An unusual story of Elvis Sukis, who came to Slovakia years ago: Homeless man, asylum seeker, best shooter – ŠPORT.sk

In addition, the 27-year-old native of the Democratic Republic of Congo also speaks Congolese, Russian, French, English, Czech and a little Hungarian. With seven goals, the best scorer of our league after half of the basic part is the discovery of this season. Here is his unusual story.

THE BEST SHOOTER OF OUR LEAGUE AFTER HALF OF THE BASIC PART IS SURPRISING FROM THE HALL

FUCKED FIRST TIME

Elvis Sukisa has an undeniable football talent. He played as a little boy in his native DR Congo. He worked at the football academy in his hometown of Kinshasa. However, he was not lucky enough to be noticed by a football agent and moved on to Europe.

Therefore, as a young boy, Elvis decided to try his luck on his own. He traveled to Europe with a vision of football development. Except he ran into a fraudster who promised to provide him with all the necessary papers. In particular, the visas required for accession to the European Union. He didn’t equip. And Elvis appeared in Ukraine. In Odessa. Although in Europe, but certainly not in the part where you imagined.

“I thought that once I was in Europe, I could easily get to France. That was my original intention. Only then did I find out that Ukraine is not in the European Union. So I had a visa, but only Ukrainian. Traveling and moving around Europe was a problem for me. I had nothing, paper, money, nothing… ” recalls Sukisa, who left his homeland as a 15-year-old boy.

And it wasn’t just for free. Along with the tickets, he paid the fraudster about eight thousand euros. Huge money for African conditions. Just imagine that the average monthly wage in DR Congo is around 40 euros. Elvis’ father even had to sell half the house to help one of his seven children fulfill their childhood dream.

And Elvis is extremely grateful to him. To this day, he sends money home to his family. Every month. Although in the past it was “only” 20 euros. Calculated for our circumstances, it is over 500 euros, as the average wage in Slovakia is in completely different numbers.

After the vicissitudes in Ukraine, Elvis Sukisa reached Slovakia. But it wasn’t easy either. “I fled Ukraine. I paid for European visas, but I did not receive any. At that time, someone in Ukraine told me that Slovakia was just around the border. You can go there and it is easier to get to France from Slovakia, which is already in the EU. I got on the train and went… But they caught me at the border, ” continues its story. “Imagine the situation. I was 18 at the time, I had no money, I didn’t know the language. It was very difficult for me. “

DEALED TWO TIMES

In Slovakia, illegal foreigners are placed in refugee camps. And although many people in our country are picky about the word “refugee”, Sukisa accepts it without any problems.

“I immediately applied for asylum in Slovakia. First they put me in a camp near Dunajská Streda, where they put all asylum seekers. It was there in the base. They kept checking on us. Six people in one room. We received food once a day, some rice or beans. We had to stand in one long line to eat. Many people were dirty, smelly. Often people with small children. Terrible look. I couldn’t do it there. I had to bite hard to endure. Football helped me, ” describes his story today in a 27-year-old Congo.

You may get the impression that Sukisa is complaining, but that’s not true at all. To hear in his voice that he had come to terms with his fate. He clenched, persistently pursuing his goal, which one day approached him.

“I trained every day in the camp. It was big enough there, I was able to run every morning. Sometimes we even played football. They asked me why I was running so much, if I wanted to run away again. But I kept telling them that I was a football player, I wanted to play football and this is how I keep fit. When we played, I was clearly the best of all in the camp. Someone noticed it and gave me the number for one agent, a black man who has lived in Slovakia for 45 years.

