The striker who left Israel for the second time: "I lived in constant fear"
Mark Costa is thriving at his new team, Vasas, but the war left him with unpleasant memories: "It affected me a lot. Israel was hit"
Mark Costa, the Hungarian striker who played last season for Hapoel Petah Tikva and previously for Bnei Sakhnin, returned to his homeland of Hungary in the summer and signed with the newly promoted team Vasas. Over the weekend, he scored twice in his team's 5:0 victory over ZTE and made headlines. In an interview given in Hungary, Costa also addressed the war in Israel.
"It affected me a lot. The first week was agonizing. My partner and I got on an evacuation flight, but after a week, in agreement with the club, we returned. It helped me that she was with me. If the sirens sounded while we were at home, there was no choice but to enter the protected space. When it happened during training, the session was stopped and we ran to hide in the shelter," he said.
"The fear was always there. The Iron Dome intercepts most of the missiles, but Israel was hit. I lived in fear, but the locals treat it differently than we do. We had a good time in Israel until the war broke out. Also in terms of football, we had a good team that fought and reached the upper playoffs."
Costa spoke about his frequent moves between teams and countries: "I dreamed of reaching the highest levels, the best leagues, and being part of the national team. As a child, you don't see the real world of football. When you understand it as an adult, the most important thing is to accumulate more good experiences than bad ones and stay strong in your head. Reality is different from dreams."
