Diego Sánchez, a moment of “heat” and a certainty: “The word promotion does not make you dizzy”

Every time they complain to him, he complies with note. Diego Sánchez Pérez (Avilés, 2003) demonstrated it again last day, against Valladolid. In a difficult season to find a place in Sporting’s solid defense, the youth player had the opportunity to go on loan during the last winter market to Burgos, tomorrow’s rival of the red and white team. He attends to LA NEW SPAIN before a match in which he chooses to maintain the title with the aim of recovering the prominence that Miguel Ángel Ramírez warned him about due to Michu’s insistence on signing him. “Everyone told me ‘stay’. And how much they tell you will be for a reason,” he remembers of those last days of January.

–His father was a footballer. What does it mean to you?

-All. He has always been my example. He always influenced me for the better. He put my feet on the ground. So to speak, he stopped my high, he told me: “Be focused on what you have to be.”

–Does it bother you more because you are a former player?

–Yes, yes, he always squeezed me (laughs). She saw that, well, year after year it was going one step further. I didn’t give it much importance, because he was always focused on his studies. When the reserve team stage arrived, we took another step… we focused above all on football. There he put more pressure on me because the opportunity could come to me at any moment. Because it happened to him. He passed him and had no luck. But he knew that he could pass: that if we had that little bit of luck things could go more or less well.

–Do you talk a lot with him about football?

–Yes, but in the first round, since he saw me screwed, he supported me. But he gave me my space because he didn’t want to overwhelm me. And now that things are going well… Well, in the end we are both very football fans. We talk a lot about football.

–How proud are you?

-Very proud. My whole family, in general. But I know he’s even more excited about it than I am. Why am I going to lie to you? I owe him everything. It’s amazing. He deserves it. In screwed up stages he was there. This is a boost for everyone. In not so good moments that any family has, seeing me there in the field has been a boost.

–What are your beginnings like?

–I started playing in Los Campos, a club that my grandfather founded.

–Total football tradition.

-Yes Yes. I had two good years there, I was with those from one year older and Sporting called.

-Who is calling?

–Rogelio. Rogelio signs it for me. I’m really grateful to you. Plus, he always writes to me. We have a very good relationship.

–In your career there is a key figure: Pitu. There comes a time when he pulls you.

–He is my football father. From the first moment he supported me. He trusted me a lot. I only have words of gratitude. As a person he is amazing. He also made me grow a lot as a player.

–Have you put aside your studies?

-No. I continue studying. I do it remotely. Last year I started engineering. Complicated, really. But I plan to start Psychology next year. Remote Engineering gets a little complicated. Especially the first year. I have it there, set aside a little. But next year I plan to get into Psychology.

–Why Psychology?

–Because in this world I see it very necessary. Above all, for the topic of letting off steam. A player goes through not so easy times, and I think it can be very good for me personally. It’s interesting and it’s going to help me in the long run.

–As in the first round.

–Well, I have to confess that yes, at first it was difficult. Games go by, they go by and you see that you don’t get in. In the end, you think more about the team than yourself. On the one hand, it is complicated because you finished last season well and you think you can have more prominence. But you have to keep a cool head. There are hot moments, which we all have. But you have to leave them aside on a day-to-day basis. I thought about the team and what was best for the team.

–Did you ever think that maybe you should go out on loan?

–No, it’s not that I thought about it, it’s that the opportunity came. He arrived and, at the end of the day, the coach told me: ‘You’re going to have minutes, you’re important.’ He gave me that confidence. It is true that when one does not have minutes he thinks ‘I can still grow more if…’. But in the end the club bet on me. Everyone told me: ‘Stay.’ If they tell you that, it will be for a reason.

–You are called by a team that is doing things well like Burgos. He meant to continue in professional football and in a well-run club.

–It is true that you can consider it. But the club told me from the first moment that they trusted me a lot and that if I continued like this the minutes could come. When you see that confidence, in the end one thinks less about it. A club as big as Sporting is, I am at home, I have my family here… I am very comfortable here.

–Did you get to talk to Michu?

-Yeah.

–Miguel Ángel Ramírez has shown that he was not bluffing. It’s being important.

-Yeah. He gave me a confidence that tells you a lot about what kind of person she is. Now it’s true that injuries are coming… On the other hand, I hope they don’t come. If it can be entered without injuries, much better. Minutes are being given and I am giving level.

–I think that Gerardo García, director of sports management, also conveyed his confidence to you.

-Yeah. In the summer I already spoke with him. But especially in winter. He told me: ‘Keep it up every day. You are important’. It was very important. Just like the coach. Or the president.

–The goal against Granada…

–(Diego smiles) It could be a very big turning point since I’ve been here (for the first team). It was the turning point to take that little leap and grow.

–Did you sleep at all that night?

–Little, little (laughs).

–How do you manage this change in your life? Does it go to your head to see yourself playing with the first team and being important so quickly?

-Not at all. I’m still the same person. At home they instilled it in me like that. From within I always think that I am still the same person. People who know me think like me. I don’t want to change. I don’t want anything to go to my head. I want to remain humble.

–Is it difficult to go from going to El Molinón with your friends to being on the other side?

–It depends on each person’s personality. For me it wasn’t difficult. I took it naturally. It can happen to anyone. That transition was natural and normal. It’s true that everything was very fast: at first it takes a little getting used to the rhythm. But it wasn’t difficult. It didn’t even go up. Nor did I have any airs of being someone I am not.

–And at the exposure level?

–It’s normal, but yes. In the end you notice that they know you on the street from time to time. I like to go unnoticed. But it’s true that sometimes they know you and ask for photos. At first I even found it funny.

–If it were up to you… I imagine you would like to go unnoticed, of course.

-Yeah. I’m a person… Well, not so much anymore. But at first shy. And I like to go unnoticed. But there is no problem.

–¿Central o lateral?

–Well, I was always a winger, but this season I am more as a center back. I’ve been training there all year. I feel very comfortable. Both in a line of three and four. In a line of four at the beginning it cost me a little more. Because you can be a little more exposed than in a line of three. But day by day I am gaining concepts. I can play in both positions, although I was always a winger.

–Queipo and Nacho Martín are in the first team.

–They are very supportive. In moments last season or in the first round where we did not participate as much as we would like, we supported each other. The three of us are very humble and very calm.

–I think Cali is very much on top of you.

–We all know the weight he has within the team. He reached out to me to always help me. He always advises me very well. Plus, now I’m in your position and I’m learning.

–If I ask you to describe your companions in one word… Do you dare?

-No problem.

–Cali.

-Sacrifice.

– Insulate

–Very good (laughs). Let’s see what I can tell you: complete.

–Rober Pier.

-Quality.

– Pascanu.

-Multipurpose.

–Is the small bump already over?

–It has already passed until Valladolid. We go week by week, game by game. The team has a lot of confidence in itself. And we can take that little leap. The Second is long. If we become strong at home and add strength abroad, we will be there.

–Does the word promotion make you dizzy?

-None. We all know what Sporting is: it is one of the most important clubs in Spain. And the template we have. It doesn’t scare us at all. We come from complicated years. But the word promotion is not scary.

2024-02-24 03:00:38
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