He came to me, looked at me, I told him my story and he promised to help me. I trusted him. Later I found out that it was the man who brought Seydoub Soumah to Slovakia, who shone in Nitra and later in Slovan. He helped me a little too, but not as much as he promised. He arranged for me to take the test in the then quarter-league Galanta. “

In the meantime, however, another important thing has happened in Sukis’ life. For a time he was literally homeless. “I could officially apply for asylum at the office in Bratislava. So I went there. It took me a while to even find a place to go. I had nowhere to live, during the day I wandered around the city looking for the office and at night I slept at the train station. It was cold, I had nothing to eat, I only had a few cents on the bread. I finally found what I was looking for. But they sent me to a camp in Humenné, far from Bratislava. “

FINAL VISA

Here, however, there is a turning point and Sukis’ story begins to take a positive direction. He passed the exam in Galanta. Also thanks to the former assistant national coach Anton Dragúň, who then led Galanta.

“I am still grateful to him for that. To him and Mr. Peter Pašek, the owner of the club. I didn’t have clothes or football boots. They gave me everything, they took care of me. They put me in a school where I had to learn a language. I started training in Galanta. However, as an asylum seeker, I still had to report to the camp in Humenné. Sometimes once a week, sometimes once a month. Messrs. Dragúň and Paška helped me a lot. They were the ones who finally made me get the paperwork I needed. But even that took a while. In the meantime, another big problem has become. “ says Sukis, but according to the fox’s smile, it can be judged that it is more of a humorous story.

Although… Well, judge for yourself. “Since I did not report to Humenné once, the police started looking for me. I was in danger of being returned to an asylum camp at best and expelled from Slovakia at worst. I could not stay in Galanta, where they logically looked for me in the first place. So I went to Ružina near Lučenec. I played there for a while and, yes, you could say that, I hid there. Later I was still in Zvolen, then in Sered. I couldn’t stay in one place. Everyone told me, Elvis, we’ll work it out. And it worked.

Mr. Paška, whom I also call my white father, finally legalized my stay in Slovakia. I got permission for one year. I could travel, do everything legally. Once I went to see a friend in the Czech Republic and it burned down so that I found a club there. Loko Vltavín wanted me. In the end, I stayed in the Czech Republic for four years, married a Czech and gradually played for České Budějovice, Liberec, Viktoria Žižkov and Vyšehrad. “

KLOP-KLOP REPRE

Elvis Sukisa has been a FK Senica player since the summer. “I returned to Slovakia and I am very satisfied. It was easier for me that I was already here, I speak Slovak fluently, I know people and I know how to function fully in Slovakia. I am not a complete foreigner, I can even say without exaggeration that I consider Slovakia to be my second home. I’m happy in Senica. Nice, small town, near Bratislava. I really feel at home here, ” Elvis says honestly.

By the way, it is not named after the most famous singer of all time, Presley. “I doubt that. In Africa, many people do not know Elvis Presley. I also found out who it is in Europe after a few years. ”

Currently, Sukisa is the best scorer of the highest Slovak competition with seven goals. “I can honestly say that I was expecting it. I mean, I didn’t expect to be the league’s top scorer. But I knew what my shape was, where I was going and what was expected of me. I believed. I talked a lot with coach Šustr, he helped me a lot. He told me I had a chance to get better and better, I just had to work hard on myself. He even told me once, if you listen to me, you will be the best player in Slovakia, ” he says and smiles again.

Elvis does not dream of moving to a better competition than the Slovak one, nor to a better Slovak club. “What for? I’m not dealing with what will happen. My goal is to finish the season, lock up for Senica and do everything for my current club. I wonder what will happen, but I don’t deal with it. I don’t know what can happen. You can long for something, want something and boom, you’re hurt tomorrow. If I think about the future, I will no longer focus on the present. “ he told us with foresight.

But he will have to solve one thing in the future. His current shooting and game form makes him a potential Congolese representative. “They were already here to see me in Senica. They say they’ll call me for the first time in November. So far, it looks like I’m going to go to 80 percent. At least I’ll look at a home where I haven’t been in twelve years. I couldn’t afford it. At first I didn’t have the money or documents to do it, and in particular I didn’t want to come home empty-handed. I owe a lot to my family. Thanks to my father and his help, I am now where I am. I have to give it back to him. ” closes the debate and smiles again.