“I’m happy because of the amazing things happening in my life” – A conversation with Dominik Szoboszlai

EM Sports hosted a summer party combined with a charity initiative, attended by all their players.

At the event, held at the Gábor M. Szőke Studio, Sportal had the opportunity to conduct interviews with the footballers in a smaller press gathering.

Dominik Szoboszlai spoke to Sportal about how he has experienced many joyous moments recently.

“Tired, refreshed, happy? Tired, refreshed, and happy,” replied the Hungarian national team captain Dominik Szoboszlai with a smile.

The Liverpool midfielder, fresh off a stellar season culminating in a Premier League title, and soon to be a father, continued, “I’m tired after the long season, I won’t deny it, but with summer starting, and having some time to rest, I already feel a bit more refreshed, and of course, happy because of the amazing things happening in my life.”

If you had to pick a highlight from this long season, what would it be? “It's hard to choose just one moment, but if I have to, I’d say the final whistle against Tottenham. That’s when the title became a reality. That moment is etched in my memory. The emotions, the joy… I can’t put it into words."

Liverpool are busy strengthening the squad, and if Florian Wirtz’s transfer is confirmed, the competition for midfield places will be fierce. Has Arne Slot talked to you about his plans yet? “Not yet. I think he’s enjoying his vacation, like we will be.

"He'll decide who he wants to sign and who will start. There will be changes, I’m sure, but I don't know any specifics. What’s in the newspapers may or may not be true.”

It's confirmed that Pécsi Ármin has signed for Liverpool, although he just mentioned that due to national team commitments, you haven't had a chance to discuss the move. “We haven’t had a long chat yet, but I think I can give Ármin some helpful tips. I believe he's capable of making this step up. Ultimately, his Liverpool career is in his hands, but he can be sure that I’m here to help him if he needs anything.”

“Liverpool is becoming quite the Hungarian team…” “There are only two of us, so I wouldn’t say that, but yeah, we’re working on it…”

“You said there are only two of you…” “Couldn't there be ten of us?” “We’ll see how many there will be, but if someone else joins us, then so be it.”

Let's talk about the national team: how do you reflect on the past year? “In one word: rollercoaster. We’ve had highs and lows, happy and sad moments. I think that's normal for a national team; you can’t always be on top. It’s not about how low you sink, but whether you can bounce back. That’s our goal; every player and staff member is driven to achieve the best possible results. Everyone's working towards that!”

After the recent match against Azerbaijan, Marco Rossi stated that qualifying directly for the World Cup ahead of Portugal isn't a realistic expectation. Do you agree? “We all know we have to give more, show more desire to reach the World Cup. Hopefully, this will be evident in our play come September.

"To make our dream a reality, we need everyone in the squad! We need eleven players on the pitch and five ready to come on and try to win the game if we haven't already. I can't stress it enough, we need everyone! Football isn't an individual sport, it's not a two-person sport; there's a reason why there are eleven players on the pitch at a time. We're facing a tough few months, that's for sure, a tough test awaits us in the qualifiers, but we hope for a happy ending.”

The qualifiers will take place over seventy-one days. A good run could secure qualification, something we've been waiting forty years for… “The only certainty is that we’ll have two games every month. I don’t know if it would be better to play all six in a row, let's revisit that after the September matches.

Maybe then I'll say, ‘I wish we could continue with the remaining four,’ or maybe I'll say, ‘Thank goodness for a break!’ It's not our decision how often we play. More and more players are complaining about the number of games, feeling mentally and physically drained, but you'd have to ask UEFA and FIFA about that…”

One last question about Liverpool: how do you handle criticism, especially when it comes from a club legend like Jamie Carragher? “I’m happy to have a Premier League title.”

“Next up is an interview with András Schäfer. The Union Berlin midfielder will discuss the grueling season, the psychologically important victory against Azerbaijan, and the competition in midfield, as well as something that happened to him for the first time in his career…”