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After two days of journey to flee Ukraine at war, fifteen Brazilian footballers have finally been able to return home. They are relieved, but very tested by the “horror” of the conflict.

“The hardest thing is everything we saw on the road, people who died and had nothing to do with this whole situation,” Shakhtar Donetsk striker Pedrinho told reporters upon his arrival. at Guarulhos airport, near Sao Paulo.

“I had my four-month-old daughter in my arms and I just wanted her to be okay. It was horror, terrible images, destroyed cities. It remains etched in my mind,” added the 23-year-old player. years trained at Corinthians in Sao Paulo and passed by Benfica Lisbon.

“All I want now is to spend time with my family. Every time I spoke to them, I said goodbye to them, because I thought this might be the last time I I heard their voice,” he said.

“Sound of the Bombs”

Shakhtar, which regularly competes in the Champions League, has for fifteen years a real Brazilian legion in its workforce: there are currently 13, if we count Junior Moraes, born in Santos, near Sao Paulo, but naturalized Ukrainian.

When the Russian offensive on Ukraine began last Thursday, they took refuge with women and children in a hotel in the capital, where they were joined by their compatriot Vitinho and the Uruguayan Carlos De Pena, players of Dynamo Kiev.

Before the start of the conflict, there were about 500 Brazilians in Ukraine. There are now only around 100 left, according to the Brazilian embassy in Kiev.

“Everything exploded overnight. Thursday morning we were at home and we started to hear the sound of bombs, fighter jets. It was the start of the nightmare,” said De Pena.

Crying in the toilet

“It was complicated to organize an evacuation because there were a lot of desperate people and on the run, the Russian troops were approaching the capital,” he said. He also revealed that he hid in the toilet to cry every time he received messages from relatives.

“We heard explosions all the time. The food started to run out. It was hard to keep calm,” added 26-year-old Shakhtar defender Marlon, who was the footballers’ spokesperson in a video posted on the media. social networks to ask for help from the Brazilian government.

Night Train

Confined to the hotel for three days, the players and their families ended up making their way to Kiev central station in haste, thanks to an escort set up by UEFA and the Ukrainian Federation. They had just been told that the situation “was going to get worse”, according to Pedrinho.

It was the start of a journey of 17 hours by train and 15 hours by coach. They crossed the border to reach Romania, from where they could fly to Brazil.

“When we left, it was very dark, we didn’t know what we might meet on the way. We traveled at night, when the conflicts are more intense,” said Maycon, a Shakhtar midfielder, who made the trip. struggling with his parents, his wife and their two children.

The professional future of Brazilian footballers playing in Ukraine remains unclear, with all local competitions suspended. They think above all of their teammates who have remained in the country at war. “Ukraine is suffering a lot and it makes us very sad, we have great friends there, I hope everything will get better,” said Maycon.

This article has been published automatically. Source: ats

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