Stories from the other side – Rok Vodišek: The pre-match ritual… Or how I missed out on the highlight in Qatar because of a world champion!

Published on 6. June 2024 6. June 2024

Writes: Rok Vodišek. Graphycs: WPM

Football is anything but just live broadcasts, dry match reports, transfer rumors, and evergreen clichés from the main actors’ mouths. What the public sees is just one side of football; it is interesting and often thrilling. But there is also the side hidden from the eyes of ordinary mortals. On the other side, things happen that you wouldn’t think possible. There are complications, adventures, anecdotes, incredible stories, bitter disappointments, failed plans, and much more. These are stories from the other side. Their stories. The stories of the main actors.

The latest to join the Planet Nogomet team is Rok Vodišek, once one of the most promising goalkeepers in Slovenia, who debuted in Olimpija’s senior team as a teenager. After his adventure in Ljubljana, he moved to Italy, where he experienced many interesting and noteworthy things. And many things remain hidden from the public’s eyes, from the fans’ eyes. Rok Vodišek joined Planet Nogomet to share as many unheard stories as possible. Stories from the other side.

I am convinced that every athlete would describe their match day differently. Each has their customs, rituals, and things that suit them, relax them, and prepare them for the match. I will try to describe as best as I can how my match day worked in different clubs. And I will never forget how a world champion’s decision on the final match day of the World Cup prevented us from watching its most exciting part.

The match day protocol differed from club to club I played in. At Olimpija, it was customary to go into ‘quarantine’ on match day, at Genoa, we usually went into quarantine the day before the match, while at Triglav and Rogaška, this was not practiced, and we met at the home stadium. If it was an away match, we gathered and went to the match venue by bus.

I must admit that I never particularly liked the match day routine. It may sound strange, but realistically, you don’t get much out of the whole day; except for the match, of course. The whole day you just wait for the time to go to the stadium, which was very tedious for me. This was especially noticeable when the match was in the evening. At Olimpija, we usually gathered at the stadium around 10 am for evening matches, did some stretching and exercises, and then went to the hotel for lunch.

Lunch did not differ much between clubs and was not very varied. It was usually a ‘typical sports lunch’: chicken, rice or pasta, and some vegetables. It wasn’t exactly a gourmet experience… After lunch, there was a rest period in the rooms, usually lasting until the snack, which was around 5 pm, or about 3 hours before the match. During the rest, I usually closed my eyes for half an hour, and spent the rest of the time watching TV, browsing my phone, or solving crossword puzzles, which I am very fond of.

After the snack, which was usually in the form of toast and some fruit, we had a meeting in the conference room, where we learned the starting lineup and discussed the game plan. After the meeting, we went to our rooms, packed our things, and headed to the bus that took us to the stadium. We usually arrived there about 2 hours before the match. This was followed by a walk on the pitch, changing clothes, preventive exercises, massages, bandages, and other preparations for the match in the warm-up room or with the physiotherapist.

I always liked to separate my warm-up gear from my match gear in the locker room and put everything in the same place, so I knew exactly where everything was. I also never wanted to see my gloves or jersey on the floor, as I don’t find it respectful. I believe many people think I am a bit over the top, but as I mentioned at the beginning: every athlete has certain rituals that psychologically help them feel better during the match. This was one of mine. However, in my career, I have seen much stranger rituals…

Goalkeepers always went out to warm up before the rest of the team, usually 50 minutes before the match. After warming up, we returned to the locker room, changed into our kits, and the coach gave his final talk before the start. I liked to return to the locker room early enough to prepare calmly for the match. If I arrived late and wasn’t ready while the referee was already frantically blowing the whistle, signaling it was time to go on the field, I was unnecessarily nervous, which certainly didn’t help my focus for the match.

During the match itself, I had no special rituals; I just had to ensure I stayed warm, especially in winter and on matches with little action. I still believe that matches where you have little to do are the hardest. It may sound strange, but the fact is that it’s much harder to maintain concentration when you’re not heavily involved in the game, but you have to be ready for that one save that often comes towards the end of the match and can decisively affect the final result.

After the match, we showered, ate pizza, and went home. Personally, I always had trouble falling asleep on the night after the match, as the adrenaline from the game was still present, and I was always intensely thinking about what happened, what was good, and what I could or should have done better. This thinking and mulling over things only worsened my efforts to fall asleep as quickly as possible. If we had a match at 8 pm, I knew I wouldn’t fall asleep before 3 am. If the match was earlier, say at 3 pm or 6 pm, there was some hope I would fall asleep before 1 am…

We had a very similar regime at Genoa, except we went into quarantine the day before. We usually had an afternoon training session the day before the match, after which we took the bus to the hotel, where we had dinner and then rested in the evening. In the morning, we had breakfast at our convenience, at whatever time suited us best. This also seems the most sensible to me, as people are different; some like to sleep longer and go to breakfast later, while I am one of those who usually wake up very early and am therefore usually one of the first at breakfast. After breakfast, we went to the stadium together, where, just like at Olimpija, we did some stretching and exercises, and we usually quickly practiced set-pieces for the match. The rest of the day went very similarly to Olimpija.

I simply must share a very interesting anecdote with you. I still vividly remember the day of the World Cup final in Qatar 2022 between Argentina and France. We were in the hotel before a home match against Frosinone. The World Cup final match was extremely tense, and just as the best part was about to come, the icing on the cake, the penalty shootout, we had a team meeting before our match. I believe everyone would have preferred to be glued to the TV screens, but that was the schedule we had to follow. Our coach, a world champion himself, told us: “Guys, I know you’d rather watch the World Cup final, I’d most like to be in front of the TV myself, but this is part of professionalism…”

If I believed anyone, it was him. Why? Because he was a world champion with Italy in 2006 when they won the final, in the same way, by beating the French in a penalty shootout. I am sure that while watching, he would have relived those indescribable and beautiful moments he experienced in 2006, but he stuck to the schedule, which shows how seriously and conscientiously he takes his work. This ultimately led him to the world champion title and the coaching bench in Serie A.

That was roughly how my usual match day went. To make a little joke, the best part of the match day was the day or morning after the match, of course, if we won. When you wake up tired after the match with the realization that you did your job with the team the day before and were rewarded for your efforts, it is one of the best feelings. The exact opposite, of course, is the morning after a lost match. But it is in such mornings and days after failures that true

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character is revealed. Defeats are part of the sport, and they happen and will always happen. It’s because of them that the feeling after victories is so much sweeter. That feeling would quickly lose its meaning if we constantly won and never felt the bitterness of defeat. Until next time – to new victories!