Shortly after the Macedonia vs. Latvia friendly this past Wednesday, we caught up with Besart Ibraimi for a quick interview about his career and his thoughts on being back on the national team.
Besart Ibraimi made his name early on in Renova when he won the 2009 award for the best player in the Macedonian domestic league. Shortly after that recognition, he made an unexpected transfer directly to German Bundesliga club Schalke 04. Our first couple of questions with Besart centered around his time with Schalke and his thoughts on the training methods of then manager Felix Magath.
After Schalke, where Ibraimi made a total of just seven league appearances, he transferred to Ukrainian club Sevastopol in January of 2011. Besart had a good start with the club as he scored 3 goals in 11 league appearance to close the 2010-11 season, but Sevastopol could not avoid relegation. So, with them relegated, Ibraimi was loaned first to Tavriya and later Metalurh Zaporizhya, but he did not see much playing time at those two teams. Besart was then back with Sevastopol in time for the 2013-14 season, but he primarily played for the Sevastopol II team until he moved to Enosis in January of 2014.
Ibraimi has started with a bang in Cyprus as he has scored 6 goals in his first five league games for Enosis. That form led to manager Boshko Gjurovski including him in the Macedonian squad for the friendly against Latvia. Besart played 30 minutes in the game after coming on for Jovan Kostovski in the 60th minute.
Shortly after the game, we interviewed the 27-year-old Ibraimi and talked about his time with Schalke 04, his thoughts on his career so far, and also about being back on the national team after a several year absence.
Below is our question and answer session with B. Ibraimi:
MF: Besart, in 2010, you made a big transfer to Schalke 04 from Renova? How was your experience in Germany? What did you most learn from your time there?
BI: Well, it is understandable that it was a good experience. I learned a lot, first about how to conduct yourself as a professional player. Then, also about how to motivate yourself to perform and how to live after training.
MF: Your coach at Schalke was Felix Magath. He is known as a coach who works his players a lot with intense trainings. What did you think of his approach?
BI: For Magath, what can I say, everyone knows that he is a good coach. There were tough trainings, very serious, but he is where he is now because he obviously has a program that gets the players prepared.
MF: Besides Schalke in Germany, you have also played for clubs in Macedonia, Ukraine and now Cyprus. How would you describe your time in each country? How big is the difference between Macedonia and Germany?
BI: We know how things are done in Macedonia, so it was very difficult for me when I went to Germany to adapt to the hard trainings. Afterwards, in Ukraine, it was easier for me because I was more physically ready and was able to showcase my qualities. And now in Cyprus things have fallen into place nicely. I’m only thinking about playing and showcasing my abilities. Things are moving positively as is illustrated in 6 goals from my first 5 league games in the championship. That is a good showing for me and now it’s upon me to continue showcasing what I have done so far. I have given my all to prove myself and leave everything else to God.
MF: Lastly, with your form at Enosis, you once again received a call-up to the national team. You played 30 minutes in the friendly against Latvia. How was the atmosphere between the players and what are your thoughts on the new manager Boshko Gjurovski?
BI: It is always a good emotion to play for the national team. There is always the desire to prove yourself as much as possible. It is nice to play with good players as that makes it easier to showcase your quality. When it comes to the manager Boshko Gjurovski, we only worked for three days but he left a positive impression. First, he is a good man and expects you to play team football which suits my style. He worked a lot on tactics and I think that things will improve game to game.