Koubek: "It's a real honour"
First Team
17.12.2019, 16:14
Since joining the club last summer, Tomáš Koubek has become a reliable fixture between the sticks for FCA. Ahead of the next home game against Fortuna Düsseldorf, we have spoken to the Czech keeper about his start to life at Augsburg, his goalkeeping game and the match against Fortuna.
For a number of weeks now, things have been getting better and better not only for FCA, but also for you personally. To start with, it wasn’t always so easy for you.
I don’t think it’s easy for anyone to make a fresh start in a new town and a foreign country. It’s always a question of expectations as well. Of course, FCA paid a relatively large transfer fee for me, so fans and perhaps even the press might have expected me to work perfectly right away. I can understand that, but I’m only human and I needed to settle in first. Life is full of ups and downs and it’s no different in football. At the moment, it’s going really well, but there will definitely be more tough phases ahead.
Do people where you’re from actually watch the Bundesliga?
Not really, because it’s only shown by private broadcasters. If they do show something, then it’s usually situations where we, Czech players, are messing up (laughs). On my Instagram and Facebook I’m currently working on spreading the word of FCA back home. I have almost 55,000 followers across both channels as well.
After the home game against Mainz, the FCA fans were chanting your name. How emotional was this moment for you?
Really? I didn’t hear them. Damn! But thanks for letting me know. It’s a real honour for me. I hope people understand my goalkeeping game. If you look at the goal we conceded in Cologne for example, I can understand why people would be annoyed, since we only took a point from the game. But I’m a goalkeeper who plays with the team, and nine times out of ten I’ll prevent a goal by coming off my line. This season I’ve left the penalty area about ten times, and eight of those times I was able to clear our lines.
Next up is Fortuna Düsseldorf, another team scrapping for survival. What kind of a game are you expecting?
If we play like we have been playing in recent games then we’ll win the game. We need to keep Rouwen Hennings quiet though – he’s scored ten of their 16 goals this season.
