OUR Roberto De Cerbi replaced Graham Potter on the bench Brighton. The Englishman joined Chelsea to replace Thomas Tuchel, who was sacked after losing away to Dinamo Zagreb in the first leg of this season’s Champions League.

The Italian coach has extensive experience on the bench. In February 2022, he had to show special courage. He was the coach of Shakhtar Donetsk when Russian invasion of Ukraine.

De Cerby was in Kyiv when the city was attacked. After the first hours of horror and suspense, he helped the Brazilian players of the Ukrainian national team safely return to their homeland.

He himself, along with his assistants, took refuge in the Opera Hotel, where sleep was a luxury. “My stay in Kyiv lasted 24 hours, but the time went very slowly, because you could not sleep. You heard everything,” De Cerby explained.

“There were some who slept in the hideout of the hotel and some in the rooms. I was one of those who decided to lie down in the room in order to have an idea of ​​​​what was going on outside the hotel. At night, I heard a strange sound inside the shelter. Then I went back to my room for a few hours,” said the Italian coach.

After a short stay in Kyiv, it was time to leave. “The streets were empty, but there was a risk of running into saboteurs,” he admitted about those hours to the newspaper Il Messaggero.

Difficult road back

The return journey was difficult, between bombs and armed attacks. They had to be away from pain, away from destruction, away from death.

“We waited an hour to get on the train. After 9 hours we arrived in Lviv, where the bus was already waiting for me. We got on the escorted bus, but it was a nightmare. After a short journey, we boarded another bus that took us to Hungary. The last kilometers we moved at a walking pace. It was snowing,” recalled De Cerby.

Almost 24 hours after leaving the Opera Hotel, Roberto De Cerbi arrived at the border with Hungary. Ukrainian policemen were waiting there and fed the travelers with hot food. They spent another hour checking before continuing their journey for another three hours to Budapest.

“Ukraine was behind me and I turned my head to try the country we visited last summer for the last time for an important stage in our career,” the Italian coach admitted.

“I thought about the players. The Brazilians were safe, but the Ukrainians were at home, ready to fight. Ukrainians surprised everyone with their resilience. The Russians underestimated the spirit of these people,” he said, expressing his admiration for the people of Ukraine.

From Italy to Ukraine

Roberto De Cerbi was born in 1979 in Brescia, Italy. He started playing football at the Milan academy, but did not play in the first team. He played as an attacking midfielder and changed teams during his career. He ended his career at Trento in 2013.

As a coach, he made a name for himself on the Sassuolo bench, where he worked for three years. With him on the bench, the Italian team showed beautiful football, finishing in 8th place for two seasons in a row.

In May 2021, he agreed with Shakhtar Donetsk to bring the team to the Super Cup. Before the invasion of Russia and the final cancellation of the season, Shakhtar were in first place in the league.

A month after leaving Ukraine, De Cerby and his teammates returned to their duties at Shakhtar, where they played five friendly matches. In August 2022, he announced his retirement from the bench in the Ukrainian national team. A few weeks ago, Bologna called him up to replace Sinisa Mihailovic. He refused to negotiate with the Italian team out of respect for the fact that the Serbian coach is battling leukemia.

A few days ago he joined Brighton. The English team has had an impressive start and is in 4th place in the standings.