Arda Turan's words to the Italian press

💬 "I repeat, I don't want this to be an excuse. But at the same time, we can't accept this as a normal situation. There is a war in Ukraine, people are dying every day, and the world needs to know about it. People refuse to let life stop. It would be unfair for us to complain in front of such a people. Football can give these people a few hours of happiness: we are not just a team, we represent the hope of an entire country"

❓ Is there a special moment or story that impressed you?

💬 "Last year, we lost at home to LNZ with a score of 4:1. The day before, Lviv was heavily shelled, people spent the night in a shelter. After the match, I was very angry, and at some point an 8-year-old boy appeared in front of me.  His name is Roman, he is a Shakhtar fan, his house was bombed, he lost his mother and had 35 surgeries. He tells me: “Mister, don’t be sad. There are good days and bad days in life. You have to move on.” Considering what he went through, it was an extraordinary look into the future. That day, I learned one of the most important lessons in my life from Roman: you should respect your profession and do everything you can to make people happy, but never forget that this is a game, while real life is much bigger. Roman reminded me of this: we stayed in touch and meet every chance we get.”

❓ An air raid siren sounds and you have to take cover. How do you feel at such moments?

💬 “You won’t understand it until you experience it yourself.  The siren sounds and you don't think about yourself, but about your family, your players, your loved ones. When I watched Izaque in the match against PSV in his first appearance in the Champions League, I remembered a photo I have on my phone: during the bombing in the hotel lobby, I covered him with a blanket while he tried to sleep, just like I would do with my children. This photo tells the story of our team: we take care of each other and move on,” Turan said in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport.