Reuniting with the Champions: Boris Godál Talks About His Time in Saudi Arabia and the Future with Podbrezova

At the big football party in Trnava, the title of five years ago was mentioned. Almost the entire team came together, which in the spring of 2018 returned the title to Trnava after 45 years, still the only one in the era of independence.

At the autograph session in front of the Anton Malatinský Stadium, a long line of fans waited for the signatures of the champions, and they had a lot of fun in the exhibition match with the Mufuza team. Captain Boris Godál (36) also arrived. Podbrezová’s regular player spent five months on loan in Saudi Arabia’s Al-Adalah.

The successful team was together again. How did you take this initiative?

Excellent idea, it was very pleasant. I was pleased to play with my former teammates again. I haven’t seen several in five years. I did not expect to gather in such numbers.

At the beginning, coach Nestor El Maestro addressed you. He also brushed up his Slovak, didn’t he forget it after all this time?

He addressed us in Slovak at the beginning, but it was already a bit out of his head. He switched to English fluently. It wasn’t a problem, we all understood him. I am looking forward to the fact that we will continue to discuss, we will also discuss Saudi Arabia, because he also worked there as a coach.

He said that he would take a player like you to any club. Did you get an offer from him?

Back when he was training at Sturm Graz. After one season I was preparing according to their fitness plan, but the coach in Graz quit and the transfer fell through. After that we went our separate ways. But the player is always pleased when the coach calls him, he is interested in him.

How do you rate the spring in the attractive environment of Arab football?

It was interesting and informative. I played well there, although I was in a team that was fighting for survival. For us, these were difficult matches, each of them a small final, we were fighting for survival. The environment, a different culture, the setup of the home players were different. I had to get used to that quickly. I consider it a valuable experience and a reward at the end of my career. I didn’t expect anything like that.

Did you play regularly?

I played all the matches, except for one, in which I missed four yellow cards. I had the coach’s trust and the responses to my performance were positive. It’s a shame that we didn’t manage the fight for survival and didn’t meet the goal. We missed one victory.

Is there still a possibility that you will return to Saudi Arabia?

Rather not. But after what happened in January when I got an unexpected offer, I can’t rule anything out completely.

If the opportunity arose, would you stay?

World-class footballers also come there, recently Ronaldo started, but also players from the Spanish league, from Real Madrid, Chelsea and others. In every match, I defended a striker who meant something in European football as well. Who wouldn’t want to operate in Saudi Arabia today?

How is domestic football?

His level is going up. Also popularity. Also because of Ronaldo, they started broadcasting matches from the league on television. Players don’t just go there for money anymore and it’s not a vacation for them.

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It was not easy, every mistake was punished, the individual quality of the players was high. In our team, the organization of the game was a bit haphazard.

You also defended Ronaldo. How challenging was it?

I was on my toes the whole match, because when he got even a meter of free space, he was already in position to finish, shooting at the goal.

He scored two goals for us, confirmed his great quality, his finishing is fantastic. He also had an excellent team behind him, they played for him, created chances for him, played all set pieces, free kicks, penalties.

What did his arrival cause in the country?

We played with his team at home, but in the stands everyone was wearing Ronaldo’s shirt. My wife, who just then came to visit me for a week, said that when she parked in front of the stadium, they threw Ronaldo’s jersey into her car, they wanted her to wear it.

There was great madness. When he scored a goal and did his famous victory gesture, the whole stadium roared as if we were playing at their place.

Will you return to Podbrezova, where they are waiting for you?

I still have a year left on my contract with Podbrezová. We haven’t talked yet. The team has become quite young again. I have now spent a week in Slovakia and I still have a holiday in Turkey. After it, I will decide my immediate future.