- You must have been an adventurous youngster, moving to Brazil on your own at the age of 19, with no knowledge of Portuguese. What was life like for you there?

Yes, it was, I went to Brazil on my own at the age of 19 to try my luck. Before that I played football for Vasas U19, then I left the team and thought a lot about what to do next. My first plan was to go to a lower division in Germany and then move up from there. At that time I really liked the mentality of the Germans, it was the closest to me. However, an agent found me with the possibility of a move to Brazil and as I didn't see much chance of progressing, I finally decided to go to Brazil. 

- How do you imagine that, you were 19 years old, you went home and told your parents you were packing your bags and going to Brazil?

That's pretty much how it happened (laughs). I remember my mother was very against it at first, my father was more relaxed about it because he had been halfway around the world as a truck driver, although he hadn't been to South America. My friends kept teasing me when they found out where I was going, saying I'd come back wrapped in cigarettes and stuff like that (laughs). Obviously it wasn't an easy decision, but in hindsight I feel I couldn't have made a better decision for my career. 

- Was there anyone you would have consulted about the conditions in Brazil before your trip who had been there before and could have provided you with useful information?  

I had no such contacts, the only person I spoke to was my agent, he had been to Brazil a few times. He told me to quickly forget about the conditions I was used to at home, because everything I had at home was a miracle compared to what was waiting for me out there. Among other things, I had to be prepared for very hot weather and the condition of the pitches was going to be sub-par in most places. He also warned me that life in Brazil is very dangerous, so I shouldn't wander too far from the area where the team has given me a place to stay. I lived in the academy run by the Brazilian club for six months and I'm not joking, but I really never left the academy area. Then, after six months, I moved in with one of my Italian team-mates in a rented flat.

- How did you learn Portuguese?

I was completely self taught outside, I didn't go to a teacher. Then when I came back from Brazil, I started to go to Portuguese teachers back home, but I learned everything on my own. In the mornings we practiced and in the afternoons I sat at my desk and learned 40-50 new words every day. I would think about what had happened to me that day, what words I should have known, and I would fill in the gaps and try to memorise them. Obviously the locals on the team helped me a lot with pronunciation, but the hardest thing was that almost no one spoke English, so it was very difficult to communicate at first. I had only one teammate who spoke some English, he was watching the TV series Friends in the original language with subtitles, so he picked up some English. Obviously I could have played football without learning Portuguese, but I wanted to communicate as much as possible with my teammates and with the local people. 

- What was your worst experience in Brazil?

Probably the worst was Christmas, because I spent the holidays out there completely alone. Obviously, I'm used to spending Christmas with my family at home, but I was completely alone out there. I spent the whole day watching TV and playing with my PlayStation. And the news was full of all sorts of local violence, gang warfare, so those few days at Christmas were not my best memories. What I'm glad about, though, is that I didn't personally experience anything violent or violence during my time there. 

- Did you have a Brazilian girlfriend?

At the very beginning my agent warned me to be very careful with Brazilian girls, because they are very refined, they want to have a baby right away. I was really concentrating on football and learning the language at the time anyway, but all the horror stories I'd heard also had an effect, so I didn't go out with any girls in Brazil, I didn't have a girlfriend out there. 

- Have you been to Brazil since then?

No, but I plan to go back there one day. I'd love to do a full South American cruise one day.

- What was your favourite subject at school?

My favourite subjects were PE and English. Luckily, I have a good sense of language and I was able to use that later on in Brazil. 

- Did you mention that your dad was a truck driver? Is it possible to imagine that if you hadn't become a footballer, Dani Kovács would be driving a big truck on the roads today?

I'm sure that would have happened. My brother and sister are truckers, so I would have had the same fate. I gave football a chance, but if it hadn't worked out for me, I would have gone into trucking. I went on long trips with my dad several times as a kid, I really enjoyed it, I think I would have been a good trucker (laughs). 

Dog or cat?

Definitely a dog. I have a husky named Zima, it was my long time wish to have a dog of my own. My dad, after he stopped trucking, bought a small hobby farm with horses and goats and other animals, and I spent a lot of time there when I was young. 

- Do you invent yourself in the kitchen, do you like to cook and bake?

I used to cook a lot, but I must admit that I've become lazy in this area in recent years. I love gastronomic experiences, I love to eat delicious food. I was a complete vegan for six months, then vegetarian for another year.

- Did you miss meat during that year and a half?

Strange, but not that much. As a child from Gyula, sausage was always a staple food for our whole family, but I wasn't really tempted during that year and a half. What made me stop is that it's very difficult to maintain a vegan lifestyle. In fact, the only way it works in the long run is to have a private chef who can make a variety of meals for you. Many times it has been a problem to go somewhere in the countryside for a game or a long training camp and then have vegan food prepared for breakfast, lunch or dinner, but preferably not the same thing every day. 

- How do you spend your free time?

Whenever I can, I meet up with friends in Gyula, and obviously I also spend a lot of time with my family. I used to live in Pest for five years, I used to hang out with my friends there. I also have two very good friends in Vidi, Fityó and Palkó, and I spend a lot of time with them. I'm not a big video game player, but I do sometimes turn on the Playstation. I used to play FIFA, but nowadays I prefer COD. Obviously since I have a dog, I spend a lot of time with him. Sometimes I'll think about it, we'll jump in the car, go for a long walk in nature. After football, that's probably the most fun for me. I love being in nature, I can really unwind and recharge my batteries. 

- Television or cinema?

Definitely TV, I can't remember the last time I went to the cinema. Friends invite me out, I'll go with them, I'll sit in for anything stupid, but I wouldn't think of going to a movie on my own. 

- Last concert experience?

This may come as a surprise, but I've never been to a really big concert. There are one or two things in my life that I'm sure most people wonder about, what it's like to have never been to a concert before. 

- Do you like shopping? Is fashion important to you?

I absolutely hate shopping. Every six months I think, "Let's go to the mall and do some shopping," but then I don't want to go anywhere near the shops for months. I don't feel fashion is important at all. The only thing I hate more than boutiques is perhaps supermarkets, but going to a hypermarket and choosing between yoghurts and cold cuts is out of the question. The only time I go shopping is with my mum when I'm at home in Gyula, but otherwise no one will ever run into me in a hypermarket (laughs). 

- If not in the hypermarket, you might have been seen in a strange place a few weeks earlier, as you were featured in Cosmopolitan in a rather scanty outfit. How did this opportunity come for you?

My agent called me with this opportunity, asking how interested I would be in this story, which has nothing to do with football. I'd never read Cosmopolitan before, but obviously I'd heard of it. All I knew about the photo shoot was that there would be topless pictures of me, but I had no idea how much I would have to undress, and it turned out I had to get pretty naked (laughs). Overall, I didn't mind, it was a lot of fun. I wasn't quite in my comfort zone during the shoot, by the way, but everyone was very helpful. Of course, I wasn't disappointed with my teammates, I got the zing straight away, but it would have been weird if they had let me get away with it (laughs).