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Between heaven and hell: Bohdan Viunnyk fled the war in his native Ukraine to Switzerland and now plays for the FCZ professionals.
Bohdan Viunnyk (20) sits in the FCZ training center and shakes his head when he thinks about December a year ago. “I had the last game before the winter break with Mariupol. My dream of going abroad seemed far away. But now I’m sitting here as an FCZ player and I’ve played in the Europa League, including against Arsenal in front of 50,000 fans. I feel like I’m in a surreal movie.”
The Ukraine striker looks back on a year that he still can’t quite grasp. It’s the year of war. The year he came to Switzerland as a refugee with only his football boots in a backpack. But it’s also the year that brings him an unprecedented opportunity at a club in western Europe. “My dream came true. But in a completely different way than I ever thought,” he says, almost embarrassed.
This young man is torn between the suffering at home and his personal happiness in football. «I thank God that I am now in Switzerland with my family and that we can celebrate Christmas here. But I’m also worried about the people in Ukraine. They live without electricity and heating. I often don’t hear from friends for days.”
At the outbreak of war in the training camp
A training camp may save the life of the Ukraine U21 international. When the war broke out, he was in Turkey with FK Mariupol. There are no more flights back, his block of flats is bombed like many others. Emotional mementos like the Donetsk shirt from his Champions League debut against Real are left behind.
But the most important thing: Viunnyk is alive. Because he knows the Aargau Youtuber Louis “Cubanito” Berger Gonzalez from social media and because he has two friends, Michael Hossli and Mario Fischer, who support athletes with their club, Viunnyk can escape with the help of this Swiss trio.
Later, his parents, both grandmothers and the uncle with his three children manage to escape thanks to the Swiss helpers. “That was my biggest concern. I don’t know what would have become of them otherwise,” he says of his hometown of Kharkiv, which was severely affected by the war. Going back at some point is currently not an issue: “We don’t have a place to go anymore.”
“When it was clear that I could stay at FCZ, I cried with joy.”Zurich striker Bohdan Viunnyk
Viunnyk ends up at the home of the escape helper Fischer in Hirschthal AG. “I still often look at the pictures from my first days there,” says the Ukrainian. And laughs because of the memories of the gibberish conversations at the time. The German word “letterbox” is becoming a hit, because sometime in the spring the longed-for papers are there to be able to start with Zurich in the U21. Why the FCZ? Fischer works with the club in the social field.
The Donetsk junior shows so much talent that he switches to the FCZ pros during the summer break. The fugitive becomes Franco Foda’s protégé. But it will be many weeks before owner club Shakhtar Donetsk makes the loan deal official. “Apart from the war, this stalemate in the summer put a lot of strain on me,” says Viunnyk, “I really wanted to stay. When it was finally decided, I cried with joy.”
The parents travel to every away game
He is now living his football dream together with his parents. His father had a job with the police as an investigator, and his mother sold perfume at the market. But now they would dedicate their lives to Bohdan’s career. “Both the south stand and my parents are always there at our away games,” says Viunnyk with a smile, because the Ukrainians who are used to 20-hour train journeys only elicit a tired smile when they travel to Sion or Geneva.
The FCZ striker looks more mature than other 20-year-olds. Has the war stolen his youth? He says no. “I moved to Kyiv on my own when I was 14 to play football. That’s how I grew up faster. My focus is on sports. I work hard for that,” says Viunnyk, providing an example. After his goalless preliminary round, he decided against vacation and worked alone in the weight room for weeks.
Getting started in football like his idol Andrei Shevchenko (46) is his biggest goal: “When the war started, I still trained. I wanted to be ready if it ever started again on the pitch.”
The opportunity came much quicker than I had hoped. Thanks to crazy coincidences at FCZ in Switzerland. Apart from the imminent end of the war, what is Viunnyk’s greatest wish for Christmas? “I don’t want to be seen as a refugee anymore. But as a footballer!”
Credit Suisse Super League
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