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Diego López: «The captain is not always the one who wears the armband»

Vallecano Ray

The Rayo goalkeeper, who turns 41 and is the oldest in the League along with Joaquín, reflects critically on his career

Alberto del Campo Weaver

We meet for coffee near her girls’ school, since she has to pick them up in a couple of hours. Father of three daughters, Diego López does not want football to occupy his whole life. He fights to become the starter in Rayo’s goal with the weapons he always deployed: work, work and more work. But, as the oldest in the league (with the exception of Joaquín, at Betis), he watches football with the thoughtful detachment of someone who is about to complete two decades as a professional.

Some people incessantly repeat the mantra that “I regret nothing,” as if it were a sign of consistency or personality. Diego Lopez, No. For example, he believes that he has experienced soccer with too much obsession—like most of his colleagues—and that the family environment pays a high cost. Only with age do you learn to de-dramatize, that it is not fair that you let yourself be carried away by anger when you lose, in such a way that a blanket of silence spreads throughout the house. The cliché says that behind every great man there is a great woman, but Diego López amends the saying and points out that, in the case of soccer, there is a woman who suffers.

The veteran must exercise the teaching of common sense. He talks to the youngest player and tells him to banish all radicalism: for example, that he not be obsessed with the guidelines of the nutritionists. If he is hungry and never allows himself a beer, he will arrive at training bitter and then the club’s psychologist will come on the scene to cheer him up “because he is sad.”

Diego is in favor of the culture of work, but not that of immediate success: «Some players who come from the subsidiary are anxious to succeed as soon as possible, they believe that football is like creating a company that Microsoft buys from you the following year and you are rich» . Success is the son of perseverance. Diego knows this because he got the opportunity to defend Real Madrid’s goal at the age of 32, when Mourinho chose him over Iker Casillas. The following year, Ancelotti endorsed that choice: he played all the League games and Iker the Cup and Champions League games.

Like any man forged by experience, Diego knows how to recognize what he owes to the Goddess Fortune. He considers that his greatest luck was joining Real Madrid at the age of 19: «You arrive and immediately feel like a better footballer. The club presupposes you better. Madrid tells you: you are the best and you are going to prove it. The greatness of Madrid at all levels gives you security. Also, you get infected from others. you believe it PSG or City may have a better squad, but the players don’t perform like they do at Madrid. It’s magic”.

The ten ‘grandfathers’ of the League

Joaquín (Betis)

Midfielder

41 años

Diego Lopez (Vallecano Ray)

Goalie

41 años

Claudio Bravo (Betis)

Goalie

39 años

Álvaro Negredo(Cadiz)

center forward

37 años

Raúl Albiol (Villarreal)

Defending

37 años

Luka Modric (Real Madrid)

Midfielder

37 años

Jesús Navas (Sevilla)

Midfielder

36 años

David Silva (Real society)

Midfielder

36 años

Radamel Falcao (Vallecano Ray)

Forward

36 años

Raúl Garcia (Athletic)

Forward

36 años

The ten ‘grandfathers’ of the League

Joaquín (Betis)

Midfielder

41 años

Diego Lopez (Vallecano Ray)

Goalie

41 años

Claudio Bravo (Betis)

Goalie

39 años

Álvaro Negredo (Cadiz)

center forward

37 años

Raúl Albiol (Villarreal)

Defending

37 años

Luka Modric (Real Madrid)

Midfielder

37 años

Jesús Navas (Sevilla)

Midfielder

36 años

David Silva (Real society)

Midfielder

36 años

Radamel Falcao (Vallecano Ray)

Forward

36 años

Raúl Garcia (Athletic)

Forward

36 años

The ten ‘grandfathers’ of the League

Joaquín (Betis)

Midfielder

41 años

Diego Lopez (Vallecano Ray)

Goalie

41 años

Claudio Bravo (Betis)

Goalie

39 años

Álvaro Negredo (Cadiz)

center forward

37 años

Raúl Albiol (Villarreal)

Defending

37 años

Luka Modric (Real Madrid)

Midfielder

37 años

Jesús Navas (Sevilla)

Midfielder

36 años

David Silva (Real society)

Midfielder

36 años

Radamel Falcao (Vallecano Ray)

Forward

36 años

Raúl Garcia (Athletic)

Forward

36 años

his last adventure

In addition to Madrid, he went through Villarreal, Seville, Milan, Espanyol and now he is living his latest adventure at Rayo. There he acts as an example for the beardless. Play or not, it is an inspiration for a balance between committed dedication and temperance to relativize any circumstance, in a context in which one goes from hero to villain due to a specific move or an unfortunate mistake —like the one he made against Almería— send to the bench «The captain of a team is not always the one who wears the armband. There are many types of leaders. Some talk a lot in the dressing room and on the pitch, others are silent, like Messi. He does not need to speak: he is a leader because he is the best. There are different ways to set an example.

Diego shared a dressing room with the galácticos, won the Champions League and the Cup with Ancelotti and helped Villarreal and Espanyol play in European competitions. But he does not forget the time when the Camp Nou also gave off something similar to “stage fright”. In the years of Xavi, Iniesta, Messi and company, “you went there, you lost 3-1 and we all left happy because we had competed.”

The Galician goalkeeper has replaced the perfectionism that condemns you to frustration and anxiety, for a sensible dedication that understands that performance also improves when one lives in calm harmony, aware of the little things, without getting carried away by the whirlwind of a sport as captivating as it is absorbing. It sounds simple, but sometimes it takes many games in life to realize the simplest.

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