Interview with Rodolfo Kumbrevicius

by Ayrton Galea - 2nd March 2011

Last week Birkirkara played their second match in the Championship Pool phase and they were held in a draw of 1-1 by Hamrun Spartans. The solitary goal for our side came from Rodolfo Kumbrevicius who was included in the final thirty minutes and had a very good performance. We decided it was time to get know him better, and learn more about his adventure with our Club.

We opened this interview with the Brazilian-Lithuanian striker talking about our small Island, if he had ever been in Malta before, and if he had ever imagined he would be playing here. Rodolfo told us: "My first impression was good. I had never been here before, but I knew some things about the Island and about the football here because Everton Pereira of Tarxien is like my brother and we talked about it. Last season my agent had some offers for me to play here in Malta but we did not agree on the contract. So I cannot say I had never imagined playing in Malta."

We changed subject to his personal adventure with Birkirkara, which is now in its seventh week. Rodolfo said: "My adventure here is going OK. Of course I had some difficulties in the start. I needed to adapt in some different areas: the game system, training system, and synthetic grounds. Birkirkara is an important club here in Malta. This motivates me to fight and to work hard so that we can be winners."

Rodolfo played in different countries, but he spent most of his years in his native Brazil. We asked him what are the similarities and the differences between football in Brazil and football in Malta. 'Alemao' replied, "The differences compared to Brazil? I cannot say because there we have a population of 200,000,000. We have, maybe, I don't know exactly, but over 400 clubs, and thousands and thousands of players. Compared with other countries where I played, I can say here we have some very good aspects, but we need time to change some things, for example the grounds and some thinking in management."

Then, we talked with Rodolfo about our last match, in which he managed to score his second goal with our Club. Rodolfo's comments were: "Last match was very hard but we had very good preparation in the week before. We know them, but every game is different. We can prepare for some things but in the game the opponents can change. They took advantage of our mistakes and they scored the goal. After we started to pile the pressure but they had some good luck. We created a lot of chances but we did score which is what we needed for a win."

In our last match it was clear to notice the improvement by 'Alemao', and we asked him about this. He said "The main reason for my improvement I am sure has to do with me having been here for seven weeks now. I know the people better, I know the system more, etc. And I get the rhythm. This is the most important point. For me rhythm is very important. I need to work to get fit to give my best. I worked very hard these last seven weeks. I am still working hard and will continue like this to be ready for the Coach."

We asked him what he felt when he scored in his last match. He replied, "The result was not so good, it would have been better if we won because we have to keep the pace with Valletta. We cannot lose points like this. But of course I am happy to score my second goal, because I come here for this. I cannot dribble. I cannot play fast like Emiliano Lattes or Babatunde. I have to be there to score. This is my style and my function."

Next Saturday, Birkirkara will be facing in what many are considering a decisive game. We asked Rodolfo for his comments, and how the team is preparing for this big game. He said "We know, and everybody knows, that we will decide the championship in the two games against Valletta and the first one is next weekend. We have to be clever. We have to concentrate all our mind and all our body this Saturday. We have quality. We are the strongest team - BIRKIRKARA FC, and we have to show it."

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