Facing the European champions should be one of the happiest moments of a player’s career, but for Nicole Kozlova it was also a moment tinged with sadness.
The Ukraine forward would like to host the upcoming World Cup qualifiers in Kiev, but the ongoing Russian invasion makes that impossible.
Instead, the game will be held in Antalya, Turkey. It has been more than four years since Ukraine was able to host a match at its home stadium.
“Anger,” says Kozlova. sky sports When asked how he feels about not being able to play in front of his home fans.
“It’s unfair to the players, it’s unfair to the country, but we’re thankful that we can play and still represent our country.
“Many girls don’t complain. I think that’s the Ukrainian attitude. Life goes on, but you can’t hide the difficulties, especially now with very cold winters and very limited power.
“There are many cases where girls living in the capital are directly affected, but they feel they cannot complain because their families and friends are on the front line. There is always someone in a worse situation than you.”
Nicole Kozlova currently plays for Glasgow City in Scotland.
Kozlova speaks to us from the training base of her club Glasgow City. The Canadian-born player moved to Scotland from 2024 champions Vorskla Poltava, but most of the Ukraine international still lives and plays in his home country.
“You have to adjust,” she said. “For example, the club I was at (Russia) actually attacked one of our training facilities just a few weeks ago, so they don’t use that field at the moment, but life goes on and the league goes on.
“There were times when there was no water or electricity in my apartment. There was water at the stadium but not at my house, so we all showered at the stadium.
“A 90-minute football game often turned into a 5-hour football game because every time the air siren sounded, we had to pause to take shelter.
“Most games were intentionally started at 11 a.m. or 12 p.m. so there would be less air sirens and there would be time to finish the game. 11 a.m. kickoff, game tipoff at 4 p.m.”
2023 photo of Mariupol (right) and Shakhtar players – some matches may last 4-5 hours due to air raid sirens
Kozlova spent one season in Ukraine. It’s hard for her to put into words what her team members have to deal with every day.
“I think sometimes the hardest thing is explaining it to people. If you’ve never been through it, it’s hard to understand.
“You won’t know until you hear the first explosion. I don’t know what it actually feels like, but I just want to let you know what’s going on.
“The first moment is fear. Then it’s, ‘Okay, we’ve landed very far away.’ Normally one hit means the next one won’t come, but that’s changing a little bit now.
“I was scared and thought, ‘It wasn’t for me,’ and then a day passed by.”
The last match Ukraine played at its home stadium was in 2021. Since then, international games have been played at neutral stadiums, but leaving the country has never been easy.
“The girls have to travel two days to get to Turkey, which unfortunately is not the case as it is a home match,” Kozlova said.
“People need to realize: first the girls need to get to Kiev, depending on where they live, then a 15-hour train ride, a 5-hour stop at the border, and sometimes more.
“Then you have to catch a flight to Turkey, usually a midnight flight. So it takes at least 24 hours, and that’s the case with all trips. I’m kind of used to it now, but it’s never going to get easier.”
Despite the uncertainty at home and away, Kozlova has an almost indescribable feeling when she puts on a Ukraine shirt.
“We are playing for a little more than ourselves now. When we step on that pitch we are always reminding ourselves who we are playing for and what we are playing for.
“We are not using any difficulties as excuses and are doing our best to achieve results.”
Ukraine’s football team continues to compete internationally, but has not played a home game in the country for over four years.
Kozlova is also hopeful she can take to the pitch the day international football finally returns to Ukraine. “I’m probably speechless.” she said
“Even now, every single game I play for the national team, every time I line up for the national anthem, just hearing it back and hearing us sing is already a pretty emotional moment and one that brings me home.
“So being able to actually play it at home, hopefully with my family at home, I think it’s going to be the best game to see us play.
“I hope it comes sooner rather than later. We are all hoping for the day when we can play home games.”
“It has become so natural to play home games in Turkey, Poland or wherever. That is not the most important thing at the moment. We all know that the most important thing is to end the war as quickly as possible.”
