Graeme Souness sums up conflicted Scottish thoughts, ahead of Ukraine playoff

'I’ll be emotional. I don’t just want Ukraine to qualify, I want them to go there and win it'

Former Scotland international Graeme Souness has admitted that he wants Ukraine to beat Scotland in the World Cup play-off match on Wednesday night. Souness, who captained the Tartan Army in his playing days, is backing the war-torn Ukrainians to qualify for the World Cup, even at the expense of Scotland. The Sky Sports pundit not only wants them to triumph over Steve Clarke's side, but he wants them to go to Qatar and lift the trophy - suggesting that it would send a message from football that what is happening in Ukraine is unacceptable. Scotland's clash with Andriy Shevchenko's side was initially due to be played in March, but was postponed due to the Russian invasion and will now take place this week. The winners of the match at Hampden will then face off against Wales in Cardiff on Sunday. https://twitter.com/Record_Sport/status/1531241367233601538

Souness 'feels sorry' for Scotland squad

The 69-year-old admits that he feels sorry for Scotland's players, suggesting that he doesn't know how he'd deal with it if he was in that position. Speaking to The Times, he said: "When I have thought about this game in my quieter moments, I’ve thought, ‘How would I deal with this?’

"Part of me keeps coming back to the fact that it’s just a game of football, and do I really want to beat them? Whether it’s sport, politics, the arts, whatever it is, we must send a message to Russia that it’s not acceptable what they are doing. "I’m going to find myself in a really difficult situation. I’ll be emotional. I don’t just want Ukraine to qualify, I want them to go there (Qatar) and win it. "How far do you have to bury your head in the sand not to realise the situation the world’s in right now? Will it be when someone presses the button on a nuclear weapon?"

"I’d not want to be one of the Scottish players playing that night," Graeme Souness added. "I don’t know where my emotions would be. My emotions when I think about it deeply are that it’s more important than football to send a message that Russia’s behaviour is unacceptable. "The world has to unite and tell them that — you can hear the emotion in my voice. That’s my over-riding feeling on the situation. "I’m doing it for television and I’m not sure how I’ll cope with that. I know the majority of our supporters who go there will feel the same — there you are. It’s going to be a really strange night." Related links:

• Scotland fans slam Andy Robertson for ‘boozing’ ahead of World Cup play off
• Scotland fined for ‘inappropriate flag’ and jeering Israel national anthem
• England and Scotland fans flimed fighting after “we hate Scotland” chants

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