Who is Nicolás Marcipar, the young promise of Argentine origin who plays in the youth teams of Barcelona and was called up to the Under 15 National Team

Argentines love Barcelona. Its streets, its climate, its beach, its customs. It is the Spanish city with the most Argentines for a reason, according to the latest data. If only by walking along the boardwalk Catalonia or by the Barceloneta and sharpen your ears to listen carefully to the noise, will serve to distinguish that the ones that sound the most are Catalan, Spanish and the Argentine accent, in that order. The city of Barcelona is the one that sheltered Lionel Messi back in 2000, when the best player in the world today was just a 13-year-old boy who needed to grow up. And today he shelters the dreams of another promise that already stands out in the Argentine Under 15 team directed by Diego Placente: Nicholas Marcipar.

Javier Marcipar was in his Santa Fe native in 1999 when he decided to try his luck for a scholarship related to his career: engineering. Young, 28 years old, newly married to Muriel and no children, upon receiving confirmation that he could continue learning in Europe, he did not hesitate and moved to Barcelona, ​​where he began to train in his own field and little by little to grow professionally, while discovering the landscapes and virtues of the Old Continent. In 2001 he formed his own engineering company and began to settle in spain. Javier dedicated himself to manufacturing inflatable structures for hangars and marketing them to different parts of the world, and he began to do very well. Meanwhile, he never forgot his origins and his family, and together with his wife he often traveled to Santa Fe, the capital. Although his departure was not as a result of the 2001 crisis, as happened with so many Argentines, they felt comfortable where they were without being entirely clear if the place was “forever.” This until Muriel became pregnant in 2007 and that is when the environment and the place took advantage. Due to the aforementioned quality of life and security on a day-to-day basis, they leaned towards Catalonia so that it would be the place where the babies were born, because it was not one, but two. Twins.

On February 13, 2008 they were born Paula y Nicholasthe protagonist of this story, who could be said to because of his place of birth he is Catalan although he is very Argentine. From a very young age, Nico showed that he was adept at sport and became passionate about football. The genes tatengues of his father had their incidence on the one hand, and on the other hand also having grown up in a city so footballing in which the image of Messi appeared in any corner until his departure to PSG. With the charm of the ball, the first touches of that little blond made him discover that he was left-handed. And with that skilful foot he began to do his thing in baby soccer.

While Nico Marcipar was beginning to excel on the ball, there was another game he liked: the chess. When he was 5 years old, he stood out and participated in tournaments to which his teacher took him to compete with children up to three years older. whom he ended up beating on the board. That practice, perseverance, study and self-confidence, would serve him even for soccer.

The Marcipar Idelsohn family formed by Javier and Muriel had a lot of Argentine identity. Roasts, milanesas, alfajores, dulce de leche and soccer were part of our customs, even though they were 10,000 kilometers away. In Nico’s early years, the chosen neighborhood was Casteldefells, precisely the same area where Leo Messi has had a residence for more than 15 years, a place with a beach half an hour from the center. But then the four moved to Sant Cugat del Vallés, in the upper part of the city. That was where Nico at the time he thought of competing in athleticsbegan to move his left foot in the official championships of the Catalan Federation, with the shirt of the FC Sant Cugat Sports. Those first tournaments of the Pre Benjamín de Fútbol 7 league, showed a blond of just 6 years old who began to attract attention on the left side of the defense.

In the “Sancu”, as they call the club, he played 4 seasons; the two from Pre Benjamín and the other two from Benjamín. In that last year was when the wide radar of the Barcelona Soccer Club recorded that he had registered the blond lefty, of good height and with a lot of idea to go on the attack, that called attention to his 9 years in a neighborhood 10 kilometers from the Camp Nou That was how they told his father, Javier, that they had observed him and that They invited him to a three-month trial at the Ciudad Deportiva Joan Gamper. After those practices, confirmation arrived that Barca wanted to have him in the 2018/19 season. The club’s idea was to add him and get to know him, but without any promise that his experience would last beyond a year. The forms, the needs and the demands of one of the most important clubs in the world, make the message direct for the chosen boys. Nico understood this and accepted the challenge with the support of his parents. From that moment began a stage that is in his fourth season either playing as a left back or as a central second marker, the position that he held the most in recent times and for which he is profiled.

Those first years, those of the category called Alevín (for children between 10 and 11 years old), were Nicolás’s first steps with the Blaugrana shirt in Soccer 7, in which he stood out for his very good run down the left side, with a powerful shot that even allowed him to score goals. With Alevín B his team became champions of the League after winning the derby against Espanyol. And with Alevín A, although they were leading the table, the championship was suspended with the start of the pandemic in March 2020. The cut from quarry football and the jump to a higher category, Infantil (for boys aged 13 and 14), represented a new goal that Nico was able to achieve: playing the season for the first time in Football 11 with Infantil B. It is that as they had already been pointed out, each season is a new experience and it may be the last of not complying with the stipulated returns or that the club finds, in another part of the world, through its department of scouting, a better player in the position.

Nico stands out for his way of driving the ball with his left foot from the bottom of the pitch, something he does with comfort and ease. In addition to playing short, he has a good shot to launch balls into space in search of wingers who usually play for Barca as part of the classic physiognomy of the quarry. As for the brand, in small spaces he improved a lot in recovery and offers various solutions. He also shows himself to be powerful in aerial duels, although he still has to improve his calculation when jumping.

But beyond footballMarcipar is a boy with character, very responsible, thankful for where he is. Respectful of his teammates and his coach, whom he always listens to. He watches his games on video because he wants to improve, and analyzes his plays and those of his team. It is to talk a lot in the field with his teammates, beyond the fact that on a day-to-day basis he may seem somewhat introverted.

Like all the boys of his age selected by Barcelona, ​​Nico He trains three times a week an hour and a half each session, while he is in his first year of high school, which is highly demanding in education. While the club usually goes with the transfer of the institution, since parents are not allowed to witness the practices. Despite this, his family is present at all times, follows his evolution, supports him and feeds his idea of ​​being a professional footballer without forgetting the focus of study and humility.

As for the players he looks at the most in his position, they are Gerard Pique, Clement Lenglet y Jordi Alba, since he is also considered a winger although he is more established as a left central defender. And as for the Argentines, he always followed Nicholas Otamendi.

If someone wonders if he is more Catalan than Argentine, the answer is in every game that Lionel Messi’s National Team plays, especially in the World Cups. Nico does not hesitate and wears the albiceleste shirt. In fact, since he was born, his parents managed the Argentine nationality and the passport. Marcipar was in the register of players in Europe of Argentine origin that the AFA has in the International Scouting Department, who leads Juan Martin Tassi.The proof is the summons for this week of work in Ezeiza, together with Nicolo Meringolofrom Juventus.

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