It was an emotional afternoon for Evgeniy Levchenko at Het Kasteel, where he was a guest at Sparta Rotterdam’s home game against PSV (1-2). The chairman of the association of contract players VVCS, active as a player for Sparta between 2003 and 2005, drew attention to the war situation in his native Ukraine around the game. Levchenko saw a flag of his country hanging in Rotterdam and is also happy with the support that Adil Auassar gave through a special captain’s armband.
“You did see today that Adil Auassar played with this band,” Levchenko refers to ESPN to the captaincy of the Spartan in the colors of Ukraine. “That band is a symbol of Ukraine and we are going to collect money for children in Ukraine and help children. So I took my shirt (a shirt of the national team of Ukraine, ed.) out of the box and thought: I’m going to do everything I can to draw as much attention to this as possible“, said the concerned former midfielder of the Rotterdam club.
Evgeniy Levchenko is trying to support Ukraine in every possible way. † pic.twitter.com/hzAIzrlyi6
— ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) February 27, 2022
Reporter Toine van Peperstraten then asks what Levchenko’s life is like after last week’s Russian invasion of Ukraine. “The past 72 hours have been insane. Had a lot of messages and talked to a lot of people in Ukraine and mainly arrange a lot, because my aunt is still there and can’t leave. I try to paint as good and complete a picture as possible here and try to help as many people as possible.” It is clear that the war in Eastern Europe affects Levchenko a lot.
“The first days I was devastated, mainly because you don’t expect that. Then I thought: Okay, we got through two days† And I literally see people today looking up and fighting. So they are going to fight for their country,” assures the combative Levchenko. “In my view, that is really the best tactic and we are now mainly trying to help all children,” said the driver, who at Het Kasteel includes a ‘Stop Putin’. banner: “That means a lot to me. I actually missed the first half, because I was demonstrating on the Dam in Amsterdam against the Russian aggression. And when I came here, I saw a flag of Ukraine hanging. That was really nice to see. That means a lot to me, because I’m half Russian and half Ukrainian.”
Emotions at Evgeniy Levchenko because of an anti-Putin banner at The Castle.
“And I’m so happy that so many people in the Netherlands already understand how bad that is,” adds Levchenko. He also immediately looks ahead to the coming days and his role in the whole event. “I know what to expect and what to do. What makes it difficult is that the aggression does not stop at this moment and I am quite emotional, still. But also determined to help people in Ukraine,” he concluded. Levchenko.
The flag of Ukraine was also visible on The Castle.
The special captain’s armband worn by Adil Auassar.