Mircea Lucescu: "Some Dynamo players have parents in the occupied zones"

Dynamo head coach Mircea Lucescu spoke about the first days of the war and the current state of the club in connection with the Russian aggression.

Mircea Lucescu (photo: profimedia.ro)

- It was immediately decided to take the team out of Ukraine and make a "peaceful tour" of Western Europe. We traveled only by bus, I don’t remember how many kilometers we drove, there were about 10 matches with traveling, in Kyiv and Lviv we played championship matches. The air raid alert often sounded, and we had to hide in the basement. It is very hard and difficult to play in such conditions.

In addition, we played without spectators, and the pace of the matches is set by the fans. In the end, I really couldn't take these roads, I had a little bit of hip problems and even more with my knees. And some players found it more difficult to recover from injuries. But we had to do it. If football stopped, the situation would be even more difficult. Now people there are busy with other things. The matches are on TV, but the TV channels are not the same anymore. There is only one channel left, which is still broadcasting.

The players have the chance to do an incredible job, they are emotionally involved, and their activity on and off the field makes up for the situations they go through. For some parents in the occupied zones, this is of course very difficult, but there is no other way out but to continue. We didn't have players who said they couldn't play.

When we left in early December, there were bombings on the power system and water supply, it is very difficult, because it cannot be fixed right away. People have no heat, water, electricity. There were no bombings in our area. Once in Lviv we were warned that there might be shelling, and then we went to the border. These attacks have precise targets, but not all of them are so accurate. The worst thing is the constant fear of what might happen.

We went through this together and adapted. From the side, the event is seen differently. But Ukraine lives, even thanks to sports. People need sports, that's fine. I'm not afraid. And it was the same at Shakhtar. In 2014, we left Donetsk, played in Lviv, Odessa… — Lucescu told Digisport.