Kunický: I feel very determined to make it to the eight finals and show people what we have in us

Dominik Kunický, the goalkeeper from Brno, was leaving for the European Small-Sided Football Championship in the role of the number two behind Ondrej Bír. But in the very first match against France, the Czech number one was injured, the tournament in Košice, Slovakia, ended for him and the twenty-five year old goalkeeper was left to carry all the burden. “I take it as an opportunity and a huge motivation,” says Kunický, who hails from Velké Pavlovice. On Wednesday at 10 p.m., the Czech national team will face England in the eighth round of the European Championship.

What do you think of the opponents?

The boys have seen their first match against Israel and we know about the English that they are excellent on the ball, they have two or three skilful players, especially the one with the number ten (Dominic Morgan-Griffiths – ed.) is very good one-on-one. Then we thought we could go through one player again. We know a little bit, I’m sure the realiser will prepare us well in the technical-tactical meeting and I believe we can do it.

The game doesn’t start until 10pm, which is very unusual. How do you feel about that?

It’s a bit of a change, I’m usually almost midnight when I have a work week. I believe we’ll handle it well. We’ll have a classic breakfast from 8:30, then we’ll have the first technical-tactical meeting, then we’ll have training, then we’ll do some match preparation and some time off. We’ll go out for dinner together and then the game will come later.

You went into the tournament as defending champions, now your position is different, right?

Yes, we feel it from the outside as well. The results and especially the performance in some of the games were definitely not ideal, we were without movement and without confidence. We’ve sorted it out amongst ourselves and I feel very determined to get through the game and show people what we’ve got.

Why do you think it’s scrubbing off when Košice is the best that Czech small football can have?

It’s really probably the best that the realiser could have chosen, he has a clear conscience, when I look at the typology of players, we don’t have many better players in the Czech Republic. I don’t take into account that Kouďák (Jan Koudelka – editor’s note) couldn’t come, Ondra Moučka got injured, Dan Kasal couldn’t come for work reasons, we can’t influence these things.

There are six of us from Brno, plus Zrza (Lukáš Zrzavý – editor’s note) came because of Ondra Bír’s injury, after all we won the title three times in a row, so who else to choose? The guys from Prague have been unbelievable this year. We have here the best that can be, we just have to transfer it to the field.

So you believe in improvement?

Either way, I believe it’s gonna work out. It won’t be so many fives, it will settle down and it will be something else. The regular season was one competition, we met our goal of advancing. Now it’s a completely different competition, the real championship. We’ve put the group behind us and we’re only interested in Wednesday’s game.

Did you know how important Jiri Sodoma’s goal at 1:4 in the setup against Serbia was for the progress?

We didn’t know that much. Anyway, we should still play the same way, even though it was so important in the end, we should want to score in every situation. I don’t care, I was more frustrated like the other guys with the way the game was going. We came into the game and immediately the first standard came, which meant a Serbian goal.

After that, we were conquering, but the Serbs have tough players and they are incredibly difficult to play against, so we were no match for them. They went to war while we went to play football, which is not good. We need to change that, start fighting and add the quality we have. And especially the heart that has always adorned us and should still adorn us.

Do you think a slap from the Serbs will kick you off?

I think it will. I was really disappointed and we said to each other that everybody has to look into their conscience and see if they can look themselves and other people in the eye. It’s good that the slap came now and we still advanced rather than it coming in the playoffs. If it did, it’s over. This way we have time to show that we can do it and that we’re still here, which is terribly important.

When you left for Košice, you didn’t expect to become the Czech number one. How do you feel about that?

We communicated with coach Standa Bejda and manager Luděk Zelenka before the tournament, I was aware of my position. Bíras has been representing for a very long time, I respect him and he is a friend, I certainly would never wish what happened to him.

I’m sorry from the point of view of the national team because Biras is specific in what he does, he’s unreal. Anyway, it happened, coincidentally I started twice in a heated game on the same day, I had the same thing in the morning at a big football game. I’ve had some practice.

Do situations like that leave you at ease?

I went to Košice with the idea that I want to help in any situation that arises. In the World Cup quarter-finals in Australia, I went for a penalty against the Americans like that. Now I’m in a role where I should probably keep catching. I just take it as an opportunity and a huge motivation, it didn’t tie me down, I wasn’t even nervous, it was more like I wasn’t stuck somehow with the Serbs.

The game with Moldova was great, with the Serbs it was worse from the whole team, not just me.
But you can’t avoid the comparison with Ondrej Bir. Bíras played second league in the centre of midfield, if I could use my feet like him, something would have been wrong. It may sound stupid, but technically he is one of the best players here, which is not to offend anyone.

He’s incredible at it and I’ll never be downright typologically the same. I also like the footwork, I used to play outfield until a certain age and I enjoy it, anyway maybe I’ll be better more on the line, even though with the Serbs it didn’t hit me as much as I would have liked.

Ondra and I are completely different goalkeepers, I have a slightly different role, I don’t push forward as much, I’m more about opening up spaces for the guys to make the pitch bigger so I’m helping the passing game. I’m not the one to create completely, which is a change from Biras.

Your Brno teammate Lukáš Zrzavý has arrived in Košice as a substitute, will he be covering your back?

We talked about it, the match hasn’t started yet, so I don’t want to make any predictions, but we have an agreement and we’ll see how it goes. I’m glad that there is someone here, because there is a specific surface in the hall, it’s very slippery, you want to take a step and the turf or the kick gets stuck, someone can simply sprain his knee or ankle. It’s definitely good to have someone here who will have my back and can jump in as an equal partner.

Source: Little Football