After the interview with Dino Najdoski, we made an interview with another member of the successful Macedonian U19 national team, this time with the member of Parma, Stefan Ristovski.
When and where did you make your first football steps and which coach helped you the most for the development in your career?
I started my career in Vardar at the age of seven and I have always been with Vardar. I have trained with many different coaches, but longest time I spent with the coach Sase Todorovski and I can say that I have learned a lot from him and from the coach Zikica Tasevski with whom I have my debut in the first team.
How did you feel when you debuted in the Macedonian first league and how hard is it to wear the shirt of the most famous Macedonian club FK Vardar on that age?
I had my debut at age of 16 on the match against Turnovo and I was a little nervous before I entered the pitch, but later I felt good and played well. The pressure was big for me and for the coach Tasevski because I was only 16 and I will always remember that day because I trained with Vardar since I was kid and I always dreamed to play for the first team one day.
How was the whole transfer for a big club like Parma accomplished?
I completed the transfer in January when I was 17 and I signed a five years long contract. The managers Shkumbin Qormemeti and Haris Fakić helped me a lot for this transfer. I didn’t expect that I will sign for that big club and I am really happy now.
How does your working week look like and make a comparison with the conditions in Italy and Macedonia?
We train once a day on Monday to Friday, we have a match on Saturdays and rest on Sunday. Here they invest a lot in the young players and the training conditions are great. It’s a lot different from Macedonia and I am really sad for the bad pitches and training conditions there.
What’s your status in Parma? Your current club is known as a club that gives chances to young players so do you expect to have your debut on a match for the first team soon?
Currently I train with the players born 91/92 but I also often train with the first team and I am waiting for my chance. This is a big club, with big players like Crespo, Bojinov, Giovinco… and I try to give my maximum and train hard. If I continue with my good performances I expect to have my debut soon.
Who is the best player that you have ever played with in the same team and from which other Macedonian player you expect to have bright football future?
I train here with a lot of excellent players like Crespo, Bojinov, Giovinco, Zaccardo, Jiménez… and I have a lot to learn from them. There are also a lot of good players in the Macedonian U19 national team that deserve to play in bigger clubs. I can point out Stefan Askovski from Partizan as one of the best Macedonian young players.
What is the success of the Macedonian U19 national team based on? Does Macedonia finally have one generation of young players which will have big success in the future? What do you expect from the future matches?
It was a big success for us. I said that there are big talents in this generation who deserve to play in big clubs. What we did in Bosnia was a surprise for many, but we were confident that we deserve and can achieve a lot more. We proved that we are worth a lot and I am sure that there will be many future stars from this generation of players. We are now waiting for the draw and see who our next opponents will be. The next phase will be played in Romania where we will play against stronger teams, but as we went in Bosnia with big confidence and courage, I think that we can do it again.