PREMIER LEAGUE I was only 20 when the war broke out in Ukraine... it was a scary place to live
EVERTON
Steve Bates
MOST footballers worry about performing well and winning three points.
But for Everton’s Brazilian star Bernard dodging bombs and bullets was once a more urgent concern.
For when you’re caught up in violent conflict that’s tearing a country apart Bill Shankly’s famous “Football isn’t life or death – it’s more important” quote quickly loses it’s dark humour.
Bernard was engulfed by the war in Ukraine after joining Shakhtar Donetsk in 2013 for £20million and often feared for his safety as bombs exploded, gunfire was heard on the streets and people had to flee.
Thankfully, the 26-year-old South American star wasn’t a casualty.
And happily for Bernard as he settles into a new life at Everton after a free transfer from Shakhtar in the summer, those dangerous days are a fading memory.
“It was hard for me because I was very young when I first moved to Shakhtar Donetsk, I was only 20,” recalls the tiny winger, one half of Everton’s Brazilian duo with Richarlison.
“It was in the first season that the problems started, the war broke out.
“We had to move city from Donetsk and go to the capital Kiev.
“It meant we lost a lot of the infra-structure we had at Shakhtar including the training base. And we were having to fly to every game.
Blockades
“There is no doubt about it, I was scared. There were blockades to enter and exit the cities. Cars were searched for bombs and weapons.
“It was when I was at the World Cup in Brazil in 2014 that this all started. There was the plane shot down in Donetsk where I was living with my parents.
“It was really tense living there. I heard rumours about the bombs and war while I was in Brazil.
“When I got back to Ukraine after the World Cup many of my team-mates were affected.
“There were many players who lost their houses and flats. A lot of the South American players at the club wanted to break from their contracts and went to the courts.
“A lot of the appeals were lost. I didn’t try to leave, but a lot of people wanted to flee the city.
“Many did not have the money to leave. A lot of people died in the war.
“For a long time the situation was hard, it was tense, and we lost the structure we had. But it was a big learning experience over five years.
“Also, at the start, I had problems with my coach but I enjoyed my football.
“Three of the five years I was there, there were problems, but things have changed for me now, there’s no doubt about it. In England