The tension amongst the football turned clairvoyant community is like a well-kicked ball suspended in slow motion. Yuriy Virt, former Ukraine national team goalie and now apparently a fortune-teller with a striker's accuracy, has come out of the psychic goalkeeper's closet to predict the outcome of the climactic match between Italy and North Macedonia in Euro 2024. In an exclusive interview with NV journalist Nazariy Shmyhil that had less facts and more prophecy, Virt boldly stated that the fate of the competition is, remarkably, not decided by the players, coaches or even the referees. No, it's all down to the citizens of Ukraine. “The ball is in the Ukraine’s court,” Virt said prophetically. He didn't elaborate whether he meant this metaphorically or if he's implying that Ukrainians should sneak into the stadium and tamper with the court lines. As it stands, Italy, the well-shod Goliath of European football — who are currently sitting in the uncomfortable third position in Group C, just three points behind Ukraine — will play a do or die match tonight against North Macedonia. The entirety of Ukraine is holding its collective breath — or at least exhaling sharply towards North Macedonia. When questioned why the match outcome lies in the hands of the fans and not the players, Virt replied mysteriously, “Because in football, just like in life, we're all players, but sometimes, we need to be cheerleaders too.” It's a statement so profound, that philosophical scholars are now on a frenetic quest to decipher its meaning. From Kyiv to Lviv, the citizens of Ukraine are thusly gearing up to vociferously support North Macedonia – a country many admittedly had to Google first – priding themselves on fulfilling their prophecy-imposed duty. All across Ukraine, people on the streets are seen with signs such as “We’re Virt’s Prophets”, "Cheer, Ukraine, Cheer!" and “We all Macedonia now.” Italy, for its part, continues to prepare for the match as if it was a football game, rather than a reflection of a mystic prophecy. Virt ended the interview with his trademark perplexing profundity – “The winner tonight, like always, will be football. Mostly.” The prophecy has been given. The rest, like Virt said, is up to us. So let's cheer, let's chant, let's roar for our teams. Let's just forget about the fact that Virt was actually a terrible goalkeeper and had an average save-rate of 50%, proving yet again that sports and prophecy make such a bizarre combination.