Stories from the other side – Rok Vodišek: As a footballer, he won the Champions League, as a person he drove to training in a Smart Fortwo

Published on 24. August 2024 24. August 2024

Writes: Rok Vodišek. Graphycs: WPM

Football is far more than just live broadcasts, dry match reports, transfer rumors, and evergreen clichés from the main actors. What the public sees is only one side of football; it’s interesting and often thrilling. But there is also that hidden side, the one that remains out of the public eye. Behind the scenes, there are complications, adventures, anecdotes, incredible stories, bitter disappointments, failed plans, and much more. These are the stories from the other side. Their stories. The stories of the main actors.

Recently, Rok Vodišek, once one of the most promising goalkeepers in Slovenia who debuted in the senior team of Olimpija as a teenager, joined the Planet Nogomet team. After his adventure in Ljubljana, he moved to Italy, where he experienced many interesting things, many of which remain hidden from the public and fans. Rok Vodišek, now a goalkeeper for the former Slovenian champions Domžale, came to Planet Nogomet to share as many unheard stories as possible. Stories from the other side.

Most people, when thinking of a footballer, envision beautiful girls, villas, and luxurious cars. Partially true, but far from the rule. I have witnessed how it depends on the individual whether they fall into a luxurious lifestyle and spend large sums of money, or live a more modest life that most can afford.

When I arrived at Genoa and drove to the training center for the first time, I was in a family car, a Renault Laguna, which, to be honest, wasn’t the newest but served us well. I won’t lie; I felt somewhat uncomfortable seeing some of my teammates’ shiny sports cars. On the other hand, I knew that some of them had rich careers and earned much more than I did, being barely of legal age upon my arrival. Looking back, I actually had a pretty decent car for a “teenager.”

I soon realized that traffic in Italy is chaotic to say the least – I’ll dedicate an entire story to it in the near future, as it will be interesting. What mainly bothered me was the endless search for a free parking spot in front of the block where I lived. So, I quickly parked my car in the hotel parking garage, where we had quarantine before matches, and walked to training since I lived just a 15-minute walk from the center.

I have an interesting anecdote about the car in the parking garage. I left the car there, thinking it wouldn’t bother anyone, and that I would take it back to Slovenia when we had a day off. Well, it ended up staying in the garage for almost two months. Until our team manager called me and asked where my car was. At first, I didn’t know what was going on, but then he told me that the hotel owner had called and said there was a car with a Slovenian license plate in the garage for two months.

Premium Package After Two Months in the Hotel Garage

He was curious whether it belonged to any of us footballers. Since I was the only Slovenian on the team, I was the “main suspect.” I had no choice but to admit and move the car. Initially, the hotel owner “threatened” me with paying parking fees for two months, which would amount to quite a bit of money, but in the end, we agreed that it would be enough if I just immediately removed the car. I didn’t think a car could get so dirty and dusty after two months in a covered garage. The first task I had to do was to visit the car wash and choose the premium wash package, which included all possible cleaning products and pre-washes to get the car back into a decent state. Better not to know what the poor car wash worker thought when I brought in my car…
Maybe I’ve strayed from the topic, and I apologize, as I know you are more interested in which Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Aston Martins my teammates drove. I won’t lie, some of the sports cars were a real feast for the eyes. Personally, I was most impressed by the black Bentley Flying Spur, the Mercedes GLE 400, and definitely the Lamborghini Urus, which stood out especially due to its extremely beautiful matte gray color. I definitely must not forget the Ferraris that my teammates had. One had a black one, and the other had a red one – not just one, as it turned out later, but two…

Not all players had such standout cars. If I think about it, most drove rather ordinary cars that didn’t stand out as much as the ones mentioned above. Interestingly, one of the best players I had the honor of playing with and deeply respect, not just for the career he has built – by the way, he won the Champions League – but mainly for the person he is, usually arrived at training in a Smart Fortwo.

Read also

If you don’t know what kind of car this is, imagine a tiny golf cart that is closed and has only the front two seats. When asked why he drove such a car, I saw he had similar problems as I did. He simply said that he found the daily search for a parking space tiresome and that this small car was more than sufficient to get from home to the training center without trouble.

I have another interesting story related to the cars in our fleet. It was customary to leave your car keys with the steward if you wanted the employees from a nearby car wash to take it for a wash while we were training. Everything always went smoothly, except once, and on that occasion, the “main character” was one of the Ferraris. On the way to the car wash, an accident occurred where the mentioned Ferrari was quite damaged. The owner was, of course, unhappy, but the most important thing was that only the bodywork was harmed. He joked that it wasn’t such a big problem since he had another similar Ferrari at home. At first, many didn’t believe him, including me, but lo and behold – the next day, he showed up with another, even newer red Ferrari. I’m sure from then on he no longer left his keys for washing but preferred to drive the car to the car wash himself…

This text was automatically translated using AI.

Author: editorial Football Planet