D. Antosch: I waited for Apollo before deciding on my future

Apollon Football (Public) Ltd has completed the signing of the Austrian goalkeeper, Daniel Antosch, who has successfully passed the medicals.

Daniel shared his first words as an Apollon player, on the club’s official website www.apollon.com.cy.

Daniel is the first Austrian player to play in the blue and white.

Welcome to our team, Daniel. What does your transfer to Apollon mean to you?

First of all, thank you for the welcome. It means a lot to join here, as Apollon is one of the biggest teams in the country, which I have already faced a few times in previous years. I even made my debut in Cyprus against Apollon two years ago and unfortunately we lost then (laughs). I’m very happy to be here now.

How is it to face Apollon as an opponent?

Difficult. The atmosphere was something else. The fans are “crazy” for the team especially now with the new stadium that the stands are closer. They were creating a great home court which made it very difficult for us.

How easy or difficult was it to agree to join Apollon?

What I would like to say is that I am very happy to have been given the opportunity to play here. It’s a great club with an important history, which has a large fan base, an organized structure from the president to the last employee of the building and I am confident in my decision.

Was there any interest from other teams ?

There were too many discussions with many teams. Both from Austria and Cyprus but to be honest I was waiting for Apollon. I knew about Jovanovic’s situation and that there was a possibility of him leaving and I asked my agent to wait. There was interest in me in the last few weeks but in the last few days it turned into a formal offer. Just because there was the possibility of Apollon I wanted to wait.

Your path in your previous team was weird. You started the season as a regular, admittedly you were very good after winning the Golden Gloves award in the first round but then you were sidelined. Was there an offer to continue there?

First of all, let me say that the season started off great, not only for me but for the whole team. We were on top until January but suddenly everything changed. That’s football, it has its ups and downs. In my opinion I performed well and I’m happy for what I offered to my previous team.

As far as my partnership is concerned, the truth is that I didn’t have anything official from Pafos FC, nor any information about what they were thinking about me, so I was free to find my next football station.

You are the first Austrian to wear the Apollon jersey. What does that mean to you?

I’m surprised, I didn’t know. It makes me happy. Maybe it’s because Austria is not so successful in football or because Cypriot teams don’t approach Austrian players.

But in the last few years there is a great job being done especially in my former club (Salzburg) which has a plan and is considered to have the top academies in Europe.

Is there a reason for the “33”?

I would have liked “31”, that’s the number I chose in my previous teams, but it was reserved. As you can see I have it tattooed on my arm. I’ve had “33” before and I believe it will bring me luck.

What is the first message you would like to send to Apollon fans?

That I’m excited to be here and excited to play in front of them in the new stadium. They are great fans and I will try my best and fulfill the goals of the team.

The player chose to play with the number 33.