I often cried together with my players at Dynamo Moscow, coach says

New Hertha Berlin coach Sandro Schwarz on Friday explained why he did not quit at Dynamo Moscow after the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Schwarz said this was because he felt a responsibility for those at the club and often cried together with the players.

He had stayed at the club until last week’s Russian Cup final which Dynamo lost against Spartak Moscow.

Other foreigners had left Russian clubs almost immediately after the start of the invasion in late February.

Schwarz told reporters that he would have left as well if he had had any doubts about the attitude towards the war by those at the club.

“Everyone knows my attitude towards this aggressive war. What I can say is that the people from the Dynamo environment are good people who have a clear stance on the issue, like all of us,” he told reporters.

Schwarz said he felt “torn” and that the players had often come to him and that they “cried together.”

He added that the war had changed life in Moscow.

“You could feel the war in Moscow as well. The fear. Everyone felt it in the environment. Everyone had their own blow of fate with relatives, with friends in Ukraine,” Schwarz said.

He was officially named Hertha Berlin coach on Thursday to succeed Felix Magath.

Hertha Berlin narrowly avoided relegation from the 2021/2022 Bundesliga after a play-off tie against SV Hamburg.