Shakhtar Donetsk had a tough time maintaining eye contact with Daria Bondar Savina during an interview following his team’s 4-2 victory over Turkish club Besiktas in a UEFA Europa League qualifying game in Istanbul. His behaviour, though, was met with mixed reactions on social media.
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.
Watch:
🎙 «Ще нічого не завершено. Не можна пропускати два такі легкі голи» ⚒️
🧡 Арда Туран – про перемогу над «Бешикташем», атаку «Шахтаря» та неймовірну атмосферу в Стамбулі 😍#Shakhtar #UEL #БешикташШахтар pic.twitter.com/8VvNUTLvSH
— ⚒FC SHAKHTAR DONETSK (@FCShakhtar) July 25, 2025
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.
Arda Turan
He’s trying so hard to keep his eyes off her body. Congratulations, he’s a loyal man.— 𝓜𝓟 ✪ (@captainmpx) July 26, 2025
His wife: ‘Who was that short-skirted young woman interviewing you?”
Arda: “Woman? What woman?”
— Armand D’Angour (@ArmandDAngour) July 26, 2025
He is a good Muslim 😂😂😂😂
— Faysal Haddad (@FaysalHadd13109) July 26, 2025
Because he hasn’t grown up and he hasn’t learnt how to control himself.
— 6 Dog Sasquatch (@6DogSasquatch) July 27, 2025
I hate it when men do this.
— Shokooh🎗️ (@Shokooh1373) July 26, 2025
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.
