Roberts was born near his grandparents’ house in Kuldiga, but grew up, studied and started learning football in the city of Liepaja. He has been training in football since the age of seven, and he has always been a goalkeeper. “Already in kindergarten, playing football, I chose to keep the goal. I have never been a player on the field, although in some exercises, of course, I did the same as the others, ”says Ozols of the Latvian Football Federation (LFF) Homepage.
In his hometown, he managed to play only in the FK “Liepājas Metalurgs” doubles team in 2013, after which he moved to the “Spartaks Jūrmala” team. By the way, directly against “Metalurgs” he also made his debut in the highest league of the country – at the age of 17 in the “Spartaks” shirt. His team gave in 1: 2 to the most ambitious Liepaja residents at that time. “There was no special feeling about playing against the team of his hometown,” Ozols denies that the matches against Liepaja players would be more special for him, because in football every game is equally important.
During the conversation, Robert repeatedly proves his earthiness. “I do not remember being scared draggedbombs ”,“ it’s not that they didn’t protect me from themselves ”- Robert speaks for himself without shining his feathers. The works speak best of him. And on the football field, he is balanced, cold-blooded, inspires confidence and peace in his teammates. Even when he catches balls in slender jumps, other goalkeepers would simply hit.
Oak is also known as an 11-meter repellent specialist. Transfermarkt data shows that the game repelled him pendulum is more than allowed. “There’s no specific secret,” Robert laughs. But when asked about his strategy in the case of 11 meters, he explains: “This should not be told.”
After two seasons in the ranks of “Spartaka” and “Daugava Rīga” in Jūrmala, Roberts became the property of “Riga FC”, which he still represents. His first coaches in football are Mārtiņš Jaunskalže and Aleksandrs Stradiņš, who have always invited Ozols with him in all clubs and have been by his side in all the most important stages of Robert’s career.
In the ranks of “Riga FC”, the goalkeeper waited for his opportunity for a long time, until 2018 he was in the main team ranks during the game. “If I’m not mistaken, it was the third game of the season [nemaldās – red. piez.]when I was given to play four games. Then they sat down for one match. Then it gave me another chance, and I used it – I played all the remaining games until the end of the season. The first two games remained dry. But a match in which I would have steadily won a place in the team? Maybe it was a match with RFS when we lost at the last second. I hit in that match pendeli, I saved the team well for a few more moments, and then I started playing regularly. ”
After the successful season of 2018, he gradually felt that it was not possible to enter the Latvian national team beyond the mountains. “Many people around Toruden started talking about the fact that maybe I deserved a call to the team. There were matches in the European Cups, it was a long one dry game series. Around that time, I would also realize that one might expect to be able to enter the state unit at some point. ”
The transition from youth to adult football is especially difficult, during this period the ranks of players tend to change, as someone turns out to be unprepared for professional football, someone else with persistent work and determination continues to wade to the next levels. Many leave football altogether or start working elsewhere during this time. “There were no moments when I would have thought to leave football. It is another thing that I had considered the options to work somewhere, but I did not want to leave football at all, ”says Roberts about this difficult period. “This is the life of a goalkeeper – there is only one place on the field. Therefore, goalkeepers tend to wait longer for their opportunities than the players on the field. ”
Among the goalkeepers of the Latvian national team, Ozols distinguishes Alexander Koliņko and Andris Vaniņš the most. “I grew up watching these goalkeepers guard the Latvian national team goal. My personal goal is to keep working and do my best to help my club and national team. ”
“Even after the training camp in September, there were hints from the coach that I could debut for the national team in October. After the game with Malta, the coach said that in October I could play. So it wasn’t a terrible surprise for me. But I only found out the final decision on the day of the game. The main thing was to feel good in the first fifteen minutes, to play safely and convincingly. The bench was restless, and with 26 minutes passed fc’s coach gave Eduardo Alves the opportunity the player had been hoping for. But everything went well, and then that thing was gone. What was the most difficult episode in the debut match? (Interest think) It’s a goal kick for the ball. The field was soft, the ball was wet, did not want to slip. It could return the ball to opponents and receive a dangerous counterattack. “
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