Bojinov interview
Events - 22 Nov 2006 - 6:24 PM
Bojinov: the quiet type
Having made his Serie A debut at fifteen it would be easy to think his meteoric rise to the top would have gone to his head, but Valery Bojinov is a young man whose feet are firmly planted on the ground. “Of course I’m happy to have got this far but I’m still the person I’ve always been, my head hasn’t got bigger. I’m a quiet guy and I haven’t forgotten where I come from. You have to be this way if you want to lead a happy life”. After moving to Italy from Bulgaria when he was just thirteen, even Valery is surprised at how quickly his star has grown. “It’s like a dream that’s come true in a second, I never expected things to turn out the way they have. I mean, I always dreamed about playing in Serie A but to arrive there so quickly…”.
Saturday sees the Bianconeri take on Lecce at the Olimpico - how will the young striker feel taking the field against his old club? “The game with Lecce will be like any other. Except for the coach, I’m not really in contact with anyone at the club any more as practically all their players arrived after I left. I’ve already played them a couple of times since so it won’t be special in that respect. It’s important the team wins and earns three crucial points. That will be enough for us”. The Bulgarian has similarly straight forward aims for his own personal future. “My objectives for this year? Simple. To play as many games and score as many goals as possible”.
Valery has settled in well to Italy’s former capital city. “I’m very happy here in Turin, it’s a nice, quiet life. The people here are great and I never have any problems”. How does it feel to walk down the street as a famous footballer? “I’m happy to sign autographs and things like that as long as it doesn’t become too invasive. I’m quite a reserved character but it’s nice when the fans recognise you and appreciate what you do for the team”.
With any luck, life in Serie B will be short lived for the Bianconeri. “It’s a particular championship. There are a lot more games in Serie B and much less room to play. Teams do their best to stop us from playing the football we want to play and they tend to favour the long ball approach. Still, it’s only for a few more months…”. Will Lecce follow a similar game plan? “Knowing their coach, Lecce will come here looking to attack. We need to play like always and impose our own game as we have done up until now”. And if he manages to find the target? “If I score of course I’ll be happy but I won’t be doing summersaults around the pitch or anything like that”.