Luka Guček on the opening weeks in troubled Ukraine: ‘Odessa is a very beautiful city, but the war… You see soldiers on the streets, but I feel safe”

Published on 4. March 2023 4. March 2023

Although Ukraine has been at war with Russia for more than a year, the country of around 37 million people is trying to live as normally as possible. This is of course difficult when alarms are blaring and bombs are falling, but life goes on regardless. Ukrainian football has also returned to at least roughly normal. The Ukrainian league is in full swing, with the opening part of the season behind the clubs and the second part starting this week.

Slovenian footballer Luka Guček, a former player in Ukraine, will earn his living in the spring
Radomlje
, who signed for
Chornomorets
.

Luka Guček first trained with Zorya, then in the middle of his preparations in Turkey, he received an offer from Odessa and signed a contract with the club on his 24th birthday. His new adventure has of course already begun, and we spoke to the defender about his decision to move to the troubled Ukraine and about life in this war-torn country.

Luka Guček will continue his career in Ukraine. — Source of the photo.

“There may have been some concerns before signing the contract, but since I have been in Ukraine, I feel completely safe and without fear. Before arriving in Odessa, I spoke to my teammates, they described the situation in the country, briefed me on the ‘protocols’ in the current situation, so I was more than familiar with everything. So far, I can say that I am enjoying my time in Ukraine and I still have no qualms about my decision,” is for
Planet Football
from Ukraine
Luka Guček
.

Alarm or siren for danger

But no matter what, the fact is that the country he went to is at war. A war in which people die. The fact that times are very turbulent is felt at every turn, and Luka Guček has already experienced first-hand that life during a war is different than it would otherwise be.

“The country is under martial law and, of course, there is a lot of talk about it in the media. In fact, you realise immediately that this is a serious matter, because you see soldiers at every turn. Since I have been here, I have also heard the hazard warning alarm or siren at least eight times. Fortunately, there have been no bombings or anything like that, and of course I hope that it will remain that way,” hopes the former footballer
Domžale
who has also got used to the fact that the country often runs out of electricity:“Blackouts can last for a long time.”

That in a year of war Ukrainians have become at least a little accustomed to life in turbulent times is not far from the truth. That is why there is not as much panic in the air as there must have been in the opening days of the senseless slaughter. “The war has been going on for a year, so everyone knows how to handle certain situations. So there is no additional warning or anything like that. But when I arrived at the hotel where I am currently staying, when I checked in, I was immediately shown where there was a bunker or shelter that I would have to go to if something drastic happened. I can say that safety is taken care of as much as possible,” the central defender described an interesting story.

Exceptional training conditions

Luka Guček has found a new home in Odessa, a port city in south-western Ukraine. Odessa, Ukraine’s third largest city, is located on the Black Sea coast and is considered an important port and transport hub.“It is also a very beautiful city,” said Luka Guček.

“I have liked everything I have seen so far. It’s true that now is not the best time to explore the city, as temperatures drop quite a lot in the afternoon and evening, and it’s very windy being by the sea. I will, of course, have more than enough time to visit Odessa. But I’ve been told by locals that Odessa is one of the most beautiful cities in the country in the summer. So I am really looking forward to the end of winter.“

If Odessa is a beautiful city, Chornomorets is a club that is organised at a very high level. “It’s true. We have exceptional training conditions,” said the defensive footballer, born in 1999.The club has its own training base, which is huge. Each football player has his own room, and there is also an Olympic-size swimming pool, saunas, a fitness centre, a restaurant, analysis rooms, an indoor basketball court and three football pitches. When I played for Radomlje I had excellent training conditions, but when I came to Odessa… Let’s put it this way, I was really not used to something like this.”

His satisfaction after moving to Ukraine is all the greater because his new teammates quickly took to him as one of their own. “It’s true, I fitted in quickly and well. My teammates and I get along great, so I don’t really have any problems with that,” says Luka Guček, who is aware that satisfaction will also, or especially, be influenced by results. The Montenegrin is currently in a rather weak position, as he is the penultimate player in the ranking: “Not only is the goal to stay in the league, the goal is to finish as high as possible in the standings and, above all, to get as far away from the relegation zone as possible, which is where we are at the moment. I hope to play an important role in the team and to justify the trust of the coach and everyone else who brought me to the club.”

If I hadn’t been like that, I wouldn’t have gone to Ukraine

This is not the first time Luka Guček has gone abroad. He moved to Spain from Krško when he was still young, and the experience from Seville, where he trained at Betis, is coming in handy this time too.

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“To be perfectly honest, it would be difficult for me to point out something that really caused me problems. It’s true that I miss my girlfriend, my family, my friends… But as far as life is concerned, I really don’t have any problems. Language may be a minor barrier, but luckily most of them speak English, so I can communicate with almost everyone. And there’s always Google Translate (laughs). But the Ukrainian language has some similarities with our language, or Croatian language, so I have no problems during training and analysis. I believe that my experience in Spain is helping me in all this. Since then, I have been a person who adapts quite easily to whatever circumstances arise. I sometimes hear from other people that I am already too phlegmatic, which may be true. If he hadn’t, he probably wouldn’t have continued his career in Ukraine. But all this helps me to feel OK even far away from home,“, described Luka Guček.

But how well do those closest to them feel? “Since I came to Ukraine, everyone is much calmer. Previously, when the situation in Ukraine was monitored mainly through the media, it was quite exhausting. Now I can tell them first-hand how and what to do, and they seem to breathe easier,” concluded Luka Guček, whose first game in Ukraine is today when Chornomorets will host Veres Rivne.