Grace Geyoro: "Playing at the Parc des Princes is an honour"
Paris Saint-Germain captain Grace Geyoro discusses her side’s start to the year as well as their upcoming game against AFC Ajax, which is set to take place at 21:00 CET tomorrow night on Matchday 5 of the UEFA Women’s Champions League group stage.
Grace, HOW HAS 2024 STARTED FOR YOU AND FOR THE TEAM?
"It's been going well, thanks! For myself and for the team, everything's going smoothly. We've done really well in our first few games of the year, both in terms of our performances and in terms of our results, so we're happy, but we also need to keep it up."
YOU'RE CURRENTLY ON A RUN OF SEVEN STRAIGHT WINS, which started AGAINST ROMA AT THE PARC DES PRINCES. did that win spur you on?
"Yes, I think so. We know that we need to perform and get results, and the game against Roma at the Parc did us a world of good mentally. We were also really reassured by our performance that night. Things have continued on a positive trajectory since then, so we need to keep reproducing that display against Roma at the Parc des Princes or even the one at their place, as that win just before the break also helped us enormously. We've come back with the same mindset, and it shows."
IT FEELS LIKE WE'RE SEEING A thriving grace geyoro out on the pitch. how do you feel about your recent performances?
"I always set myself aims at the start of a season. This year, I was determined to give the team even more, and that obviously comes from my stats: scoring more – as I'm enjoying doing now – getting forward and trying to give my teammates good service to help them score. Enjoying myself is the most important thing for me, though. I've reached a point where I need to be thriving on the pitch and enjoying myself, and I think that I've broken new ground this season by scoring a lot more, which does me good, too. It gives me and the team confidence, so it can only be a good thing."
ON WEDNESDAY, YOU've got AJAX AT THE PARC. WHAT KIND OF MINDSET IS THE TEAM going into SUCH A BIG GAME WITH?
"The same mindset that we've had for a while now: a very positive one. We want to perform well, and we can't wait for this game. At the Parc des Princes, we've got that little bit extra that makes us want to always do our best, and this is also a big game. Right now, we're second in the group, but we want to go for top spot. It's all still to play for, so it'll be up to us to do everything we can to win this game on home turf."
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO THE TEAM TO PLAY AT THE Parc des Princes?
"Honestly, it's an honour. Every time we play at the Parc des Princes, we try to do so in the best way possible. We just try to enjoy ourselves and not doubt ourselves. These are Champions League games, so we need to impose our playing style and try to win. When we're at the Parc des Princes, in front of our fans, who turn up and push us on a daily basis, we're duty-bound to win."