Dominik Greif (Bratislava, 1997) sits with MARK to analyze his four years on the island fighting in the ranks of the Real Mallorca. The Slovakian goalkeeper, who became known in Spain through his great role in the Copa del Rey last year, being one of the protagonists in reaching the final, offers his most sincere interview since his arrival in 2021. They are serious back injurywhich kept him away from the team for more than a year, the Cup that changed his life and the future, as the main topics of a talk in which the Mallorca goalkeeper release and explain everything.
QUESTION: In April we spoke with you in English and now you speak almost perfect Spanish. What have you done these months?
ANSWER: I haven’t done anything (laughs). I don’t think I’ve improved much, but if you tell me… I’m happier.
Q. In your fourth season at Mallorca, your time has finally come. Has it taken too long?
A. I am happy because I am playing more than in recent years. The first season with Manolo Reina and Sergio Rico was a different situation because I was injured, I don’t think you can say that I was a substitute. With Rajkovic it was much more difficult, he arrived because he was injured. The coach – at that time Javier Aguirre – started the preseason and told me that, if he was still injured and didn’t start training in ten days, he would bring his goalkeeper. And that’s what happened.
Q. We know that, despite this, ‘Pichu’ Cuéllar and you got along very well.
A. I love ‘Pichu’. I didn’t know him and now I know that he is legendary throughout Spain. I really like working with him and living day to day with him.
Q. Did you ask to leave the club at any point? And this summer, did you have options?
A. If you don’t play for two or three years it is difficult to leave, who is going to love you. There weren’t too many options to think about. This year no one has told me that I would be a starter, we rotate, and it is something that is not so bad. In the summer I had interest from other clubs, but Mallorca was clear and told us that the one chosen to be transferred was Rajkovic. The club had no interest in selling two of the three goalkeepers. The situation was decided for those of us who are to continue here.
Q. The year in which you are a starter, Arrasate arrives, who rotates in goal. What do you think?
A. It is the life of Dominik Greif. In the end I always want to see the positive side. It is true that so far there have been many games, we had four in 13 days. It’s not bad that it rotates. I prefer to play less than get injured and be out for several months. At the beginning of the season we didn’t know exactly when the coach was going to rotate us. We told the goalkeeper coach that it was possible to know at least one day before the game and in the last few we have already known.
It’s not bad that it rotates. I prefer to play less than get injured and be out for several months. At the beginning of the season we didn’t know exactly when the coach was going to rotate us.”
Q. What exactly happened to your back injury to make you unavailable for more than a year?
A. I don’t want to talk much about what happened to me, it was a back problem and I prefer not to specify more. There were days when I thought that this problem would not be solved, because when you are out of football for a year with pain every day and you cannot move normally, you think that there is no solution. You go to one doctor, another and another… and you have no solutions. I thought, does this stop, does it end or will I come back? I always tried to be positive. Sometimes I was the most positive in my close circle. Today I can say that I have not missed a training session due to injury for almost two years and that I do not have any discomfort in my back.
Q. Has the Cup changed your career?
R.Yes, it was important. I felt for the first time that I had the opportunity to show what I am, to show my abilities. Before, we lost in the first or second round and it is difficult to play only one Cup match or to play at the Camp Nou. It was one game a year, so you don’t have the confidence and tranquility that you need as a goalkeeper. With more games I was able to become more comfortable on the field and this has changed my career.
Q. How do you remember the penalties you saved in the semi-final against Real Sociedad and the final against Athletic? Are your two most important matches so far?
A. You could say yes, although I have also played in the Europa League, but playing in the Copa del Rey final with Mallorca is something unique and very special. I still have the pain of the final, as if it were yesterday. The way we lost still hurts me. If you lose 4-0… they are better. But that penalty shootout still hurts me.
Q. During the Cup you were inspired by Kobe Bryant or Rafa Nadal…
A. I have idols from other sports. In basketball I have followed Kobe Bryant and Lebron James a lot, in tennis Rafa Nadal and in football Iker Casillas or Cristiano. For me it is incredible to be able to talk a little with Rafa after a game. They are very great people not only in sports but in general. If we can seek a little help in how these great athletes think, that is something that is very good.
Q. What is the roof of this Mallorca? And yours?
A. I want to play as much as possible and be physically well. I don’t think we have the team to be competing in European positions. If it turns out that way, why not. It would be amazing. But what we want is to continue stabilizing the project in Primera and for it to be a comfortable stay and not have any problems. Being calm in the middle table is what I think we have to do.
Q. Are you surprised not to be called up by Slovakia?
A. Nothing surprises me because I haven’t spoken to anyone about the national team for almost three years. I didn’t expect to be summoned. This is a question that I don’t know the answer to. It’s a question for the coach.
Q. Regarding your future, do you see yourself in Mallorca for many years?
A. I don’t like to talk about the future because I learned to live day to day due to the injury, so I don’t know what will happen tomorrow in my life. I have another year and a half here, in football you never know what can happen. I’d like to stay here, of course, but it has to make sense.
Q. Have you been offered a renewal?
A. Yes, in the last few days they offered me the renewal. Now we are starting the conversations.
Q. Is it difficult for two goalkeepers like you and Leo Román to continue sharing the goal in the short term?
A. I’m going to say it how I feel. The situation is that neither Leo nor I are happy with this. We respect it because the situation is like that. But I can’t imagine this two, three or four more years. Leo is a great goalkeeper. He is young and has no limits, he will play at the highest level. He has to play as much as possible, just like me. I’m almost 28 years old and I think I deserve to be in a place where I can be the first goalkeeper.
Q. Another of your passions is golf… who is better, you or Sergi Darder?
A. Yes, I like to play golf in Mallorca. Sergi Darder has a lot of work to do and to improve (laughs).
