Football fans were left in tears last night after Ukrainian player Oleksandr Zinchenko embraced fellow countryman Vitaliy Mykolenko in an emotional show of support for their country in the wake of Russia's invasion.
But the touching move was unsurprising from Zinchenko, 25, whose own remarkable journey to the Premier League club saw him flee to Moscow as a teenager after Russia's invasion of Crimea.
Now a top midfielder on a reported salary of £20,000 a week, he's come along way from the days of struggling to buy food as he played on concrete pitches for a non-league teams
Last night he joined the rest of his Manchester City squad in wearing shirts with the words 'no war' across the front and back and attended a vigil with his teary wife Vlada Shcheglova, a stunning TV presenter and journalist who is also a Ukrainian national.
While maintaining a fierce loyalty to their home country, the pair, who married in August 2020, have created a home for themselves in Cheshire with their baby daughter.
Locals have come to love the young family, who live in the quiet Cheshire village of Hale Barns, with residents publicly praising the top footballer for his polite and humble demeanour.
Before signing for the Manchester club in 2016, the player was reportedly so poor he 'couldn't even afford bread and milk'.
Born in Radomyshl, Ukraine, he played in the top leagues in Ukraine as a teenager with a promising career from a young age.
But he was forced to flee and moved to Moscow in 2014 due to the war in the Donbas region of Ukraine, and spent years playing for non-league sides before getting spotted by Russian Premier League Ufa in 2015 before getting scouted for Manchester City.
The footballer was six when his mum Irina took him to a trial at the local football academy in Radomyshl, a historic city in northern Ukraine.
After joining the squad he complained that other boys wouldn't pass the ball to him, with Irina telling him 'If they won't pass to you, go and win the ball!' as words of advice.
He would soon be scouted to Monolith, a team from the Odessa region of Ukraine, after catching the attention of a scout at the age of 11.
He was coached by Victor - the man who would later become his stepfather but would move out of the family home in order to play for the team.
'I knew the conditions he was training in at his first academy in Radomyshl,' Victor told Manchester City.
'Frankly, they were not conditions for professional football players. That's why I can say that he developed his skills on the street. He grew up playing street football.
'I took him to Monolith and turned my attention to his touch. He wanted to learn quickly. He was a creative football player.'
After 18 months with Monolith he was scouted for FC Dynamo Kyiv before signing a contract with Shakhtar Donetsk's youth team.
However his rising football career would come to an abrupt end when he was taken to Russia by Irina at the age of 17 to escape the conflict.
Having fled to Moscow, he trained alone and with smaller teams - with no big Russian clubs taking an interest in him initially.
Eventually, Oleks bagged a trial with Rubin Kazan, but Shakhtar refused to release him from his contract, meaning he was unable to play for the Russian team.
During this time the footballer was reportedly so poor he struggled to afford basic items like bread and milk.
It wasn't until the beginning of 2015 that Oleks would join Russian Premier League side Ufa, quickly being spotted by Manchester City and joining the team for a fee of around £1.7 million a year later.
The footballer says was 'living his dream' while playing for Man City ahead of the FA Cup final in 2019, telling The Guardian: 'I don't know how other players think about it but for me it's like this.
'I would dream of playing at a high level, I didn't realise that I would be here and getting ready for an FA Cup final. It's a dream.'
In August 2020, Oleks married TV-presenter and journalist Vlada, 26, after proposing at the Olympic Stadium in Kyiv with an elaborate heart shaped floral display.
Rumours of their romance were sparked in 2019 Zinchenko kissed the presenter after an interview following Ukraine's 5-0 win over Serbia.
YouTuber Vlada focuses on sports related news, often interviewing high-profile football stars on her vlogging channel, and is an ambassador of the clothing brand Puma.
In August 2021, Vlada gave birth to the couple's first baby girl in Miami- with Oleks tearing up as he watched the birth over video call.
The couple live in Hale Barns, Cheshire with their daughter and two beloved French Bulldogs - with locals fully accepting the young family into their local community.
'You couldn't meet a nicer young man', a local supermarket worker told The Sun last year. 'He comes and goes and I think he likes it here because nobody either recognises him or bothers him if they do.
'He always smiles, is always very polite and the last thing most folk would think of him would be that he's such a famous footballer.'
Ukrainian duo Oleksandr Zinchenko and Vitaliy Mykolenko embrace before tributes at Goodison Park leave the Manchester City man in tears ahead of kick-off
Oleksandr Zinchenko and Vitaliy Mykolenko shared an emotional moment prior to Saturday's clash between Manchester City and Everton as the pair hugged each other in the wake of Russia's attack on Ukraine.
The Ukrainian duo may be on opposing teams at Goodison Park but this did not matter here, given what is currently taking place in their homeland.
With both teams warming up prior to kick-off, Zinchenko and Mykolenko headed over to one another to embrace and appeared to share a few words of comfort.
Both players were named among the substitutes for their respective clubs, and they re-emerged from the tunnel a few minutes before kick-off to take their places on the bench.
Zinchenko was clearly appreciative of the support from both sets of supporters as he applauded the home fans on his way across the pitch.
As the two sides came out for the match, each of Everton's players held a Ukrainian flag over their shoulders.
Meanwhile, City's squad all wore shirts with the words 'NO WAR' across the front and back of them.
The 1969 hit 'He ain't heavy, he's my brother' by The Hollies was then played inside the stadium, sparking an emotional reaction from Zinchenko.
The City left-back was unable to hold back the tears as the whole of Goodison Park rose in a show of solidarity with Ukraine.
City have the chance to move six points clear at the top of the table with a win, while Everton could increase the gap between themselves and the bottom three if they overcome Pep Guardiola's men.
However, it is the emotional scenes before a ball was even kicked that are likely to live long in the memory.
