MADRID, 25 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Cádiz midfielder Robert Navarro, who has returned with the U-21 for the matches against Slovakia and Belgium, celebrates that in the RFEF they have all the young players “very controlled” and that they work “very well” at the base, something that he has also been able to experience during his time at other quarries, especially at La Masia, where he learned “a crazy thing” and was once again in fashion due to the emergence of talents such as Lamine Yamal or Pau Cubarsí, already in the Absoluta.
“The federation works very well and nothing and they have us all very controlled, they have no problem calling kids who are doing very well in their club being 16 or over 35, there is no problem,” said Robert Navarro in a interview with Europa Press.
Therefore, he knows that the possibilities of going from the U-21 to the Absolute are not so complicated. “Here they tell us too, that in the end it is the one who earns it and the one who works for it. They have known us all since we were very little. I remember reaching the U-16 team and Luis (de la Fuente) was there. watching a game when he was in the U-21 team,” he noted.
The Catalan was a kind of ‘globetrotter’ from very early on and went through several quarries such as Tajonar, La Masia, Monaco and Real Sociedad until he became the footballer he is today, a “very nice” experience in all of them. senses.
The beginning was in the Osasuna quarry, a club in which his father, who is Navarrese, had “played” and of which he has “very, very good memories.” “In the end it is the first professional club where you can play and I had some nice years. I was there for three years and I still have teammates from there, coaches. Every time I go I love it,” he recalled.
And from there, “at 11 years old” FC Barcelona appears. “As a result of having family on my mother’s side, I can go there and I was there until I was 16. It is an incredible place, I also had my family very close, and I learned a lot, I improved a lot as a player and as a person,” admitted Navarro, who is full of praise for La Masia.
“It’s crazy, the work is incredible. I left very young and I would do it again, what I learned there is crazy. There are very good coaches, who teach very well and in the end there is also a rivalry between teammates that helps you to push yourself and improve because if you don’t keep moving forward, new signings arrive and pass you from the right,” he stressed.
And from there have come many young talents who are already in the Absolute, such as Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsí, for whom he has “very healthy envy.” “I’m from 2002, it seems like I’m young and they’re from 2007. I’ve been following Lamine for a long time because we’ve been following each other online for a long time and I’ve already seen him do what he did in the very lower categories of Barça. This guy’s thing is “I have seen few people do it at La Masia. I didn’t know Pau and I was very surprised. I am very happy for the two of them, they are there because they have earned it, let them enjoy it,” said the Cádiz footballer.
From the Blaugrana youth academy, at the age of 16, he headed out of Spain, to Monaco, where he went “directly to the first team”, although he played “with the reserve team.” “That year was crazy for me. I had a small injury that It didn’t let me enjoy that month and a half, but I learned a lot because you play against very old people while you are a kid,” he commented.
Furthermore, in the Principality team, where he coincided with players like Cesc Fábregas, Radamel Falcao and Stefan Jovetic, he became the youngest player, at 16 years and 8 months, to debut with the first team, even surpassing Kylian Mbappé, who did it with 16 and 11, and the record holder, Pietro Pellegri (16 and 10). “When I debuted I didn’t even know it, but it’s something very nice, to remember,” he admits.
“AT THE BEGINNING IT WAS HARD FOR ME IN CÁDIZ”
“Then Real Sociedad arrives, which presents me with a very nice and very important project. I have been very comfortable for four years since I spent the first few years with Xabi (Alonso) and then with Imanol (Alguacil). There in the north there are “They are people with many values and I have learned a lot and now I have had to go on loan to Cádiz, an incredible club, in which I am enjoying a lot and where the people are treating me incredibly. I will always be grateful,” added the Catalan. .
But it was difficult for him to find a place in the Cádiz team, partly because he arrived “already with four League games.” “I am also 21 years old and I come to a team with a lot of experience, with important players and with a very good level, you have to work and earn it. At first it was a bit difficult for me to adapt and know what the coach asks of me” , he pointed out.
“I’ve been trying to work as hard as ever, learning from the elders, respecting them and I think that’s what I base myself on. The opportunities have come to me and I’ve tried to make the most of them. With Sergio (González) he was already giving me more minutes and then With the arrival of Pellegrino I am also very grateful because since he arrived he has trusted me a lot and I will always be grateful to him for the opportunity he has given me,” he added in this regard.
Navarro also does not forget that it is his “first experience going out into the professional world a bit” since leaving Real Sociedad and that “it is not easy to be competing down there.” “You are playing a lot, the pressure that there can be is complicated, of conceding defeats and not being able to win. I have tried to contribute as much as possible, leaving everything for the club, I try to help my teammates as much as possible to be able to move this forward and I think that We are going to get it,” he confessed.
In this sense, the midfielder acknowledges that, “on the one hand”, he would not have minded continuing with the team during the break, “but with competition.” “I’m feeling very good, I think we’ve been working very well lately in the games and despite the defeat against Real, we’ve improved a lot and we’ve taken a step forward,” he said.
“THERE IS STILL A LOT LEFT FOR THE GAMES”
In any case, it has been “very good” for him to come to “enjoy what the national team is” and to be able to play the games against Slovakia and Belgium, “difficult rivals”, and to have “the pleasure of enjoying these teammates.” “It is a place where I always like to come, it is a pleasure and a pride to be able to train here with these teammates, to belong to the national team. I am very happy for the work I have been doing at the club and grateful to the coach for the call,” he highlighted. the Catalan.
This call places her in the orbit of being able to play in the Olympic Games, although “nothing is said in the locker room” about this possibility because they are “focused” on the important duel this Tuesday against Belgium, a qualifier for next year’s European Championship. .
Navarro thinks that for Paris “there is still a long way to go”, but he does not forget that this event “is something unique and an incredible opportunity that every player is incredibly excited about.” “I think you have to work hard, you have to earn it, and in the end the coach has to decide,” he concluded.
2024-03-25 14:49:29
#learned #Masia #crazy #repeat
