The striker thanks the UEFA president for his help
Former Shakhtar striker Junior Moraes spoke about how the legionnaires of the Ukrainian club survived the first days of the Russian invasion and about his flight from Kyiv.
“We were not in Ukraine for the pre-season, and we had a meeting with the board of directors and the coach. The team was very worried – I asked: “What will you do if we return to Ukraine and the war starts?” Moraes was quoted by XSPORT, who shared his memories in an interview with FourFourTwo.
“They said it was very unlikely that anything would happen, but if it did, it would take several days to get to Kyiv. The war will start at the border, but in Kyiv we will be fine – they will provide everything necessary to take us out of the country.”
“We decided to return to Ukraine, but explosions in Kyiv caught us unexpectedly on Wednesday morning. I don’t blame the club because it was hard to predict but maybe they could have waited before taking us back to Ukraine.”
“During the first explosions, I was sleeping, then I woke up, and there was already a war around. It seemed that at some point I would wake up normally and realize that everything was a nightmare. It was desperation – I looked out the windows of my apartment and saw the lights from the explosions. The neighbors evacuated, collected everything they could, and just left.”
“I called one of the directors of the club – the original plan was to wait at home until we could safely get to the hotel where the team stays before the matches.”
“The most important person was UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin. We spent several days trying to find a way out, and on Friday evening he called and asked what we needed. I told him that we needed two buses to the station, then trains to the border, and enough food for the journey. On Saturday everything was ready for our flight. I am very grateful to him for what he did.”
Moraes has been a Shakhtar player since the summer of 2018. He has 46 goals in 72 matches for the Pitmen. Moraes has been a citizen of Ukraine since March 2019. As part of the Ukrainian national team, he scored one goal in 11 matches.
Junior Moraes joined Corinthians in March on a free transfer. Corinthians finished 5th in the Brazilian Championship last season.
Source: Sportarena
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