Roma goalkeeper Alisson Becker believes he has improved at Roma and “football is all about the details” as he looks forward to Shakhtar Donetsk.
This is his second season in Serie A, though the first was spent as understudy to Wojciech Szczesny.
“It did feel a little lonely at first, but then I got to spend more time with my wife. She was pregnant and so I got to focus less on my career,” the Brazilian told Sportweek.
Roma goalkeeper Alisson Becker believes he has improved at Roma and “football is all about the details” as he looks forward to Shakhtar Donetsk.
This is his second season in Serie A, though the first was spent as understudy to Wojciech Szczesny.
“It did feel a little lonely at first, but then I got to spend more time with my wife. She was pregnant and so I got to focus less on my career,” the Brazilian told Sportweek.
“I worked hard in training and learned a lot alongside a great goalkeeper like Szczesny. When I arrived at Roma, I was ready to be a football player, but now I am ready to be an Italian football player.
“You can’t think too much about a great save you just made, because you might put it out for a corner and concede a second later. It feels horrible to concede, even when you win the game. It makes me angry… I’ve made many saves in my career, but also let in many goals.
“You feel most lonely when there’s a penalty. I study how the opposition players take their kicks and try to remember what I’ve seen. The best penalty save was against Palmeiras in the Cup, it was 0-0 and Paraguayan Lucas Barrios took the kick. When I saved, it felt like the whole stadium was going to come down.
“I also know how to take penalties, but prefer to leave those to others. I never kid around on the pitch. I have fun, because my work is something I love, but football is all about the details. You work to reach perfection.”
After today’s trip to Udinese, the next test is the Champions League Round of 16 against Shakhtar Donetsk.
“It’ll be a game between two teams who play to win and have a lot of quality. There are quite a few of my fellow countrymen in the Shakhtar squad and they do have the characteristics of a Brazilian team. I grew up with Taison in the youth academy and played alongside Fred in the first team.”
The shot-stopper is nicknamed ‘O Goleiro Gato’ in Brazil – the handsome goalkeeper – and revealed his wife has some defensive talents too.
“We had just won the title in Brazil and went to a restaurant to celebrate with other teammates and their families. There were many fans outside the entrance and some of the girls grabbed my backside: my wife was parrying everyone’s hands!”
Liverpool transfer target Alisson has impressed supporters of Roma by learning Italian very quickly, although apparently too quickly.
“On a Brazilian talk show, I had just signed for Roma and the host asked me if I had learned any Italian swearwords yet. I said some terrible things without realising how bad they were. Once I did know, it was too late.”