Ukraine's Zelensky hails footballers' win, draws parallels with war

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has congratulated the men's national football team on their 2-1 victory over Slovakia at the European Championship in Germany.

"Believe in each other. Help each other. Fight for each other," he wrote on his Telegram channel on Friday under a picture of the cheering footballers.


He drew parallels with the country's defence against the Russian invasion, which began over two years ago.

"This is exactly what the Ukrainian national team is doing today. Keep it up, men!" he wrote.


After a 3-0 defeat in their first group game against Romania, Ukraine quickly fell behind against Slovakia in Dusseldorf. In the second half, though, coach Serhiy Rebrov's side turned the game around with goals from Mykola Shaparenko and Roman Yaremchuk.

Ukraine therefore boosted their chances of reaching the last 16 ahead of their last group match against Belgium.