Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny doesn’t know what will happen after Poland refused to play Russia in the World Cup play-off following the invasion of Ukraine, but ‘at least we know that we made the right choice.’
Naturally, the first questions were about his Instagram post and the announcement from both Poland and Sweden’s Federations that they would boycott the 2022 World Cup play-off against Russia next month.
It hits closer to home for the Juventus goalkeeper than most others, because his wife Marina is from Ukraine.
“I decided not to participate in the play-off and I am happy that my teammates came to the same decision,” Szczesny told DAZN.
“If we are given a defeat by default, we will at least know that we made the right choice. We did what we had to do.
“My family is far from Ukraine right now, but there are still people who are hidden there and trying to escape. It’s a horrible situation.”
There have been anti-war protests in Russia as well, even though the authorities tried to clamp down on them immediately, and Szczesny has a message.
“I am not angry with all Russians, I know the majority of the people are against the war, but the Government made this decision. Social media isn’t just to celebrate a victory at football, but to say how things really are.
“I hope that all the national teams follow our lead and refuse to play against Russia. We’ll see if FIFA give them the World Cup spot instead.”
Juventus earned a 3-2 victory away to Empoli that put them within seven points of leaders Milan, so are they still out of the title race?
“Instinctively, you do want to glance up to the top of the table…” confessed the goalkeeper.
“We have very important objectives, we are behind, but it’s also true that those further ahead are slowing down. We must take it one game at a time.
“People will write tomorrow that Juve are back in the race, but we need to reach 83 points and that’s all there is to it.”
Szczesny: “Con la Russia se perdiamo a tavolino lo faremo a testa alta. Vediamo se la FIFA ha le palle” https://t.co/YsAEhuOPo6
— TUTTOmercatoWEB (@TuttoMercatoWeb) February 26, 2022
Well said Tek – we’ll see if FIFA has the balls…Russia and its football clubs should be indefinitely banned from any WC participation and any European competitions. Anything less and FIFA and UEFA are a joke.
Agreed. Proud of those who are boycotting – I hope many more follow suit.