As a tradition at Erőd FC players voted for the best performance. This time the goalkeeper, Balázs Száz won the friendly competition, which makes him the first winner who isn’t an attacker. He won thanks to his consistently good performances which helped the team achieving the results. He even had a clean sheet in March against Őrmező SE, which is very rare in amateur football. You can learn more about the main man between the sticks.

Congratulations! Were you surprised to win player of the month?

Thank you and absolutely! I had a feeling my performance was better than before, but my epxectations are always very hard when it comes to myself. It’s very rare to win something as a goalkeeper when you are competing with the other players so I wasn’t expecting it at all. Considering this, I rate this very highly. But the most important thing is the team’s performance, not mine.

We were in a title race last month after beating the leaders and getting only 2 points behind of them. You had eleven matches this season and you already have two clean sheets so you did a lot to help us to be in this position at all. Is this what you expected when you joined Erőd FC?

The last time I was part of an eleven-a-side team was ten years ago. I didn’t have much success there and wanted to focus on my studies. I played here and there indoors though, that’s how I met the coach and president from Erőd. He told me the team needs a goalkeeper in a newly formed club. I was told it’s going to be a club about respect, the love for the game and a strong community. This was what I wanted. To answer your question, I didn’t expect anything, I was just excited to play in an eleven-a-side match after a long time. I’m very happy if my performances can help the team.

How are you doing here then? Happy with the atmosphere?

I have enjoyed every minute so far! As I mentioned the coach said this is a supportive group of people and it’s part of Erőd FC’s principles to have a strong community. Most of these people, more than 20 for a matter of fact played together for years and they know eachother well. I waas a stranger but the lads made me feel welcome from the start, they were very helpful. The first half of the season was rough for me, I had injuries and I got sick as well. I think I settled in here regardless of that. If I play well they praise me a lot, but when I have worse perfomances they never say anything bad. It’s exactly what I was promised before joining and it’s good to be a part of this club.

Tell us about your early days! How did you become a goalkeeper?

In 2003 I was kicking a ball around the gardens with a good friend of mine when I was ten years old. I didn’t like to run a lot when I was little though, perhaps that was part of the reason I wanted to try this position. I grew in love with it after the first few dives, I thought saving shots like that is so cool! I joined a newly formed team in my hometown three years later, but since I was already too old to learn the basics, I knew I could not become a professional. It’s a life long hobby.

Who was your favourite player growing up?

Ronaldinho is my favourite player of all time! I became a Barcelona fan thanks to him so that’s my team. As a goalkeeper I have to mention Iker Casillas as well. He was the best keeper in history for me.

What was the most memorable moment in your carreer, or something you witnessed and sticked with you forever?

Coming back after a long hiatus made my return to an eleven-a-side pitch memorable. It was so exciting to have a debut at Erőd FC because of that. I have a great memory as a fan too, the group match between Hungary and Portugal at the European Championship in 2016. Not only did we play on an international level again, but we won the group!

I know you like hiking. What other hobbies do you have?

Yes I absolutely love hiking. I’m doing the longest continuous trail of our country right now, the National Blue Trail. I also like cycling, boardgames and I learn foreign languages when I relax.

How many languages have you started to learn?

Let’s see, I speak English on a great level due to various meetings thanks to my job. I’m currently refreshing my knowledge in Spanish, which I have a decent level in. I studied French for 4 years but it was so long ago, I want to relearn that as well.

Can’t help but notice Portuguese is missing!

I haven’t started it yet but I’m planning to learn that as well. Fortaleza fans are part of my motivations to be honest, I’m hoping to understand their messages soon enough!

Do you have a message for them?

Your passion and love you show for the game and us as well is incredible! Thank you so much for that! I hope you will stick with us and we will try to do our best to represent this mentality in Hungary. We are rooting for you from here, I wish a lot of success to Fortaleza EC! Bora Leao!