“Outside the stadium, I am a child like any other. Resolution to constitute Greece and its understanding in the remarkable La Masia Academy in Barcelona.
Before the season, Zafeiris lost his blonde hair and suddenly started playing with his skin. It’s as if his special hair tied him up in the spring. He was unable to cope with the injury sustained at the end of the winter and even left out of the starting lineup for a few games. No goals, no assists, no interaction. He just couldn’t go back to his past form.
It was expected more of the midfielder who decided in the hundred most productive players in Europe in the spring of 2023. Even the hypothesis that can be left. However, he did not run away from the paintings he was doing, and that is why he once returned has become one of the pillars of the Prague Club this season.
On Wednesday, Jindrich Trpisovsky’s side will rely on him once again, this time against Ludogorets in Bulgaria for the start of Slavia’s UEFA Europa League campaign.
Is it still itchy?
“I can’t wait, but I also know that the season is not just about Europe. We also need to be successful in the league, so we have to take each and every play seriously. It is difficult to prepare the same path for the duels with Ajax or maybe with Karvina, but we have to do it.
It will be the first time we play in the new format. What do you think?
“It will be a completely new experience for everyone. It’s good that we will play more teams, that we will fight until the end and no team can afford to drop anything. But it’s just a first impression. It’s too early to make an assessment.”
You have several attractive opponents. Ajax, Frankfurt, Athletic Bilbao and Fenerbahce are groups that have been among the European groups. . .
“I’m looking forward to Bilbao in particular. Spain, great team, great atmosphere, beautiful stadium. It will be something!”
What about your trip to Greece? The lace in Pak will have a specific meaning for you, right?
“For the first time in my club’s career, I will be betting in Greece, so I’m a little curious to see how it will go. I’m looking ahead. It’s definitely the exciting peak of the regular season.
You wouldn’t want to end with in that one though, would you? Do you have any specific goals in the competition?
“We need to go as far as possible. I think we have shown several times that we can compete with European clubs. So I think we can go very far. “
You are strong, especially at home, as you showed in the Champions League qualifying phase. But in the end you were eliminated by Lille, does it still hurt?
“It’s hard to accept. We played a wonderful match in the rematch, we discovered a way to triumph against anyone. But unfortunately we didn’t invent the two-goal deficit. It would be wonderful to play in the Champions League. ” However, we have to look to the future.
During qualifying, he also tried out the defensive role. During the duel against Royal Union, you were in the ratio of the damaging Cameron Puertas and you almost left him in the match. How does this role suit you?
“I have to say that it was a total challenge. I am an offensive player, but when the situation requires it, I am satisfied to play this role. If the coaches evaluate that I can help the big star personally to remain as an opponent, I will settle for this role without any problem.
Would you enjoy it?
“I like being on the pitch. I don’t care where. The important thing for me is to be there. That is enough for me to enjoy football”.
However, you were absent from the beginning XI in spring. Was it something you discovered difficult?
“Nobody likes to be on the bench, but that’s part of football. At least I’ve tried to get something out of it. I worked hard in training, I talked to the coaches. I wanted to show them that I deserved to be on the bench. No. “
In the end, you won their trust. However, in the summer there was speculation that you might leave Slavia. Did you solve it?
“Not at all. I have not done the job. I know that any progress is accompanied by shorter failures, the vital thing is that they are not in the long term. You have to react with each step back, and that is what I try to do at the beginning of the season.
So far, so good . . .
“I can’t be satisfied with that, though. There are a lot of important games ahead of us in Europe and in the league. I have to work to be able to maintain this level for the rest of the season. Obviously, every game won’t be perfect, but I have to try to perform as well as possible.”
Have the coaches found the perfect role for you? You seem to be able to link well with Oscar Dorley in the middle of the park.
“I wouldn’t say that my position or my role on the pitch has fundamentally changed. Coaches still need me to do the same things I did last year, but I think I’m old enough to follow their instructions. I check to press to press more at the end, I play more on the opponent’s 16 and I have chances. I think I sense precisely what they need me to do.
You left Greece with your parents when you were nine years old. Do you remember how hard it was for you then?
“It was very complicated for the whole family. We had to start a new life in an absolutely foreign country. We didn’t know the language, we didn’t know anyone . . . In the end, football helped us all. ” .
Actually? As?
“I quickly made friends thanks to it. I just went out with the ball, met new people and I learned to speak Norwegian quite quickly because of it. My parents in turn made friends at the club I was at. So football played a very important role in making us fit in in Norway.”
How difficult was it to get used to Norwegian football? I can imagine that young Norwegians are proper sheepdogs.
“That wasn’t really the point, I was more referring to the different approach to young footballers. In Greece, talented boys go to big clubs, in Norway it doesn’t work like that. There are no academies where the best of each year play. There are a lot of smaller teams with players of different levels. There is a lot of emphasis on making football fun. So it was a bit difficult to find a team where I could continue to develop football.”
In addition, just before you moved to Norway, you had an internship at Barcelona’s famous La Masia academy. You went from training with the most talented young footballers in the world to being one of those guys who just play football for fun…
“I did not take it that way, I only wanted to play. Besides, in Norway I had fun playing football. In Barcelona it was more stressful for me. I didn’t speak a word of Spanish and feeling an edge in his position there.
So your first club outside of Greece and Norway became Slavia more than 10 years later. Weren’t you aiming higher? Maybe your youth team partner Oscar Bobb is already peeking into Manchester City’s first team.
“Not at all. The transfer to Slavia was vital for me. In Norway, I played for smaller clubs that were at the back of the rankings. Suddenly, a team that wins trophies and regularly plays the European cuts was interested in me.
I guess it’s easy to get used to fighting for titles and matches in Europe, right?
“Well, it wasn’t simple at all. Every week you go to a game here thinking you have to get 3 points. There is nothing more winning yet. I didn’t know this kind of attitude until then. I had to get used to it a bit, but of course, it’s a big concern.
When you arrived, there is a lot of communication about you replacing Nicolae Stancio. Did you understand this?
“To be honest, slightly at all. I knew I had played here and that it was very popular among fans, however, I never sought to imitate or compare myself to anyone. From the beginning, I sought to be myself.
Maybe one day when you leave, enthusiasts will compare the new signings to you. . .
“It would be good, but I still don’t think about leaving. I am in the Slavs and I need to help them achieve the most productive results. If there is an offer for the transfer, it is a shame. I won’t face that right now. “
But I guess you don’t see Slavia as the last stop.
“Of course, I would be satisfied if I had the opportunity to move on. I would like to give way, however, it is transparent to me that may not happen. It will count on me and my performance. “
Do you have a club or league you’d like to play in?
“My dream is to see one of the 4 most sensible European competitions. And that they are interested in me.