The future champions of Armenian sports: David Harutyunyan (PHOTO, VIDEO)

By Lusine Shahbazyan

NEWS.am Sport presents The Future Champions of Armenian Sport series hosting new hero: 15-year-old football player David Harutyunyan, a member of the Armenian youth football team and trainee of Yerevan Urartu Youth Club Football Academy.

The young player plays in the Urartu 1.07 academy team under coach Karen Simonyan. In the squad of the team he won the Armenian Under-16 Football Cup in June of this year, and since November 2021 he has been invited to Armenia's youth national team.

David, 15, dreams to become a world class footballer, and also aspires to try himself in one of the European academies, at that his big dream is to get to the Armenian national team.

David, how, and on whose advice did you start playing football?

I started playing football at the age of 9 on the advice of my mom and dad. Before that, I was involved in different sports: karate, chess, but I only liked football. I played a lot of football in the yard, my mom saw it and suggested I go to football.

Where and in what club did you take your first steps?

I attended Urartu football club from the very beginning. From the first day I fell in love with the club, the team, the coaches, and footbal in general. Here I realized that football is my game. It is my life. Even if I get an injury or have health problems, I always come to the stadium to be physically present at the team training, or watch the training from the bench, or run. I can't live without fotball, the ball draws me in.

My love for football is also thanks to my coaches. They made me dedicate myself more to football.

At what position do you play?

I used to play at the winger position, then because of my height and qualities I switched to fullback. I like this position. In general, I can play in all positions, but the position of a central defender is closer to me. Besides, I'm also a team captain, and this excites me a lot. I think that I am also able to cheer up the team as a captain.

When was your first official game?

My first official game for Urartu was in 2018. I remember that day. I was very nervous, I didn't even sleep at night. It was our age group's first championship game, and we had to start off with a win. I remember at one point we broke down as a team because one of our teammates broke his arm. We won that game and dedicated the win to him.

On June 18 of this year, we were cup winners in the under-16 age group. It was a tight game, they were a year older than us, and we acquitted ourselves. We had lost before, and we already knew our mistakes. We took the field together and won. 

Tehll us about the invitation to the youth national team of Armenia. How did it go?

In November 2021, I was invited to the youth team for the first time. It was a stressful period for me, too, because it was the first time I was invited to the national team. I had sleepless nights again, because I was to play for the first time in the national team. First I participated in training, then I played 9 games in the youth team. At first it was difficult because I was not familiar with the national team's scheme, training schedule, but then I found out. I have to do everything to always be in the team.

As a part of the team now we are playing in the championship of Armenia in our age groups and we are in first place. We play in the Armenian Cup with Urartu and reached the semifinals. I believe we will win in both cases.

Which world famous club you root for and which player's style of play is closer to you?

I supported Barcelona since my childhood and I still follow them. I like the style of play of this team more. I root for Urartu of the Armenian clubs, I also follow Pyunik's games. For me, the strongest clubs are Urartu and Pyunik. Between these two there is a very serious battle for adults and youth. We are doing everything to be ahead of Pyunik.

I am also a big fan of the Armenian team. I follow the games from the stadium, and if they coincide with my trainings, I watch them on TV.

As for my favorite player, my dream is to become a player like Sergio Ramos, defender of French champion PSG. I follow his career, games, and if I work on myself, I will achieve those results.

I am close to the style of play of Varazdat Aroyan, who plays in my position from our team and is the team captain. He inspires me a lot to move forward.

I have big goals and dreams in soccer. At the moment I want to try at the academy of a European club. My goal is to become one of the leaders of a European club. I believe that this will work for me.

Karen Simonyan, the coach of Urartu 1.07 Children and Youth Football Academy also joined the conversation with the young soccer player.

Mr. Simonyan, what would you say about Davit Harutyunyan, what are the qualities and the prospects of the young footballer?

David Harutyunyan is a very disciplined player. He approaches training with great responsibility. He makes good passes, 70-80 percent. He does not refuse to fight, he plays with passion and dedication.

A young soccer player should always dream of becoming a top footballer, and for that he should have a lot of hard work and determination. David has these qualities.

As part of this team, we played three championship matches in our age group and won. We also won the Armenian Under-16 Cup. We won here on penalties, but on the whole I am satisfied with the guys of this age group. I am also satisfied with David's play. This is the age when young players should think about professional soccer. If they work hard and dedicate themselves to soccer, they can achieve good results in professional soccer.

I would like our young footballers to aspire to move to the best clubs, European clubs that play high level soccer. I know that it is very difficult for our children to go to European clubs such as the Dutch, German or Swiss academies. In any case, it's up to the coaches and players to achieve such goals.

Having watched David Harutyunyan's progress, we all believe that a great future awaits him, if he does his job well.

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