“Sometimes it is important to lose to win,” Pablo Bonnied

National team Paul Bunnied 2022 was a very busy year, those who still believe that Salvadoran They enjoyed “long holidays” in Iceland for not playing the league until April, but they kept getting it wrong.

In the European country this year, as is customary, regional tournaments such as the Reykjavik Cup, the League Cup and part of the Cup were played in the first months of the year. For Pablo, for example, he barely rested in December. At this point, he already had nearly four full months on the job.

Bonneid was still unable to make his league debut this year for two reasons. He missed the first match due to suspension and the last match due to physical factors that have to be overcome little by little, and this concerns his left knee, which he has felt uncomfortable in recent days.

Given this, Víkingur’s coach, Arnar Gunnlaugsson, along with the coaching staff decided that Punyed should take the corresponding tests in order to focus on his health and later be harmonious, when little by little everything became more demanding and complicated in the campaign.

Kancha had a one-on-one meeting with Bunyid to find out his feelings for a crowded course, something he has already had a chance to try twice and is now going for a third. Relive the previous phase of the UEFA Champions League and chase big dreams. On the other hand, the Salvadoran says that Vikingur’s learning references no longer exist within Iceland and that the team is looking abroad to feed on ideas.

The year was charged after being a three-time champion last year

There is a lot of hope, we are confident that we can pass the preliminary round of the Champions League and continue to add to the European Championships. We’re all rowing to try to be the first team to play UEFA Continental Championships. We dream of being in the group stage, whatever the competition.

Sure, it all depends a lot on the draws. For us it is simply that and we are clear about the goal. We’ve drawn a lot of inspiration from the Norwegian Bodo/Glimt team that has gone so far in the Conference League, trying to incorporate elements of their playing style. They are a precursor to what we want to do, they have been very successful in the last year and we also want to achieve it.

Were there many departures in Vikingor?

Our two commanders, namely the central defenders, withdrew; They are very low. Then we sold our left back to a Danish team. We missed three out of four key players in defence, so it was a bit of a puzzle for the coach.

On the other hand, we have added several important items, some young men from the quarry are very good; I see the group well. In the end, our goal is not only to shine in Iceland, but also abroad.

It was another gritty continental experience, something no Icelandic team had yet achieved, fighting on two fronts, at two European Championships.

They were rare moments, brave times for Covid-19. The UK was completely closed, and we traveled under completely special circumstances. We drove through empty airports, and played in Celtic Park without a single fan. I remember a lot of signings with the team didn’t happen because of the country-hopping policies, it was a very strange thing.

But they were experiences, we also went to Estonia and the same, something new for me in European competitions. The natural thing was to be in front of tens of thousands of people and enjoy a beautiful atmosphere. This did not happen. Now we want to come back and there are more options as there will be home and away matches this year, when we had to play Celtic and Flora it was singles matches, and on top of that the two matches were away after the draw. .

It would have been nice if the teams had come to Iceland, the story might have been different. With Víkingur today we have a completely different structure compared to the rest of the clubs I’ve played in, we know that with good possession and a strong defensive stage we can look forward to good things. If you do not have such subtleties, it can quickly affect you in the game.

Wearing a mask is no longer mandatory here, how is the health situation there?

There are no longer any restrictions and no one cares about that. The country has already recovered and has no major concerns about that. Thank God, people have behaved well during the restrictions and now we can see the fruits, most of the population is healthy and this is the most important.

And they lifted restrictions completely at the beginning of February, without masks, without restrictions on capacity in stadiums and public places. At the club we always take the signs not to go to the crowds and to avoid them as much as possible, you have to be careful.

How is the weather these days to play football?

We’re fine, it’s too late now, we’re at 10°C. With the sun and no wind, the weather seems good to play, it has been getting better. “When the football season begins, the weather is really good,” says the saying here in Iceland, it is a beauty these days.

How is an apprenticeship defined in Vikingor?

When I came to this club, the goal was to reach the European Championships within two years. That was crossed and now we’re thinking of something bigger. The intent was not to think about what other Icelandic clubs are doing, but rather to think about other European clubs, and more precisely Scandinavian clubs.

We know Bodo/Glimt took things from Manchester City, so we learned indirectly to do things that Blue Sky do, and the Norwegians also took things that Benfica did, with the club being able to sell two youngsters. this year. Benfica came to see how we work and there is a dialogue to see development issues.

The Scandinavian League cannot be played this year in Spain, but the preparation for the season has not stopped

It was a shame not to be able to play that tournament in Spain, and God knows why. It was a good way to measure ourselves to see where we are. But we have the national team coaches come to see us, we bring players into the main team and two small Icelandic teams. This means that there is also collaboration to strive to improve what we have.

There are always local parties to develop things and not to focus so much on unimportant details. Many guys are drawing for the first time, and we’ve refined the system we play with. We knew it was difficult to win the championship (the Icelandic League Cup) but we managed to get to the final, which we lost with so many young players who needed minutes to prepare.

The vision of development was and will be the most important thing, because we didn’t care too much about the result, rather the boys got really excited and in the League Cup they did. They took advantage of the match and the opportunity, it helped us a lot that they got confidence and added in the Icelandic Super Cup, which is the one we won. Sometimes it is important to lose in order to win.

The development of the players for the whole club is vital, because we will need them later and we must all be on the same line.

Have you been able to revert to issuing coach licenses or is it suspended?

I graduated and got my UEFA B license since last year. I have UEFA A and UEFA Pro licenses pending, the latter being the highest to reach and requires a lot of time to invest. For example, to go to Denmark for a week, do training in another club; Situations that have to wait because they require a lot. I like it because I see how football is developing from a different perspective.

It reminds me when I spoke with Professor Hugo Pérez, and thus I was able to understand where the football theories came from, what he wanted to get to, and also with Professor Gerson, and we talked about tactics. I felt in those moments at Selecta talking to them more as a coach than a player. Without taking anything away from them because they have more experience than me, the only thing I wanted to learn from them more and I think they saw me in a different role.

Although I didn’t have many minutes with Selection, it was very productive trips for me because I learned from them to see how they work, from mistakes, which was successful and seeing that in first grade was a great opportunity.

With my UEFA B licence, I can be a technical assistant for the top-flight team here in Iceland, I also have the guarantee of being in all UEFA competitions, and it’s important for me to face them in the future, soon or not, you never know.

How is life outside of football?

I finished some projects, others don’t. I’m enjoying my time with family, I’m finishing my master’s degree so I can become an English teacher, different skills I want to have in my arsenal. Master’s degree in Reykjavik, which is basically hypothetical even because of the pandemic.

Being a coach is very closely related to being a teacher and vice versa, my master’s degree started when I got a UEFA B license to go with both things at the same time. It has helped me a lot too. I have also worked on setting up a summer house in the country and I am always looking for different things to learn.

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