Josep Martinezgoalkeeper of Genoagave an interview to the club’s official channels where he looked back at his first two seasons in the rossoblù shirt: “I feel really good, it’s my second year here. I think it’s a very beautiful city, with people who are very passionate about football and I like this a lot. What do they tell me when they meet me? That I’m good and that I’m nice. When I see people I stop with everyone, especially with children and teenagers. I never have a problem saying hello to people, they see that and that’s why they tell me“.
You were here last year too and you experienced the match against Bari which changed your life, also because you were also ill: what memories do you have of that day?
“I have a bit of a strange memory of that day, I was coming from a bit of a difficult situation with the team. I started playing, then a shoulder injury stopped me for three weeks. This is football, when you have three weeks out we have teammates with quality. I had to bide my time. When I made that save in the 90th minute I just thought the referee would blow his whistle and I would go home and sleep because I couldn’t take it anymore (laughs, ed). I wanted the game to end and go to sleep, I felt terrible“.
How do you find yourself in Italy?
“In all the interviews I do I say that Italy is the country most similar to Spain. There is the sea, good food, the quality is more or less the same and the people too, they are Latino. In Italy we live very well and I feel good here. How did I learn Italian? Talking to people, here they stop you and talk to you. Even with classmates. It is a language not very different from Spanish, especially Valencian. It wasn’t very difficult, within four or five months I was speaking it and understanding it. After two months I already understood almost everything“.
Who is the funniest companion and who would I take with me to a desert island?
“I wouldn’t bring anyone (laughs, ed). Definitely some Spaniards, Martin is a good guy but they are all good people. The funniest is Albert Gudmundsson, he is very nice. I don’t take him to an island, but he’s a lot of fun“.
How would you describe the Genoa fan?
“The adjective I would use is ‘passionate’. People live football with a lot of passion, for me this is fundamental. What do I find in common with Spain? It’s a good question, I think the feeling of belonging“.
What do you mean that goalkeepers are crazy?
“We are different than other footballers, we are alone, we work alone. We have a different character and pressure. A mistake by the goalkeeper is very visible, you have a lot of responsibility. We are more alone and everything you do has many repercussions: if the defender makes a mistake you have the goalkeeper behind you, if the midfielder makes a mistake you have the defender. If the goalkeeper makes a mistake, however, it’s difficult“.
Do you have a quote that motivates you when you’re sad or something that comes to mind?
“One day I saw an interview with an NBA player who said that defeat at a moment in life is not a disaster, because the important thing is to work day by day. Manage moments of defeat as a step towards success. It’s difficult, we live in a society where it seems like we always have to win. In football, for example, there are twenty teams. It’s very difficult to win against all the other nineteen teams. We need to give another weight to defeats, things don’t always go as we would like“.
They told me you can sing…
“Sing? Ah, I get it I get it (laughs, ed). It was a situation in the promotion party to Serie A, we had an event with the fans. We were all in the box, they were singing ‘Guasto d’amore’ and they asked me to sing it. I said no because I’m shy, then in the third I took the microphone and sang. Then I did a bit of a show“.
What advice would you give to little Josep?
“AND the question of questions. Definitely that of never giving up, because there are difficult moments in life and in football. However, the path is very beautiful if you know how to maintain sacrifice and humility. So never give up, you can’t become a professional without suffering. When people ask me for advice I say don’t give up, believe in yourself. I think it’s the most important thing in life“.
Genoa, Albert Gudmundsson’s interview with the Telegraph
