Mkhitaryan Relives His School Days

Henrikh Mkhitaryan took part in our School Days feature before he left for his summer holidays and discussed his life as a pupil in detail.

In addition to describing what sort of student he was, the Europa League hero talked about other sports he participated in and his teachers...

What was school like for you, growing up?
At school I was focused all the time. I was focused on studying and had no time to think about football! Of course, after school I was supposed to go to training, but honestly I was thinking about school because it was good for me and my knowledge.

Was there anything you particularly enjoyed or didn’t enjoy?
I enjoyed all of the subjects and loved all of the teachers. I had a good relationship with all of them, and I tried to be present at every class. I loved every teacher and didn’t have a problem with anyone. I was just focused on studying.

What was it like playing football at that time? Were you the captain or star player on your team?
No, we didn’t really have a captain to be honest, just a team. I was playing with my school mates, so we made a team and played against the other students. No-one wanted to play against us because we had a very good class and they knew we’d beat them easily!

Can you remember any memorable matches or goals that you scored at school?
All of my goals were amazing! [Laughs]

How about on sports day, was there anything you were particularly good at?
Yeah, we actually played basketball quite a lot, and did a lot of sprinting too. Most of the time, it was basketball; it was just something that we did during PE class at school. Sometimes we played table tennis, but most people enjoyed basketball because you could play with many players – it was fun. Football was always the main sport for me, though.

Is there anything you’ve taken from those sports that have helped you in your career as a professional footballer?
Yes, of course. There are always things you can take from other sports into football, it’s very helpful because football is not only a game of the legs, but also a game of the brain. In that sense, you can definitely bring things from other sports into football.