Lluís Cortés won the treble with Barça’s footballers in 2021, became the national coach of Ukraine – and now had to flee Kyiv. An interview about a team fighting against the Russian invasion and how to deal with it.
Interviewed by
Anna Turner
The euphoria was great at the beginning of last week. For the first time in their history, the national players of Ukraine had won a tournament Turkish Women’s Cup. A few days later, Russia attacked their homeland. The Spanish coaching team around Lluís Cortés would have flown directly to Barcelona, but wanted to sign documents in Kyiv. “That’s how the war got us,” says Cortés on the phone. The 35-year-old won the treble with FC Barcelona in 2021, after which he took a break until the offer came from Ukraine. The association UAF wants to organize the EM 2025 and has big plans – which are not to be thought of right now.