The La Gantoise player spoke with great emotion about the situation in his country and the war that is raging there.
© photonews
KVM – Gent Roman Bezus
Like all Ukrainians around the world, Roman Bezus (31) was greatly affected by the invasion of his country by the troops of Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
And if he will play the semi-final return of the Belgian Cup against Bruges, the head and the heart of the La Gantoise player will be in Ukraine, towards his loved ones and his homeland.
“I am not your normal Roman Bezus at the moment”, he confided, in a long interview granted to the Dutch-language media sporza.
“Football is my big love. But when I was in training for the past few days, I started crying. I’ve been doing this continuously since the war started. My tears are now gone. I’m crying because I realize that my friends and family in Ukraine are going through a terrible war and there is nothing I can do to help them.”
“Still, I want to talk about it in this interview – I do it from the bottom of my heart. It’s hard enough to express myself about the situation in my own language. In English, it’s certainly not easier, but I hope to be able to push some people to do something for Ukraine.”
“In my country, civilians – even children – are being killed. Bombs are falling from the sky and innocent people are being shot. All because of one man. I hope Europe, the United States and the rest of the world will find solutions to stop Vladimir Putin.”
“I have friends and family in several Ukrainian cities. They have to hide with their children when the sirens start sounding. Sometimes the situation is dire. I have a friend who is in the last weeks of her pregnancy and must sleep in an underground parking lot.”
“I don’t know how much longer my country can continue to fight against Russia. Truly, the soldiers of our army are heroes – I cannot express in words how proud I am of them. Everything like countries, like Belgium, who give us military aid. And also ordinary people who donate big or small: Ukraine is grateful to everyone for the support.”
“You know, actually, in the past, I kept myself as far away from politics as possible. I was even a bit against our president. I thought he was not doing a good job, but now I have to present to him an apology. It’s great, the battle he’s fighting right now.”
“Everyone must understand that this is not just a fight of Ukraine against Russia, but of the whole world. Who said that Putin will stop in my homeland? He has nuclear bombs and no one can predict what he will do next. God is now giving us a chance to change the situation.
“I pray that after the war we can build a better world together, of which Ukraine can be a part. A world in which we don’t think about how we can build an atomic bomb or a more powerful missile, but spending money on what really matters, such as climate issues and people’s living conditions.
“To conclude, I can only say one thing: Glory to Ukraine!”