AFP7 va Europa Press | EUROPAPRESS
Of course he has a place in Barcelona, if I were in his technical secretary I would have no doubts, analyzes Javier Portillo, the discoverer of the Spanish-Moroccan winger.
02 mar 2023 . Updated at 5:35 p.m.
Abdessamad Ezzalzoulibetter known as go away It is becoming one of the sensations in Spanish football due to its impudence and quality. In Pamplona they know very well that they have a diamond in the rough. The Moroccan winger’s goal for the victory of health in front of Athletic in the first leg of the semifinals of Copa del Rey summarizes the qualities of the footballer on loan from the Barcelona, with imbalance and speed as his most lethal weapons.
At 21, Abde has already played in a World Cup and is one of Europe’s rough diamonds, but his arrival at the elite was not easy. He was born in the city of Beni Mellal, located in the center of Morocco, but when he was seven years old, his family moved to Spain due to work commitments of his father, who was looking for a better future for his family on land Spanish. They landed in Elche, more specifically in Carrs, considered the poorest neighborhood in Spain. In 2021, it led the list of neighborhoods with the lowest income in the national territory, with 15,542 euros per person, according to data from the Tax Agency. It also has one of the rates of the occupation highest in the country.
Carrs is a normal neighborhood. There are people of different nationalities, like Mali, Senegal, Morocco, anything but normal, Abde explained in a recent interview in Movistar. The idol of his childhood was Neymar, coinciding with the arrival of the Brazilian in Barcelona, and the Moroccan explained that he would go down to a booth below my house, and for 50 cents you had 30 minutes. I would go watch Neymar’s videos and then imitate him with my friends.
He began his football adventure with Promises Carrs, his neighborhood team, when he was 16 years old. All his coach encouraged him to take soccer seriously because he saw the ability to do something important. From there, he made the leap to Hercules B, hand in hand with Javier Portillo, Former soccer player and sports director at that time of the Alicante team, who saw him and was amazed: I saw him and immediately signed him because I saw a lot of potential in him. Later, he was renewed for four years and with an important clause for a humble club like Hércules, explains Portillo, currently a member of the Rayo Vallecano Technical Secretariat.
It also confirms what we see of Abde every day and what made me sign him without thinking twice: He is a differential footballer, facetious and with great dribbling. He is a player who makes a difference due to his qualities and it has been good for him to go to Osasuna to exploit all his football week after week, comments Portillo.
In relation to the environment from which the Moroccan comes, he also explained that Carrs is a very humble neighborhood, as is Abde. It is a place that can be greatly improved, but here comes the merit of the boy. He is a good person and I am very glad that I discovered him.
Personal bet of Ramn Planes
After gaining promotion to Third with the subsidiary, Abde did the preseason with the Hércules first team to play in Second B. When he made his debut in an official match, Portillo was quick and signed his contract extension until 2022 in the face of the barrage of offers towards the extreme. It has no roof, I don’t see it. Despite its great qualities, it still has a lot of room for improvement and to go further, confesses Portillo.
In 2021, Barcelona showed strong interest thanks to Ramón Planes, who went to see him when Hércules played at Cornell and at Llagostera. Curiously, the signing of Abde by Barcelona, which took place on the last day of the market for the payment of the termination clause of two million euros, was made possible thanks to the sale of Ilaix Moriba to the German Leipzig for 16 million euros. After a season in which Abde has not participated much in the set which, the technical secretary of Barcelona welcomed a loan to Osasuna, where the Moroccan is an important piece and shows every week that he can be a great player.
Of course he has a place in Barcelona. If I were in the Barcelona technical secretariat I would have no doubts. It is a player profile that they do not have and they would clearly give him a plus, affirms Portillo about the nearest future of the Moroccan.
This is the story of Abde, a player who knows how to value success because he has grown up in the humblest of environments. The greatest exponent of neighborhood soccer with the impudence for flag. He is missing out on this chutzpah for the level of society. Today’s football is different, more tactical and comfort in this type of player is more difficult, concludes Portillo, the discoverer of one of the greatest pearls of Spanish football.
