What did he strive for at Darmstadt 98 all this time?

The "place in the sun", says Igor Berezovskyi and has to laugh.

He said “Platz an der Sonne” in German, and he hasn't spoken German for a while.

Now his place is in Kropyvnytskyi, his hometown in central Ukraine, together with his brother, parents and a grandmother.

United in a war that is sometimes distant and sometimes nearer.

In anticipation of perhaps having to take up arms one day.

Although his expertise lies in shooting and holding footballs.

Berezovskyi was a former Ukraine U-21 international goalkeeper, a yardage athlete who moved west to seek his footballing fortunes.

He played in Poland and Belgium and ended up with the Lilies in 2016.

Third goalkeeper at the then Premier League club.

Curious: He was hired in Darmstadt three times for a few months.

For him it was always a chance to escape from being without a club, for the Südhessen he was an inexpensive but reliable man who kept the level of training high but didn't play a single competitive game.

Third goalies play a special role in a professional team.

No one in the squad is further from an opportunity than they are.

You usually have the weekends free.

"For me, football was more fun than a job," says Berezovskyi.

"Football is a game and I wanted to be the best in this game." That means becoming number one in Darmstadt, achieving "place in the sun".

But he never got beyond the role of emergency helper and training partner at the SVD, although he was highly valued by his fellow players and those in charge.

He always came silently when the team photo was already snapped - and left just as silently.

Six months after his third engagement in Darmstadt, Berezovskyi ended his goalkeeping career at the beginning of 2021.

He didn't want to sell off his skills under tariffs, didn't want to accept any of the offers in Ukraine "in which the salary and the risks would have been disproportionate due to weak insurance cover," he says.

Berezovskyi had made peace with his first career as an athlete and had established a new foothold in the Kiev real estate industry.

Awakened by explosions

At dawn on February 24, when war broke out in Ukraine, the 31-year-old was awakened by the first explosions.

Who came closer, because Berezovskyi's apartment is not far from the airport.

"It's absolutely scary when the windows start rattling.

So many emotions that the head can't even sort.

It seemed just as crazy to me as if Darmstadt had suddenly been bombed,” he says.

After three days he locks his apartment door and moves to his parents' house in Kropywnyzkyj.

The grandmother had just moved here from Mariupol a few months ago.

"Thank God," says Berezovskyi.

There are also occasional air raid alarms in Kropywnytskyi, a major city located about halfway between Kyiv and Odessa.

Many refugees from the east of the country arrive there, look for a place to stay or use it as a transit station to get further west or abroad.