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Benfica's Roman Yaremchuk Reduced To Tears After Receiving Standing Ovation
Ukraine international Roman Yaremchuk was given the captain's armband when entering the fray and was visibly emotional.
Ukraine international Roman Yaremchuk couldn't hold back the tears after being brought on for Benfica against Vitoria this evening.
Yaremchuk, along with many other Ukrainian footballers, have been left rocked and utterly terrified this week following Russian president Vladimir Putin announcing a full-scale invasion of the neighbouring Eastern European country.
The former Gent and Dynamo Kyiv man came on as a substitute, replacing two-goal striker Darwin Nunez.
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He was handed the captain's armband by Jan Vertonghen in a show of solidarity.
He was then giving a wonderful standing ovation by his supporters, with many holding up banners in support of their player and Ukraine.
Yaremchuk applauded the entire stadium and was visibly emotional, tearing up just after the hour mark.
The scenes were beautiful and continued the trend of the footballing community around the world rallying around their Ukrainian representatives.
Yarumchuk's compatriot Andriy Yarmolenko was not in the squad for West Ham's game against Wolves at the London Stadium on Sunday, with David Moyes allowing the player time off due to the torrid situation.
Captain Declan Rice held up the former Borussia Dortmund winger's shirt to show support for his teammate prior to the game.
At Goodison Park ahead of the visit of Manchester City on Saturday night, Everton changed their pre-match ritual out of respect for the two Ukrainian players involved in the fixture.
The Toffees normally play air raid sirens mixed into the Z cars theme but elected not to due to emergency sounds heard in Ukraine this week.
Everton played the Hollies hit 'He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother' as the players lined up on the pitch and it led to Oleksandr Zinchenko being overcome with emotion.
The Manchester City left-back had shared a wonderful and powerful embrace with Everton's Vitaliy Mykolenko pre-match.
City players wore t-shirts with the message 'No War', while Everton players came out draped in Ukrainian flags.
Josh Lawless