Two large explosions in Kiev, at military base with fuel tanks – Observer
Nélson Monte is already in Portugal: “It was three very complicated days. I saw a lot that will mark me for the rest of my life”
The Portuguese football player Nélson Monte, who played in Ukraine, this evening to Portugal and says he is “excited” after “three very difficult days”.
It was very difficult to get here. You have to suffer and be hard. I got as much information as possible and hit the road to get out of there as quickly as possible, because the situation was really ugly. What I wanted most was to get out of Ukraine”, says Nélson Monte.
Speaking to journalists on arrival at Lisbon airport, the 26-year-old player who felt “fear in these three days” and describes how he lived until the last journey he made Portugal.
“When I woke up to the bombing three days ago, we fled to the club’s training center (Dnipro-1) to try to figure out what to do. While we were waiting at the training center, another bomb went off and we hid in a bunker”, remember the player.
Then, Nélson Monte explains that “he hit the road”: “It was to go to Lviv to go to Poland. The GPS indicated about 13 hours, but I drove almost 25. When there was an approach to a place, there was a road cut and back. We walked along secondary roads, many of them overgrown. We were traveling at 20 or 30 kilometers an hour. And for those who are on the run, it is despair.” says the player.
I saw a lot that I know will mark me for the rest of my life”, says Nélson Monte.
The athlete who passed from Benfica and in training for Portugal at Rio Ave recalled that He only felt “relief” when he crossed the border into Romania. After entering Romania, the player from Vila do Conde managed to get a flight to Austria and another to Lisbon.
Nélson Monte supports that he doesn’t know how his soccer career will be from now on. Behind, he left several friends and teammates. “My heart is with them. I told them that whoever would send families to Portugal I would help. They want to defend their country.”
Listen here to Nélson Monte’s statements upon arrival in Portugal:
Portugal sends military material to Ukraine