Introduction
In the first part of this article series Gábor Király spoke about the secrets of the goalkeeping profession, in relation to his own career. For his part, self-criticism, consistency and the creation of real life situations came out during our interview. In addition, the role of goal-orientation and consistency as the secret of sustained outstanding goalkeeper performance emerged as a common point with Szabolcs Balajcza. Let's take a look at the factors that have defined the career of the former standout goalkeeper of Kaposvár Rákóczi FC and Újpest FC.
Source: Coach's criticism motivated Szabolcs Balajcza - nb1.hu
Persistent parental support and defiance throughout your career
"I always knew I wanted to be a goalkeeper" - started Szabolcs Balajcza. The goalkeeper has played in more than 300 first division matches for Kaposvár Rákóczi FC and Újpest FC. His parents gave him all the support he needed to become a professional goalkeeper. They sometimes spent their last forint to fill up their Lada car and take Szabolcs to his current match. "Parental support is very important."
For example, my mother regularly sewed the stain on my trousers, I played in my father's mechanic's gloves in the kindergarten, where there were two bins for the goal posts.
- said the current goalkeeper coach of Puskás Akadémia FC. Parental support was also needed. For example, when the future Újpest favourite experienced a big break in his career at the age of 14.
To this day, it still makes him feel bad when, after a poor performance in a Kaposvár junior match, his coach told him, "As long as I'm the coach here, you won't play a minute." For three years after that, he spent his time on the bench, with only occasional opportunities to prove himself. Many would have quit, but his parents continued to take him to training. His father would encourage him during the tough times by saying, "You're going to training, it will pay off in the long run."
He also developed a coping strategy of defiance as a result of the hurtful comment, which he says: "The coach made me so defiant that it has stayed with me throughout my career."
This defiance was to show later, as goalkeeper for Újpest FC, when he was benched in the summer of 2014 after Marko Dmitrovic was signed. "At the time, everyone was at fault but me. I didn't even tell my goalkeeping coach, Bandi Pálinkás, for two months," he said of his difficult time in Újpest. Then the chance to win the Hungarian Cup gave him a new sense of purpose. He put his head in order and his "vision" became that he would lift the cup in the final. Under his leadership, the team finally won another prestigious title after 12 years. "I felt like a hero in the final, we won on penalties against DVTK, one of the greatest moments of my career," he recalled of the climax of the cup run. And not only did he lift the trophy in the final, he even rested on the seat next to it on the bus ride home from the match.
25 May 2014 Újpest - DVTK (Hungarian Cup final) - YouTube
A sense of purpose, responsibility and love of football
The germ of purposefulness appeared in him as a kindergartener, during the Hungarian national football team's participation in the 1986 World Cup. "Seeing a gentleman called Peter Disztl in goal was such a motivation for me that from then on I was Peter Disztl in training and on the field, saving shots," recalls the former standout goalkeeper, who made his debut in the top league at the age of 24.
According to his dream, he became aware that he could become the first goalkeeper of Kaposvár Rákóczi FC when he was 18 years old and joined the then second division team. "Before that it was just a dream for me, but then it became an achievable goal," he said of his other vision. So much so that he made his league debut that season, and was even invited by national coach Barnabas Tornyi to play for the U21 national team. This confirmed to him that persistent training really does pay off, and that success has not made him complacent, but even more motivated.
Goals have always been present in the life of Szabolcs Balajcza, who started a goalkeeping school in Újpest after finishing his career. His professional development was noticed by the Puskás Akadémia FC team, and his vision of working with adult goalkeepers at professional level was fulfilled.
I think the greatest value of the goalkeeper position is the sense of responsibility
- continued Szabolcs. His mother instilled this in him from childhood, and thanks to this he became captain of both Rákóczi Kaposvár FC and Újpest FC. Szabolcs Balajcza was clearly one of the captains who spoke to his team in private, listened to his colleagues and represented his team diplomatically to the club leaders. He was touched by the difficulties of others, helped his team-mates in everything, and earned respect with his empathy.
Balajcza Szabolcs Best of DVD.avi - YouTube
He still keeps in touch with his former goalkeeper students, offering them advice when needed.
In addition to the values mentioned above, Szabolcs Balajcza had a trump card in his bag from a young age, which has kept him in football since the age of 14 - despite the dismissive criticism of his coach at the time - and still does today: "My love for football, my love for the goalkeeper's position helped me not to give up. In the evenings, we would drop our bags by the goalposts and play football on the pitch. I loved training, I still love the sport."
For this reason, he has become a role model for many young goalkeepers, just as he used to shout the name of Péter Disztl after a save.
