Inside the Pro Game : Football with RicFit

Michael Kozielek is a 28 year old soccer player currently playing for the Chicago House in NISA (National Independent Soccer Association), the third tier in the USA.  Koz has had experience in Sweden, Austrailia, and Finland as well and has had some great experience and funny stories along the way.  I met up with him during the off-season in Sweden and we became buddies right away! He's truly a top class dude, and has worked very hard to get to where he is right now.  Take a listen to the episode as we talk about some great topics that you can really learn from.   If you have any questions, I am sure he'll be happy to answer them. Here is his Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_goat_kozielek/?hl=en

0:00 Intro 

4:38 Discover the options in Europe 

7:07 The Business Behind Football 

9:23 Kozielek's Story 

14:06 Life in Australia  

15:39 Football in Sweden 

17:31 Signing to Finland 

21:01 Playing in Finland 

23:44 Back To The Sauna baby!!! 

24:43 When do you stop developing as a player? 

28.33 Kozielek's Jail story  

35:32 U.S vs Europe's Football 

37:53 A day in the life of Kozielek 

42:27 What to look for when watching film 

44:07 Extras after training 

46:26 How to deal with a bad game/session ? 

50:34 If you could go back to yourself at any age with the knowledge you have now, what age would you go to? And what would you tell yourself? 

53:18 Top 2 Tips for any young footballer to keep on going mentally

In this episode, Gabriel Cabral (Pro Footballer for Tormenta FC) joins me to talk about his career and how he signed his first professional contract. Here is his Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gabriel.cabral8/

Timestamps:  0:00 Intro  2:07 From Brazil to the U.S  5:40 Training style in Brazil vs U.S  9:43 Why Brazilian players tend to be more individual with the game  14:50 Difference between D1 & D2  17:25 What attracted foreign elite footballers to West Virginia?  20:24 Cabral's story  25:31 Opportunities come when you least expect them.  28:17 Football is a game of opinions  29:35 What keeps you going when you don't have a team?  33:17 The harder you work, the harder it is to quit  34:23 Warm-up with the basics, then you can start playing risky.   36:24 A day in the life of Gabriel Cabral   46:11 Becoming a vegetarian   50:59 Learning with podcasts  52:52 How to deal with nerves during game day   57:51 If you could go back to yourself at any age with the knowledge you have now, what age would you go to? And what would you tell yourself?  1:03:39 Outro

Eduvie is a 23-Year-Old American Professional Soccer player who plays as a Forward for AS Trencin in the Fortuna Liga (1st League in Slovakia). He was born in Iowa, but grew up for most of his life in Alabama. Eduvie played college soccer at Dartmouth for 4 years before transitioning to the professional game. On January 14, 2019, Ikoba was selected 63rd overall in the 2019 MLS Super draft by FC Dallas.  Though, he decided that he wanted to make the jump to Europe instead. On July 2019, Ikoba signed for Hungarian side; Zalaegerszegi TE (Hungary 1st Tier). On July 13, 2020, Ikoba moved to AS Trencin in the Fortuna Liga on a 3 Year Deal. 

Eduvie Socials: 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eduvieikoba17/?hl=en 

Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON2z4kbIQGs

Many of you guys and girls have asked me about my journey to where I'm at. If you are interested in hearing about my path, tune into this great episode!

Thanks so much to Sean Vinberg & Dylan Williams for this excellent podcast. Really enjoyed talking with these two legends on their podcast.

They did this for us, I didn't take part :)

Chapters

00:00 Intro

04:00 Upbringing

17:40 Leaving College to Play Abroad

23:10 Environment is Huge

29:35 Early Thoughts of Pursuing Professional Career

38:35 Either ALL IN or ALL OUT

51:40 Building Relationships

53:30 Agents

01:01:45 Playing in Israel

01:04:00 The ol' LinkedIn Grind

01:13:10 Latvia Move

01:25:10 Being a Leader

01:32:48 Footballer Who Has a Good Following

01:39:35 Enjoy the Process

01:43:40 Adapting to New Environments

01:51:10 Transitioning Post Career

01:57:40 Importance of Having Quality Conversation

02:02:20 Advice to Someone Looking to Pursue Their Dream

02:05:15 Closing

Make sure you follow their podcast as well:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/footwork/id1507419880

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiCpH76SaKk&t=2s