🇺🇦 Ukraine Could Achieve The Improbable

If Ukraine can get past Wales on Sunday, their qualifying would be a moment bigger than sports. [View in browser]( [FOX SPORTS INSIDER WITH MARTIN ROGERS] In today’s FOX Sports Insider with Martin Rogers: Ukraine could have the entire globe cheering for them if they advance to the 2022 World Cup this weekend ... how the Celtics and Warriors are more similar than we realize ... and more! There is no such thing as having a second-favorite team in soccer, so says the eternal unspoken rule of the beautiful game. To be a true fan, at some point early in your life you will choose a favorite club, and stick with them, through thick and thin (usually even thinner) until you die. In the international format of the game, country v. country not club v. club, the same thing applies. Genuine fanaticism doesn’t allow for loyalty split between two flags. Elimination from a major tournament means just that. You don’t get to double-dip. Until now. If events transpire a certain way this weekend and Ukraine’s national team continues its hopeful, against-the-odds, fantastical, inspirational and downright tear-inducing journey to capture a spot in this winter’s FIFA World Cup, the event will have the wildest of all wild cards and a unique commodity on its hands. Having beaten Scotland 3-1 at Glasgow’s Hampden Park on Wednesday, if the Ukrainians can get past Wales in Cardiff on Sunday, the World Cup field will suddenly possess a team that everyone is cheering for — unless it’s against their own nation. Heck, maybe even then. In a sport that doesn’t do sentiment, the yellow-and-blue clad representatives of a country whose plight has garnered humanitarian sympathy around the globe will be the sentimental choice. How could it not be so? Listen to the words of team stalwart Oleksandr Zinchenko, 25 years old but with an old-timer’s perspective. “Every Ukrainian wants one thing – to stop this war,” Zinchenko told reporters. “I have spoken with people from all around the world, from different countries, and also some Ukrainian kids. They have one dream – to stop the war. “When it comes to football, the Ukrainian team have their own dream. We want to go to the World Cup. We want to give incredible emotions to the Ukrainian people because Ukrainians deserve it so much at this very moment.” To read the full story, [click here.]( [STORY IMAGE 1] [IN OTHER WORDS] - The Warriors are Finals experts. The Celtics have little Finals experience. Yet they're actually quite similar, [Melissa Rohlin writes.]( - As Arch Manning — the country's top recruit — makes the first of three June visits, [RJ Young breaks down]( his potential fit with the Georgia Bulldogs. - First baseman Ty France [shares with Ben Verlander]( what he learned from Tony Gwynn that helped him break through with the Seattle Mariners. [VIEWER'S GUIDE] NBA Finals Game 1: Boston Celtics at Golden State Warriors (ABC, 9 p.m. ET) Stephen Curry and the Warriors are back in the Finals, this time against a Celtics team hungry for another banner. Edmonton Oilers vs. Colorado Avalanche (TNT, 8 p.m. ET) The Avalanche hope to snag one more home win in Game 2 before they hit the road to Edmonton. [BET OF THE DAY] [BET OF THE DAY] Odds provided by [FOX Bet]( NBA Finals MVP: Andrew Wiggins (+2500) From FOX Betting Analyst Sam Panayotovich: Sure, odds are good that Steph Curry gets the hardware if Golden State wins and Jayson Tatum brings the trophy back to Boston if the C’s take care of business, but those wagers are so boring it hurts. And there’s some serious value the deeper you dive down the betting sheet. You would think Wiggins would be the perfect person to guard Tatum for most of the series. His athleticism, size and 7-foot wingspan should make life difficult for Boston’s best player. Wiggins has cemented himself in the Andre Iguodala role — Iggy won the award in 2015 — and if he can fill the stat sheet while stifling the other team’s best player, he’ll have a shot. [FOLLOW FOX SPORTS] [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [YouTube]( [Instagram]( Download FOX Sports App: [Fire TV]( [Roku]( [Google Play]( [App Store]( [Fire TV]( [Roku]( [App Store]( [Google Play]( Also available on these devices: [fireTV | AppleTV | ROKU | Google Chromecast | XBOX ONE | SAMSUNG Smart TV] [fireTV | AppleTV | ROKU | Google Chromecast | XBOX ONE | SAMSUNG Smart TV] Trademark & Copyright Notice: ™ and © 2022 Fox Media LLC and FOX Sports Interactive Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Please do not reply to this message. If you do not wish to receive emails like this in the future, please [unsubscribe](. FOX Sports respects your privacy. Click [here]( to view our Privacy Policy. Fox.com Business & Legal Affairs - Manager Digital Media P.O. Box 900 Beverly Hills, California 90213-0900