 "Shakhtar Donetsk coach Arda Turan did his best to keep his gaze away from interviewer Daria Bondar Savina during a post-match interview. Image credit: Screengrab of video posted by Shakhtar Donetsk on X")
Shakhtar Donetsk head coach Arda Turan is going viral on social media at the moment, and it’s got little to do with his team’s performance on the pitch in their recent fixtures. The former Turkey midfielder, after all, had a tough time during in an interview with the club’s reporter Daria Bondar Savina, in which he tried his best to avoid eye contact with her.
Turan was interviewed by Savina, 24, following Shakhtar’s 4-2 victory over Turkish club Besiktas in their UEFA Europa League qualifying fixture on 24 July. And a key takeaway from the post-game interaction was how the 38-year-old former Barcelona and Atletico Madrid star darted his eyes all around while meeting Savina’s gaze only a handful of times.
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Turan’s behaviour met with mixed reactions online
Turan’s rigid body language during the interview was met with mixed reactions on social media; while some praised him for being loyal to his wife and for being a good Muslim, others felt that the 38-year-old was yet to grow up and learn to control himself.
Journalist and presenter Savina, who happens to be Shakhtar’s Head of Media and is also a model, is married to Ukrainian centre-back Valeriy Bondar, who plays under Turan at the club.
Turan, meanwhile, has been married to Turkish model Aslihan Dogan for seven years, with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan having attended their wedding in 2018.