In an interview with Heerenveen TV, Goran Popov stated that he once drank multiple shots of whiskey to overcome a scary flight while on a preseason trip to Turkey.

During the international break, Goran Popov returned to the Netherlands to visit his former club Heerenveen.  While there, he sat down for an interview with Heerenveen TV where he talked about his time with the Dutch club.

Popov told a story about how he once had to drink several shots of whiskey in order to board a return flight from Turkey to the Netherlands.  As Goran explained, Heerenveen was flying to Antalya, Turkey for their training camp prior to the start of the season.  On that flight to Turkey, Popov noted that the plane was shaking left and right over the sea for about 40 minutes, leading Goran to believe that he was going to die.  Once the plane eventually landed, Popov told his Heerenveen manager Trond Sollied that he must take five small shots of whiskey to board to return flight to the Netherlands; otherwise he would travel by car.  Popov says Sollied told him no problem if that would make him feel comfortable.  So, Goran says he ended up drinking two or three shots of whiskey and then he felt relaxed and listened to music while on the return flight to the Netherlands, the plane still shaking like it did on the original flight to Turkey.  Additionally, Popov also noted that when he is now on long flights that last 3 to 4 hours, he feels it’s good to drink something in order to relax.

However, it seems Goran has always had flying anxiety.  On 11 May 2013, his former West Brom teammate, Peter Odemwingie, tweeted the following about Popov’s fear of flying:

The second story that Popov told Heerenveen TV was the instance when he was stopped by police for drunk driving after his team celebrated a win over Ajax in late January of 2009.  Goran had only been with Heerenveen for six months when he was stopped by police, leading him to be afraid that he would never play again for the club.  After the drunk driving incident, Popov said Sollied called him into his office to see how Goran was doing mentally.  Sollied worried if Popov could handle the ridicule from the fans who would mock him for the drunk driving charge.  Goran stated he told Sollied that he can play and he didn’t care if the fans mocked him.  After that answer, Popov said Sollied told him the following, “Ok, be ready.  Tomorrow you will play.  Don’t worry if somebody says something.  Just play.”

Popov would respond by scoring a goal to lead Heerenveen to a 3:1 win over NAC Breda on 7 February 2009.  After that goal, Popov made a gesture like he was driving, aimed at the fans.

Video of Popov’s complete interview with Heerenveen TV (It’s in English):