Ivan Kelava

A few days before the second match of the third Champions League qualifying round between Dinamo and HJK, we spoke with Dinamo's goalkeeper Ivan Kelava. One year ago a talented goalkeeper was the goalkeeper in Lokomotiva and he is the first Dinamo's goalie now. We talked with Kelava about the match against HJK, his beginning of the football  career and many other topics.

I started to play football in the street with my friends. I was younger then my friends and because of that I always had the role of the goalkeeper. After that I played football for my high school. Mister Dautbegović saw me on a tournament and he invited me to Dinamo. I came here when I was 9 and that is the beginning of my career in Dinamo.

Yes, I was and I didn't want to do anything else except being a goalkeeper. I wasn't interested in other player positions, I always wanted to be on the goal.

It is difficult to describe what Dinamo means to me and how much I love Dinamo. I've experienced a lot of things in my career: training in the heat, rain and snow, all kinds of tournaments, many successes and disappointments. I signed professional contract for Dinamo when I was 17 and a half and it was the happiest day in my life. I'm very glad because I've achieved a lot and I am living my dream now. 

I had a chance to prove my qualities. I knew I would get the continuity of playing and it will also show people from Dinamo that I'm a good goalkeeper. I believed that they could return me to Dinamo from loan and it happened. I'll never forget my teammates and coaches Ferenčina and Jozić from Lokomotiva. Sitting on the Dinamo's bench and just training is much worse than playing matches for another club. In football is very important to play matches and training can't be the same as playing the match. Every match is also a some kind of reward and if player is not playing, he is not getting his reward and it's not good. Everyone make decisions for themselves but I think that it's good to go out on loan and take a chance in other club. It's the only way for players to show their qualities.

Coach Halilhodžić asked me to come back in Dinamo. He told me that the first goalkeeper is Lončarić and that was logical because coach had already worked with him. I've trained a lot and I showed him that he can also count on me. Due to some unfortunate circumstances and Filip's injury - I finally got a chance. Of course, we are friends and we help each other as much as we can.  

The primary goal in Lokomotiva was to stay in the Croatian league. For example, a goalkeeper in Lokomotiva made a couple of great saves, team suffers 2-1 defeat  and he got a big applause despite the lost - that happened to me. We played at Maksimir stadium against Dinamo and we lose 1-0. I made few good saves and when I was entering the locker room I got applause from my teammates. This kind of situations really means a lot to me. When you play against smaller clubs and when the opponent didn't have good chances, you need to stay focused till the end of the match because there is still a possibility for them to score. I have a lot of job in European matches, but in domestic league i's easier.

We started well this season. Dinamo got four new players and from the first training it was clearly that they won't need a lot of time to adapt - they played like they always played here. They've realized how our club works and they entered our system and our game is great now. I would mention my friend Domagoj Vida, who is an excellent defender. Club brought him to Dinamo in the summer transfer period and Vida appreciate that - he proves his gratitude with his games.

We were happy after the victory in Helsinki and that means a lot to us, but we must play another 90 minutes. We believe that we are going to win in Finland and play another good game. I'm sure that the atmosphere on the stadium will be great as well as it was against Neftchi. I would like to thank to all fans who were waiting for their tickets in the rainy weather. My wish is that fans come and support us on Croatian championship matches too. We''ll do our best.

We are parents of a little Mia and it was the happiest day of my life. When I look at her I feel so special and it is something that I can't even describe. I'm speechless, this is a great joy.

I love hockey and the NHL. I also have an annual ticket for KHL Medveščak and I really like this positive story in the project Medveščak. It's similarly in Dinamo now and I'm happy about it. I have to say I hope that this will continue. When I catch the time I love to go to New York to watch "my" New York Rangers. I usually watch their games on television because my idol Henrik Lundqvist play there.