Sudakov, hero of Ukraine at the U21 European Championship after the war in a bunker – Corriere.it

A little over a year ago he was trying to warm up his wife Lisa with a winter jacket from Shakhtar Donetskthe team with which in October 2020 he had given himself the dream of beating the real Madrid at the Bernabeu. George Sudakov he was only 19 and was considered one of the brightest talents in Ukrainian football: he was playing in the Champions League, the most important club in the country had renewed his contract and he had already made his debut in the national team: “He was on his way to going to a club like Barcelona and Manchester City,” his former coach will say of him in tears Fernando Valente. Then the Russian invasion, the war and the many nights hidden in a freezing bunker together with the woman of his life, very young, pregnant and cold, as well as frightened by the noise of the bombs: “Their dreams taken away by a meaningless conflict» vented Valente on social media.

Dad and driving force towards the Olympics

The war is still there, but Sudakov is smiling again. He became a father, in the last season he scored 5 goals and 11 assists and at the U21 European Championship he dragged Ukraine to the semifinals, thus allowing them to detach their pass for the Paris 2024 Olympics. After the goal against Spain in the last group match, it was decisive the double to France in the quarterfinals. In Cluj, Les Bleus, protagonists of a debut full of controversies with Italy, surrendered 3-1. Sudakov, awarded as mvp, first equalized the initial disadvantage signed by Cherki with a penalty, only to then bring his teammates up 2-1, before Bondarenko closed the accounts in the 88th minute. In the semifinal, scheduled for Wednesday at 21, he will face Spain.

A few months ago, together with his friend Mudrik – who later flew to Chelsea for 100 million euros – he organized voluntary and independent support, which consisted of buying food and helping the needy with medicines and basic necessities. Her old coach cried seeing the photo of her boyfriend holed up in a bunker. He will smile now, waiting to see him in Barcelona, ​​Madrid or Manchester. There where he has always imagined it.