A year in charge of a team at war: “Some players spoke Russian. Now none of them want to do that”

He does this from Catalonia, where Continues to serve as the head coach of Ukrainian women’s footballDespite the circumstances and completely opposite goals, when Cortés and his team arrived in the country of the East in November 2021. “It was like puncturing a balloon that didn’t stop rising. stand bybecause logically improving women’s football is no longer a priority and yes rebuild roads, hospitals or highways“, Cortes reasons.

Kharkiv was key

On the roadmap of the Ukrainian Football Federation (UAF), “First of all, It will host Euro 2025which will require a tremendous improvement in my futfem, especially for players aged 12 to 14. It was a mid-to-long term project where we would help the team have the guns to compete and clubs could do the same by approaching other benchmarks in the Champions League.”

Futsal practiced by women in Ukraine, one of the powers of Ukraine, is similar to what has happened for years. old continent. But women’s football could no longer take the blow. “When the war broke out, the two main teams (WFC Zhytlobud-1 and WFC Zhytlobud-2) was in Kharkov, the largest city in the east of the country, although it was not known until the events of the war. “Continuing close contact with his players, Cortés, with the return of the season, one canceled the event and the other moved to Poltava as part of Vorskla.”

“The federation continues to fulfill its payment obligations. We try to do everything we can within the limits. We follow local league matches and also other players from European clubs on YouTube,” said the coach. It had to cancel the planned concentrations “because the UAF felt this was not a necessary expense”. The players will meet again in April to play a game or two. International inactivity since September 2022, when Ukraine played in Spain.

Ambassador athletes

Football is not at the top of the hierarchy, but the Government has understood that, like other sports, it is a powerful weapon to spread their message. “It acts as a distraction and shows the world how they deal with conflict.. This is the way to say, ‘Look, we can go on with our lives while Russia is attacking us’. Playing with psychology in a war is very important,” Cortés explains, emphasizing the role of athletes as spokespersons.

strongest case, Mykhaylo Mudryk, for whom Chelsea paid 100 million to Shakhtar Donetsk. Interestingly, the occupation forced Román Abramóvich to change ownership of the English club due to his links with the Putin government. A similar situation in Spain was experienced with Viktor Tsyhankov, one of the biggest signings in Girona history. “This way they show the world that there is so much talent. They are ambassadors of a country at war.“, explains the Ukrainian coach, who describes the athletes as militants of their national cause.

“There’s a very strong sense of nationalism. What this conflict did was polarize emotions. For example, when I took office in November, some football players spoke Russian and Ukrainian equally. It was a normal bilingualism. Now nobody wants to know about the Russians,” explains one coach, who is in close contact with all his players.

“First of all, I’m trying to worry about their health and their families’ health, but you get news like this: “My father is at the front and I haven’t heard from him for three weeks”. They normalized the conflict, so when you suggest to them whether it can be ended by agreement, they tell you it will only end when Ukraine takes back what is theirsthat they took by force from them. It really bothers me because Russia has no desire to speak either,” explains Cortés with a stern tone, worried about thinking beyond, despite the all-dominating present.

lost generation

“I care about not only professional players who are already competing, but also high-level players. What really upsets me is to see how the next generation stops competing in the country.. We saved some tournaments but most of them stopped. In a few years, we are losing a whole generation that should feed the national team. I am worried about the future of Ukrainian women’s football,” complains the Spanish coach, who has a notebook full of teachings he has kept from experiencing the conflict firsthand. Asked how his life has changed in these past twelve months, he takes a breath before answering.

“It’s a very big bath of reality. We’ve gotten so used to living in the West on a personal level. All this has helped me relativize. I can’t get it out of my head. image of some children watching their parents say goodbye at the stationknowing that they will go to the front. Do we really treat our loved ones as they deserve? Can’t we delay sending an e-mail to eat at our family’s house?”, she thinks at first.

fulfill the contract

Another idea comes to mind, illustrating the therapy Cortés underwent last year. “It took me 21 hours to get from Kiev to Lviv because there was incredible traffic. Now when I arrive in Barcelona and there is a traffic jam, I don’t care about it. The actors themselves say. What is the value of all materials? They worked all their lives to pay for their now demolished house.. We must learn to live more in the moment. One day is all it takes to change your life,” thinks the coach, who is easy to recognize as a human, makes you understand his every word and decision.

Like the one who led him to continue as the head of the Ukrainian team where tactics and developing an idea were left out. Hat-trick Cortés, Ladies Barça also gave up the offers that started coming to her from the moment she got on the plane from Kiev.

“I have a contract until this summer and I will fulfill it. They have been very good to me and I don’t want to let them down because it’s not their fault that there is war in their country. They want to renew us for two more years but we’ll sit at the table in the summer. Logically, Cortés wants to feel like a coach again.” But today it is more important to him to be with his players, to shine a light on them when they come out of the tunnel, and to think like another Ukrainian running an endless marathon with football. Playing an active role in the normalization war against Rusiwith.