headache deciding who to include in the matchday squad. The names of the potential 23 participants will be announced on the official UAF website tomorrow morning.

Photo by the UAF press service

And today, President of the UAF Andriy Pavelko, who, as before the match against Scotland, came to the hotel to support the team on the eve of the game, presented a jersey to the birthday boy. Today marks 46 years for goalkeeper coach Vyacheslav Kornienko.

The team supported the traditional gift with loud applause.

Alexander Glyvinsky, press secretary of Ukraine's national team

List of players in Ukraine's national team

Goalkeepers: Georgiy Bushchan («Dynamo» Kyiv), Andriy Pyatov («Shakhtar» Donetsk), Dmytro Rytsnik («Vorskla» Poltava), Andriy Lunin («Real Madrid», Spain).

Defenders: Oleksandr Karavayev, Illia Zabarnyi, Oleksandr Syrota, Denys Popov (all — «Dynamo» Kyiv), Mykola Matviyenko, Valeriy Bondar (both — «Shakhtar» Donetsk), Vitaliy Mykolenko («Everton», England), Eduard Sobolev («Brugge», Belgium), Taras Kachaраба («Slavia», Czech Republic).

Midfielders: Taras Stepanenko, Mykhailo Mudryk (both — «Shakhtar» Donetsk), Serhiy Sydorchuk, Viktor Tsygankov, Mykola Shaparenko (all — «Dynamo» Kyiv), Oleksandr Pichalenko (SK «Dnipro-1»), Andriy Yarmolenko («West Ham», England), Oleksandr Zinchenko («Manchester City», England), Ruslan Malinovskiy («Atalanta», Italy), Oleksandr Zubkov («Ferencváros», Hungary), Danil Ignotenko («Bordeaux», France).

Forwards: Artem Dovbyk (SK «Dnipro-1»), Roman Yaremchuk («Benfica», Portugal), Danilo Sikan («Hansa Rostock», Germany).