Dynamo head coach Mircea Lucescu gave an interview to the Italian portal Tuttosport, in which he spoke about Russia's war against Ukraine.
Mircea Lucescu- I have severe pain in my back and hips due to the fact that I had to spend many hours on the bus when we move from Poland to Kyiv, Lviv, Minai, Uzhgorod and Kovalivka, where our championship matches can be played. What makes me do it? I can't betray these guys. Fenerbahce wanted to sign me, but I refused. My place is here. After almost a year of war, it seems that everything is almost normal, familiar, but the presence of Ukrainian fans at the stadiums is now out of the question.
— How do you live now?
- With fear. You look at the sky and don't know what can happen at any moment. We hear the noise of the planes while we are on the field, and we play behind closed doors, but until the siren goes off. We play, trying to closely monitor the situation. We had to wait almost an hour in the dressing room before we were able to resume the match. I don't know who would do something like that in my place, but I like doing what I do.
— Roberto De Zerbi decided to leave Shakhtar Donetsk. What do you say about this?
— He is young and has made a decision. Over the past two years, other foreign coaches have also left Ukrainian teams. This has already happened to me when in 2014 I coached Shakhtar and because of the war we were forced to leave Donetsk. We moved to Kyiv, where we trained, modernized the field, turned it into a sports complex, then played in Lviv.
I lived on planes for years, now I live on buses, it's normal that I'm full of ailments. Even then, I did not dream of leaving this land, this championship. And the fact that we won with the guys was not easy for me.
— You were also the first to hold friendly matches across Europe to bring a message of peace. Whose idea was it?
- My. Last spring, I asked Shakhtar to create a mixed team, where half of the players will be from their team, and the other half from ours. But they refused. I even came to talk about this with President Zelensky. Each of us went our own way, these were still exciting moments, we played for Ukrainians who were scattered across Europe, especially for grandmothers, mothers and small children, because the men were at the front, where they, alas, are now. Who knows when this damn war will end.
