Footballer who spent time at Liverpool shares details of escape from Ukraine

A former Morecambe player has opened up on his traumatic escape from war-torn Ukraine which involved a hazardous 900-mile trek to safety.

Amilcar Codjovi was on the books of Ukraine top flight club Vorskla Poltava prior to the Russian invasion last month. The 20-year-old signed terms in early 2021 but he, like many other non-Ukrainians, is unsure of when or even if he will return.

Codjovi, now back home in Manchester, has opened up on the gruelling time he and his fellow group endured trying to escape the country. Russian troops moved into Ukraine the day after midfielder Codjovi turned 20. He says he remembers hearing a loud noise prior to going to bed that night, naively thinking it was fireworks.

Speaking to the Sun, he said: "We were staying in club accommodation preparing for a match and I could hear something that sounded like gunshots. I told my team-mates, 'That must be fireworks' and I went to bed."

Sure enough, air raid sirens woke up the group and after checking his phone Codjovi saw dozens of missed calls from his parents: mum Sika Marie in the UK and his dad Amadeo, who lives in Spain. "I started to worry. I was scared, worried and thought, 'How am I going to get out of this place? I can't get stuck here with all this happening. So I quickly packed a suitcase and got ready to get the hell out of there."

He grouped together with nine other players, along with their families, and set off on a gruelling journey to attempt to get to the Hungarian border to the west of Ukraine. Along the way they encountered a flat tyre and witnessing oncoming tanks that were thankfully Ukrainian. They completed the final leg of the journey on foot. But after all that they then thought the trek was for nothing. Codjovi claims when they reached the border, Hungarian guards would not let anyone make the short crossing unless they were in a vehicle - charging them £1,200 per person for each car - "It was terrible that people would try to make money from our very desperate situation," Codjovi says.

Just when it looked like all hope had gone that they could enter Hungary, Croatian Prime Minister Plenkovic got wind of their plight. Codjovi said: "My Croatian team-mate Ivan Pesic was calling his country's embassy and, just as we were thinking about turning back, he got some great news. The Croatian prime minister had called the embassy in Kyiv and they contacted the border guards — and they then let us through! Ivan's parents brought a couple of cars to pick us up on the other side and they dropped me off in Budapest before I flew back to Manchester."

Now safely back in England Codjovi, who had a spell on trial at Liverpool as a youngster, is targeting an EFL club next season. He says the daunting experience of the past few weeks has helped him put everything into perspective. He added: "I'd love to have a proper go at English football and be back here among my family and friends. I believe I can do well here because I'm now at a much higher level than when I left here at the age of 18. My life now feels different. I've learned you must live life to the fullest — and go for your ambitions — because you never know what's going to happen in life. I'm happy to be alive."