After winning the treble (Champions League, championship, cup) with Barça women last season, Lluís Cortés set sail for the Ukrainian capital last November to take over the reins of the Ukrainian women’s football team. Caught up by the war when he had just ended his international break, the Spanish coach recounts his chaotic journey of the last few days between Kiev and Barcelona.
“Last week, we won the first tournament in the history of the Ukrainian women’s team in Turkey without conceding a goal. Right after that, the war started. »
A year ago, you won the hat-trick with Barça Feminine. In the past few days, you had to flee the war in Ukraine. How did you find yourself there?
After Barça, I was unemployed. I rested 3-4 months, and there was this offer from Ukraine. I first said no, then I discussed with the president of the federation who absolutely wanted me to become the coach of the women’s team. In particular, he wanted me to organize all women’s football in the country and to prepare Ukraine’s candidacy as host country for the Women’s Euro 2025. So I said yes. Everything was going well until then, so much so that last week, we won the first tournament in the history of the Ukrainian women’s team in Turkey without conceding a goal. Right after that, the war started. When I signed in Ukraine, there were tensions in Donbass and Crimea, but the situation in the country was calm. I continued to live in Spain and went to Kiev for matches. We didn’t have the feeling that a war was going to break out.
15:20 – And to think that four days ago we were like this… All of them and their families and friends are the real heroes and they don’t deserve any of this. STOPWAR!!! pic.twitter.com/XIS3eMRu87
– Lluís Cortés (@ Llcortes14) February 26, 2022
No one among you felt the war coming?
No one had foreseen the war, otherwise we would have gone directly from Turkey to Barcelona. We would not have returned to Kiev with the rest of the team to spend the night. We were just quietly with the staff, the players, the management… (The insists.) No one was talking about the fact that the war was about to start. While everyone knew the situation was more tense than a few months ago, no one considered war as an option. We had our flight to Barcelona scheduled for Thursday evening. (The war broke out on the night of Wednesday February 23, Ed.)
How do you find out about war?
It was the bombs that woke up Jordi (Escura, his physical trainer and companion in misfortune) at 7 a.m. He came knocking on my bedroom door and said: “Lluis, they started. » Immediately afterwards, the anti-aircraft sirens began to sound.
“It was the bombs that woke Jordi up at 7am. He came knocking on my bedroom door and said, “Lluis, they’ve started.” »
When did you tell yourself that you had to run away?
After the explosions, we immediately tried to flee the country as quickly as possible. In five minutes, we were dressed, with the suitcases packed and at the bottom of the hotel ready to leave. Obviously, there was no taxi and it was the Ukrainian federation that sent us a van with a driver. He took a while to arrive, so we had our breakfast and started the “trip”. It was the right decision to leave immediately, because the next day there was shelling on Kiev.
Let’s go !!! @Dark pic.twitter.com/uX1Hm4TPqM
– Lluís Cortés (@ Llcortes14) February 24, 2022
How was the trip?
It was hard. We did twenty hours in the van with a lot of traffic jams, especially on the way out of Kiev. In six hours, we had traveled only thirty kilometers. We had a planned route, but our driver tried to take a less good road to save time. Looking on Twitter, we saw that there had been explosions nearby, but he hadn’t told us so as not to worry. In the van, we had as “stock of food” two cereal bars, dried fruits and a lot of water that we had taken at the hotel before leaving. With that, we lasted all this time sharing water and dried fruit with the driver who had nothing. We drove part of the way in the opposite direction on empty roads towards Kiev to save time.
05:37 – We have left the main road because the driver proposes to us that by this shortcut we will arrive before Lviv. The state of the road is unfortunate, but we trust him pic.twitter.com/l3WFIyTGyR
– Lluís Cortés (@ Llcortes14) February 25, 2022
What did you see of the war?
Outside, it was chaos. There were people fleeing on foot with their suitcases, their children… They were trying to leave the city at all costs. There were a lot of military vehicles, tanks, war planes flying over your head making a horrible noise. It was the first part. Then on the train between Lviv and Poland, we saw a lot of sadness and dramatic situations. There were women and children, who had left their parents and husbands behind. You see that in the movies, but I was on that train.
“There were women and children in the carriages, who had left their parents and husbands behind. You see that in the movies, but I was on that train. »
In Lviv, through the images you broadcast yourself, people seemed relatively calm. The war was not felt?
Lviv was a “normal” city, apart from the air raids that forced us to go to the bunkers. People were outside and walking around, the shops were still open… We went to eat at the restaurant where we met other people who were leaving Ukraine, but also journalists from France 2 who were going the opposite way. to go from Lviv to Kiev.
14:44 – In Lviv everything is calm, people seem to lead normal life, although some shops are closed. Shops, pharmacies, banks, are not saturated like yesterday in Kiev. By the way, Lviv is a beautiful city. pic.twitter.com/DkqEdpNuKV
– Lluís Cortés (@ Llcortes14) February 25, 2022
Then you leave Lviv to reach Poland by train.
The federation told us to be ready for 10 p.m., for “the next step”. They were asked: ” What is the next step ? » They didn’t want to tell us, probably to protect us. A car picked us up at the bottom of the hotel, and with five other cars we headed for the station. This is where the train odyssey began. To get on the train, everyone pushed each other, fought and insulted each other for a seat. The train was overloaded. There were ten wagons that can normally hold 80 people each. There we were 200-250 per wagon, in trains that you would never see in Barcelona: with wooden benches, quite old… It was an awkward situation, for another 20 hour journey, counting all passport controls at the Ukrainian and Polish borders.
How was this trip?
The trip was very long because we didn’t know where we were going, how long it was going to last, if we were going to be able to get there alive or if something was going to happen. But traveling with children – two children aged 8 and 12 who were with their mother, two 13-year-old sisters who were traveling alone – helps you put things into perspective. The two young girls told us that they were going to Germany “Learning German and English” . The younger ones continued to talk, to play and we got caught up in the game. This changed our minds during the trip. I don’t speak Ukrainian, but people around us were translating from English to Ukrainian. They told us what was being said, what was happening. During the journey, we had no network and we could not keep our relatives informed. It was a great pain, because we knew how they felt not having heard from them. We suffered more from that than from the train ride.
“The younger ones continued to talk, to play, and we got caught up in the game.”
For you, everything ends well. You were able to join your family after 55 hours of travel and a flight between Krakow and Barcelona. How do you feel today ?
Today everything is fine, because I am in a safe place, at home with my loved ones. I feel lucky to have made it out alive, in such a delicate situation, and to be in a country where there is no war. The next day’s train which made the same route between Lviv and Przemysl (in Poland) was canceled due to the risk of bombing, so we were very lucky. I think I have not yet assimilated everything that happened. Every day I wake up with this, but I’m not fully aware of what I’ve been through. I’m a little sad for everything we left behind. I have the responsibility now to help from here all those who remained there.
Several members of the Ukrainian staff and players of the team could not leave the country, others left to fight… Do you have any news?
The majority of players and staff are hidden in the country, in more rural areas and are waiting for the war to pass. Or that a humanitarian corridor opens so that they can leave. Some players have managed to flee and are looking for teams where they can play so that they can send money to their families in Ukraine. Other players are still there and want to defend their country. Most of their fathers left to fight. We hear from each of them every day, to know if they are still alive.
Since you returned to Barcelona, you have been very active in asking for humanitarian aid for Ukraine. What are your priorities today?
To help. We collect medicines, medical equipment, food that we put in a truck heading to the Ukrainian border to help the refugees. I also try to find teams for all the players who have left the country, and for those who are on the way. Football for now is secondary, and the priority is to save lives.
Interview by Anna Carreau
