Created Date: November 28, 2025 07:00
Shakhtar Donetsk Coach Arda Turan made statements that resonated all over the world.
Shakhtar Donetsk, competing in the UEFA Conference League, made a 16-hour journey to Ireland yesterday for the match it played against Shamrock Rovers and won 2-1. Arda Turan, the coach of the Ukrainian team, made emotional statements at the press conference held the previous day regarding the match, drawing attention to the negativities caused by the Ukraine-Russia war that has been going on for years. Stating that he wanted the war to end as soon as possible, Turan said:
DRONES ARE NO LONGER A PROBLEM
“I don’t want to talk about negative things, but I want to thank my players. It took us exactly 16 hours to get here. Our organization is perfect, we have a bus and a plane, but 16 hours of travel is very difficult for a football team. We will have a training session before the match, but it will be a special training because after 16 hours it is really difficult. I have great respect for the Ukrainian people. When I went there, there were bombardments. People easily said, ‘Okay, the rocket was fired, it passed.’ Drones are not a problem for them anymore.
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UKRAINIAN PEOPLE ARE LIKE MY FAMILY
If it were up to me, I could list 100 negative things, but now I’m changing my perspective for those people. I would also like to address world leaders from here. Maybe it could be Trump, maybe Putin, maybe Erdoğan, maybe Zelenskiy… Life is very difficult for children right now. Children think, what is war? Children could imagine Mars and other planets. Now is not the time for war. If you spend a day in Kiev, maybe then we can talk about football. I love both the Ukrainian people and my players. “I am here for them and I consider all Ukrainian people as my family.”
BOMB AGAIN THE NIGHT AGO
In fact, it was not just the 16-hour journey that prompted Arda Turan to make this speech… The night before leaving Kiev for the Shamrock Rovers match, bombs exploded in the city again. Shakhtar Donetsk’s Brazilian football players once again went down to the shelter of the hotel where they were staying in fear. Arda Turan also stayed in the shelter with them. When the bombing ended, they went back to their rooms. After a sleepless night, they went to Moldova with a 10-hour bus ride from Kiev. Then they took a 6-hour flight to Dublin…
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AWAY TRIPS ‘ORDER’
Since Ukrainian airspace is closed to flights, Shakhtar Donetsk first goes to the nearest country for the matches it will play in the European cups, and then goes to the away game by plane. Before Shakhtar’s match against LNZ in the Ukrainian League in October, Arda Turan and his players spent the night in the shelter due to the bombardment that started at 03.00 in the morning and lasted until 08.00.
