There is a war in. For the 14th day, Russian troops are shelling, among others, civilian targets in Ukraine. Heavy fights are taking place all over the country. Hundreds of thousands of people flee from Ukraine looking for shelter, incl. in, Romania or Moldova. Athletes who are not Ukrainian are also being evacuated. Among them was, for example,.
Paulo Fonseca escaped from Ukraine. “We were terrified”
Paulo Fonseca also had to flee from Ukraine. the trainer in 2016-2019 was the coach of Shakhtar Donetsk. It was then that he met Katerina, his future wife. After leaving Shakhtar, Fonseca worked in Roma. He was released in 2021 and returned to Ukraine. There she found him and his wife. In an interview with “La Gazzetta dello Sport” he told what the first day looked like from his perspective.
– Nightmare. It was February 24, and at 10 am I was supposed to go to Portugal with my family, when at 4.30 we heard the first bombs falling. We got scared. My friend Darjo Srna (Shakhtar’s sporting director) invited me to the hotel where the team was. We took refuge in the bunker. The children slept on the floor in sleeping bags. We were terrified.
Fonseca could count on the support of his embassy. The Portuguese provided him with transport, thanks to which he left the country that was the victim of the attack. Fonseca admitted that the trip was exhausting.
– My embassy organized a minivan and we went to Moldova with three families – said the coach. It was a terrible journey. Thirty hours without stopping, sometimes in a traffic jam and at a speed of 5 km / h, with planes flying over us, checkpoints, while people around could not find either fuel or food. It was only when we got to the border with Romania, so to speak, that I relaxed a bit – he said. His Ukrainian wife, however, does not have peace. Fonseca admitted that she was devastated.
– My wife is crying all the time because we have friends and relatives all over Ukraine. Now, thanks to my federation, I have become an ambassador of peace and we are working on finding refugee shelter, work and school. Of course, this is only a small fraction of the two million runaways, the coach said.
Fonseca warns against Putin and calls for a response. “The worst is to come”
The Portuguese also told how other countries should react from his perspective. He called for decisive action to stop. As he claims, it will only get worse later.
– I am not a politician, but for example I am a supporter of the “no-fly zone”. It’s true that the Russians have nuclear weapons, but we are allowing Putin to get too strong because he feels the fear of the international community. If it doesn’t stop now, it will be more difficult to do later. The worst is yet to come. Nuclear power plants are also a problem. With this man, we never know what can happen. He is the main culprit. Those who support him need psychological help, says Fonseca.
He also referred to emerging voices that Ukrainians should surrender to the Russians to prevent further bloodshed. Let us recall that such a view was presented, for example, by Sean Strickland, a UFC fighter.
“Easy to judge from a distance,” says Fonseca. – If the Russians invaded Italy or Portugal, would we not fight? There is nothing more precious than freedom. Many countries are afraid now. Georgia, Moldova, the Baltic States, Poland. If Putin wins this war, it will be a problem for the whole world, he added.
Source: Sport
Tristin is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
