Days after the death of Cardiff City striker Emiliano Sala, a professional Brazilian volleyball player has claimed she had been in a relationship with him since 2017 .
During an interview with Brazilian news outlet, the Brazillian volleyball player who plays for French side for Beziers Angels said she is still in love with the dead striker.
She says she met Sala during her time playing in France, with the pair first exchanging messages on social media in September 2017 when she was playing for Nantes’ female volleyball team.
Ungerer, a native of Rio de Janeiro who has been playing volleyball in France for eight years, said she last saw Sala on her birthday 14th January.
She said: “He said that he had gone to see Cardiff and that the deal was closed, he was going to play there. It made me really glad because he was very happy. It was his dream, to play in the Premier League, the best competition in the world.”
She says she spoke to Sala on the day of his disappearance but did not want to reveal what they spoke about, instead saying: “What I wanted was for him to come back.
“There are lots of people asking me horrible things about the accident. It’s really difficult.”
The volleyball player talked about her time spent with Sala in Nantes, saying: “In the street, everybody recognised him, they came to speak to him and take a photo with him. I used to say: ‘Who the hell told you to score so many goals?’
“It was surprising for him because he’s a simple person and he didn’t understand it.
“He has a pure heart, he has no bad intentions, he was even naive at times.”
Speaking about his disappearance, she said: “I always had hope after his disappearance, because in those hours that’s what you have to have. Until the moment they announced they had found a body, I had hope.
“There was a lot of anguish, not knowing where the plane was, not knowing what was going to happen, with the searches which shouldn’t have stopped. It was all anguish.”
The 31-year-old said goodbye to Sala on social media with the message: “Like you always said to me: ‘Thank you for being how you are.’ I’m going to love you forever!”
And she told Globo: “Now, I have to be happy for myself and for him. I’m going to try and live for myself and for him.
“I’m going to try and be as happy as possible because that’s what he wants.”